This guide is based on Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act, but it’s still pending legal review. It is NOT legal advice. Please check the official text of the RTA or contact a legal aid clinic or lawyer to confirm.

Repairs: what your landlord must fix

Your landlord must keep your home in a good state of repair and meet health, safety and maintenance standards. This applies even if the problems were there when you moved in, and even if you knew about them and agreed to rent anyway.

Check your repairs →

Common problems

Heat. If your landlord supplies the heat, it’s a vital service from September 1 to June 15. Where a city has no property standards by-law of its own, rooms must be kept at least 20°C, unless you control the heat yourself and it can keep rooms at 20°C. Many cities have their own heat rules, some with a higher minimum. In Toronto, it’s 21°C from October 1 to May 15.
Water and electricity. If your landlord supplies them, hot and cold water and electricity are vital services. Your landlord must not cut them off.
Pests. Getting rid of pests is your landlord’s job. You may need to help, for example by preparing your unit before a treatment.
Mould and leaks. Your landlord must fix leaks and repair the damage they cause.
Appliances, doors, windows and locks that came with the unit must work.

What you’re responsible for

You have to keep your unit reasonably clean, and pay for damage that you, your guests or people living with you cause on purpose or by carelessness. A lease term that makes you responsible for your landlord’s repairs doesn’t count.

How to get repairs done

Ask in writing, by email, text or letter, and keep a copy. Take dated photos.
Give a reasonable time. Urgent problems, like no heat or water, should be fixed right away.
Call your city’s property standards office (311 in many cities). An inspector can order your landlord to make repairs.
Apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board with Form T6. The Board can order repairs and a rent reduction. Apply within one year, and don’t wait: the Board can usually only give a rent reduction for the year before you apply.

Keep paying your rent in full and on time. Holding back rent can put your home at risk, even when repairs aren’t done.

When your landlord comes in to do repairs

Your landlord can enter to do repairs if they give you written notice at least 24 hours before, saying why and when they will come, for a time between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. In an emergency, they can enter without notice.