Newcomers rarely get turned down for being a risk. They get turned down for not having the documents a Canadian landlord expects, and for not knowing what the rules actually are. Both are fixable, and this page fixes them.
If you have rented in another country, some of this will be familiar and some of it will be genuinely different. The differences are where people get caught out.
A good unit in the GTA may get several applications the same day. Landlords choose. This is why arriving with a complete package matters more than anything else you can control.
Expect to show an employment letter, pay stubs or bank statements, and to be asked for a credit check. Landlords need your consent to run one.
Ontario has one official lease, Form 2229E. Any extra clause that conflicts with the law is void, even if you signed it. Read section 15, where extra terms go.
First month's rent, plus a last month's rent deposit. That is the maximum. Damage deposits and security deposits are illegal in Ontario.
Almost every newcomer hits this wall. There are legitimate ways around it, and there are things you should refuse. Know the difference before you start viewing.
A co-signer, sometimes called a guarantor, is someone already established in Canada with good income and good credit who signs the lease alongside you and becomes legally responsible if the rent is not paid. For a landlord looking at a thin file, this answers almost every concern at once.
Ask early, and be honest with them about what they are agreeing to. It is a real financial commitment, not a formality. A relative or long-settled friend is the usual choice.
This one is widely misunderstood, and getting it wrong costs newcomers money. Under sections 105 and 106 of the Residential Tenancies Act, a landlord cannot require more than a last month's rent deposit. Demanding six or twelve months upfront as a condition of renting to you is not legal.
However, a tenant who voluntarily offers to prepay may do so, and the courts have treated a genuine voluntary prepayment as a credit against future rent rather than an illegal deposit. So it is a legitimate way to strengthen an application when your file is thin.
A credit score exists to answer one question: will this person pay. A bank statement showing several months of rent sitting in an account answers the same question directly. Bring it, and bring an employment letter confirming your role, salary and that the job is ongoing.
If you have a credit report from your home country, bring that too. It will not be scored here, but it shows a history of meeting obligations and it shows you came prepared.
A landlord cannot refuse you because of your citizenship, your place of origin, your ethnic background, your religion, your family status, or because you receive public assistance. These are protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
They also cannot charge a damage deposit, a security deposit, a pet deposit or a cleaning deposit, and a “no pets” clause is void under section 14 of the Act. You never need to give anyone your Social Insurance Number to rent a home.
Landlord and tenant relationships in Ontario go wrong for predictable reasons, and nearly all of them trace back to something that was never written down.
Get every promise into the lease. If the landlord says they will repaint, replace the fridge, or allow a parking spot, it goes in section 15 in writing. A verbal promise is worth very little at the Landlord and Tenant Board.
Keep requests in email. Not text, not phone calls. If you ever need to show that you reported a problem and nothing happened, you will need a dated record.
Photograph everything on move-in day. Every room, every existing mark, and every meter reading. It takes ten minutes and it settles almost every argument about damage when you leave.
Report faults even if you plan to fix them yourself. It starts the clock on the landlord's legal duty to repair, and it protects you from being blamed later for an unauthorised alteration.
The short version, from someone who does this every week across Toronto, Peel and Durham.
In the meantime, the checklist below covers everything the video will, in writing.
Answer these and you will get a formatted PDF you can attach to any rental application, so a landlord sees a complete, organised file instead of a blank one. Takes about three minutes.
We only ask what a landlord legitimately needs. We never ask for your Social Insurance Number, your immigration status, or where you are from.
The more specific you are, the better we can match you and the stronger your application looks.
This is what a landlord is really assessing. If you have not started work yet, say so and mention your offer letter.
These are the things that turn a thin file into an accepted one. Be honest — a landlord will verify.
We can view it with you, check the lease before you sign, and tell you honestly whether the rent is fair for that area. There is no cost to you as a tenant.
Talk to Mo