Check out these tips and remember to refer to the Centennial Housing Service website for helpful links and resources. If you have any additional questions feel free to drop by the Housing Support Drop-In Sessions.
Tip #1: Understand your needs
The housing rental market in the GTA can be expensive and competitive, so it is important to understand your needs and create an educated budget when searching for a place to live. If you need support with learning how to budget, please connect with our Student Financial Services that provide financial literacy education. Having a good understanding of what your needs are before you start your off-campus housing search will help you to narrow your online search and explore options that work with your identified needs. For example, safety, proximity, and affordability are important needs to many people and factors to consider while searching for a place to live. Read more about the different neighbourhoods and communities in Toronto.
Tip #2: Request that the landlord use a standard lease form
The Ontario government has a standard lease form that tenants have a right to request from their landlord. This standard lease helps ensure that landlords do not include terms in your lease agreement that are illegal. For example, landlords cannot demand a rental deposit that is larger than one month of rent, and they must repair broken parts of your unit even if you knew about the problem when you signed your lease. Also, you should not give your landlord your identification documents during the application process, or as a term of accepting a tenancy. If your landlord refuses to provide you with a copy of your lease on the standard form after you request one, you can end your tenancy or withhold one month’s rent. [Source: Canadian Centre for Housing Rights]. Click here to learn more about the standard lease agreements and each of the components in different languages.
Tip #3: Try to find a rent-controlled home that was first rented before November 2018
Rent control is a provincial law that sets a maximum amount that rent can be increased each year. Most rental units in Ontario are protected by rent control if they were lived in as a residential home for the first time prior to November 15, 2018. For these units, your landlord can only increase the rent each year by the rental increase guidelines set by the provincial government. In 2023, the province has stated that rent can increase by a maximum of 2.5% in rent-controlled units. For non-rent-controlled units, no such protection applies – rent can be increased once per year by any amount the landlord chooses. [Source: Canadian Centre for Housing Rights] Read more about rent control here.
Tip #4: Be careful when sharing a bathroom or kitchen with your landlord
Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) is the law that protects tenants from mistreatment and illegal eviction. However, if you share a kitchen or a bathroom with your landlord, the RTA does not apply to your tenancy. In these situations, you have far fewer legal rights. You could be evicted without legal cause, and your landlord would be able to impose rules that violate the RTA. [Source: Canadian Centre for Housing Rights] Read about your rights here: Renting in Ontario: Your rights and Rights & Responsibilities for Landlords & Tenants.
Tip #5: Tenant insurance
Tenant insurance, also known as renter's insurance, is a policy that can compensate for the repairs and replacement costs of tenant’s personal property within a rented space. Tenant insurance protects tenants personal belonging and liability in situations such as robbery, theft, fire, personal or third-party injury within a rental unit. Depending on the policies of a tenant insurance, tenant insurance typically covers the following areas:
- Personal belonging and content within a rental unit, if stolen
- Legal and personal liabilities in situations where the tenant or a third-party is injured in the rental unit
- Relocation and additional expenses for tenants whose rental unit is in an unlivable situation due to fire or flood
While a tenant insurance is not mandatory in Ontario, a landlord may ask tenant to get tenant insurance as a premise for renting.
Tip #6:Housing is a human right
International law states that people in Canada should be able to get good housing that they can afford. To help achieve this in Ontario, tenants and landlords have rights and responsibilities under the Human Rights Code. As a tenant, you have the right to equal treatment in housing without discrimination and harassment. You cannot be refused an apartment, harassed by a landlord or other tenants, or otherwise treated unfairly because of your:
• Race, colour or ethnic background
• Religious beliefs or practices
• Ancestry, including people of Aboriginal descent
• Place of origin
• Citizenship, including refugee status
• Sex (including pregnancy and gender identity)
• Family status
• Marital status, including people with a same-sex partner
• Disability
• Sexual orientation
• Age, including people who are 16 or 17 years old and no longer living with their parents
• Receipt of public assistance
You are also protected if you face discrimination because you are a friend or relative of someone identified above. For more information, please review the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s “Human Rights for Tenants” brochure.
Tip #7: Preparing documentation.
When you are in the process of searching and securing housing, there is information that you may need to provide. Some examples are listed below:
What Landlords CAN ask for:
• Full legal name
• Personal contact information (e.g. phone number, email address)
• Proof of income (e.g. pay stubs, financial support documentation)
• Rental history
• First month rent
• Last month rent deposit (at the time of signing a lease)
• Refundable key/fob deposit (at the time of signing a lease)
• Credit score
• References (personal or professional. They may also ask for your previous landlord)
• Guarantor(s)
Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and landlords may not ask for all the items listed above. If you do not yet have credit here in Canada and as a result, have not yet established a credit score, you may communicate this to the landlord of interest to provide other documentation that shows your creditability regarding making payments on time (e.g. Previous landlord reference). If that doesn’t work, you can also consider searching for another rental unit and landlord who does not require a credit score.
What Landlords CANNOT ask for:
• Reservation deposit (e.g. to hold the apartment before you view it or make a decision)
• Cash
• Viewing fees (e.g. charging you to view the apartment)
• Payment before a standard lease is completed, signed, and dated by both you and landlord
• Social Insurance Number
• Credit report (this is different from credit score)
• Personal information that interferes with your rights under the Ontario Human Rights Code (OHRC). These include, but are not limited to, questions about your age, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, family status, disability, place of origin, etc.
• Criminal Record Checks
Check back soon for more tips!