Build your Ontario Residential Tenancy Agreement in 5 minutes — free.
Ontario requires the Residential Tenancy Agreement (Standard Form of Lease) — Form 2229E. NestBord builds a document that includes every clause that form requires, captures e-signatures, and produces a ready-to-send PDF.
What every Ontario lease must cover
The tenant is encouraged but not required by the Act to obtain tenant's contents and liability insurance. Where the lease requires the tenant to obtain liability insurance, the ten…
RTA 2006, s. 4 (terms restricting tenant rights are void)
The tenant may not make alterations to the rental unit (including painting, drilling beyond ordinary picture hooks, or removing fixtures) without the landlord's prior written conse…
RTA 2006, s. 64 (damage); Ontario Human Rights Code s. 2
The landlord is responsible for maintaining the rental unit and the residential complex in a good state of repair and fit for habitation, and for complying with health, safety, hou…
RTA 2006, s. 20 (landlord) and s. 33 (tenant)
The tenant may assign the rental unit to another person only with the consent of the landlord. The landlord may refuse to consent or may impose conditions, but may not arbitrarily …
RTA 2006, ss. 95 (assignment) and 97 (sublet)
Rent is payable on the day specified in section 4 of this lease. The landlord may not require the tenant to provide post-dated cheques or to pay by automatic debit (pre-authorized …
RTA 2006, ss. 108 (post-dated/PAD) and 109 (receipts)
The landlord may enter the rental unit only as permitted by the Act: (a) in cases of emergency; (b) with the tenant's consent at the time of entry; (c) with 24 hours' written notic…
RTA 2006, ss. 25–27
At the end of a fixed-term tenancy, the tenancy automatically continues on a month-to-month basis on the same terms; the tenancy does not end automatically and the landlord cannot …
RTA 2006, ss. 37–50; 58–63 (landlord)
Smoking of tobacco, cannabis or other substances inside the rental unit is permitted or not permitted as set out in section 9 of this lease. A no-smoking term is enforceable; if th…
Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017; RTA 2006, s. 64
A provision in this lease that prohibits the presence of pets in or about the rental unit is void. The landlord may, however, apply to the LTB to terminate the tenancy if the past …
RTA 2006, s. 14 (no-pet provisions void); s. 76 (LTB termination)
Clauses Ontario landlords add that don't actually work
These show up in homemade and copy-pasted leases all the time. None of them are enforceable in Ontario.
Section 14 of the RTA makes provisions prohibiting pets void. A landlord may still apply to the LTB if a specific animal causes harm, damage, or substantial interference, but a blanket no-pets clause is unenforceable.
RTA 2006, s. 14
The landlord's obligation to maintain the unit in a good state of repair (s. 20) cannot be contracted out of. The tenant is only responsible for ordinary cleanliness and for damage caused by the tenant or their guests.
RTA 2006, s. 20 (landlord); s. 33 (tenant); s. 4 (terms void)
Ontario prohibits charges beyond the rent and the limited deposits permitted by the Act. Landlords cannot collect mandatory cleaning fees in advance or deduct them from the last month's rent deposit. Damage and unpaid amounts must be pursued through the LTB.
RTA 2006, ss. 105–106 (rent deposits); s. 134 (illegal additional charges)
The tenant has reasonable enjoyment of the unit, which includes the right to have guests. A blanket restriction on overnight or weekend guests is unenforceable as a term that substantially restricts a right under the Act.
RTA 2006, s. 22 (reasonable enjoyment); s. 4
Rent increases in Ontario are governed by the annual guideline (2.5% for 2026) and require 90 days' written notice on Form N1. Increases written into the lease above the guideline are unenforceable unless the unit is exempt (first occupied after November 15, 2018) or the LTB has issued an above-guideline increase order.
RTA 2006, ss. 116–120; O. Reg. 516/06
Ontario prohibits late fees as an unlawful additional charge. The landlord may charge the actual NSF fee charged by the bank and a maximum $20 administrative charge, but not arbitrary late-payment penalties.
RTA 2006, s. 134; O. Reg. 516/06, s. 17
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