What Can Landlords Legally Ask and Charge Applicants in Ontario?

In Ontario, you can ask applicants for income, credit, and references (with consent) — but you cannot charge an application fee, a damage deposit, or a pet deposit, and you cannot reject someone on a rent-to-income ratio alone. The only legal deposits are last month's rent and a key deposit.

This article is general information, not legal advice. For guidance specific to your situation, consult the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), a licensed paralegal, or current resources at ontario.ca. The rest of this page maps exactly what you can ask, what you can charge, and what crosses a legal line — with a particular focus on what those rules mean for an automated pre-qualification flow.

Ontario is one of the most restricted screening environments in North America — and most tools are built for somewhere else

The gap shows up the moment you try to use a US-built leasing or screening tool in Ontario. Those platforms often include an application-fee step by default, auto-reject applicants who don't clear a rent-to-income ratio, or filter out anything other than T4 employment income. In Ontario, each of those defaults can be illegal.

That's the real question this page answers: not just "what's the law?" but "what does that law mean for how I screen applicants — including any automated step in that flow?" The rules are knowable, finite, and entirely workable. The risk is in not knowing them and leaving a US-default intact.

Reminder: this page is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your specific practices with the LTB or a licensed paralegal.

What can a landlord legally ask an applicant in Ontario?

Ontario law does not prohibit all screening — it prohibits screening that maps to a protected characteristic or operates as a de facto discriminatory filter. The following questions are generally permitted, provided you apply them consistently to every applicant:

• Income and proof of income — employment letters, pay stubs, bank statements, or other evidence. (Note: what you do with that information has its own rules — covered below.)
• Credit check — with the applicant's written consent.
• Credit references — accounts in good standing, payment history.
• Rental references and rental history — previous landlords, tenancy track record.
• A guarantor or co-signer — provided you apply this requirement consistently to all applicants, not selectively. Selectively requiring a guarantor from certain applicants can become a Human Rights Code issue if the pattern tracks a protected ground.
• Occupant names, number of occupants, pets, smoking — all standard and permitted.

The common thread: these questions are acceptable because they relate to tenancy risk, not protected identity — and because they're applied evenly across every applicant. The moment a question maps to a characteristic the Human Rights Code protects, or the moment the same question is asked of some applicants but not others, you're on the wrong side of the line.

What CAN'T a landlord ask — the Ontario Human Rights Code grounds

Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, a landlord cannot screen applicants on the basis of any protected characteristic. The protected grounds in the housing context include: race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed (religion), sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, disability — and receipt of public assistance.

Any screening question that maps to one of these grounds is off-limits.

Receipt of public assistance deserves its own attention — it's the ground most often violated by automated tools.

A PM coming from a US screening mindset may be accustomed to filtering for "employment income only" or using a field that auto-rejects applicants whose income doesn't come from a T4. In Ontario, that is a Human Rights Code violation. "Receipt of public assistance" — housing benefits, Ontario Works, ODSP — is a protected ground under the OHRC's Policy on Human Rights and Rental Housing. Screening out benefit income, or running an automated flow that treats non-employment income as a disqualifier, is directly illegal.

This is one of the most common places a US-built leasing tool goes wrong in Ontario. If your pre-qualification flow has an income-type filter, that filter needs to accept all legal income sources — not just employment.

Can a landlord use a rent-to-income ratio (the "30% rule") in Ontario?

Not as a standalone gate. Under Ontario Regulation 290/98 under the Residential Tenancies Act, it is illegal to use a rent-to-income ratio as the sole criterion for refusing a rental application. Income information must be considered together with credit references, credit checks, and/or rental history — not instead of them.

The nuance matters: the ratio itself isn't banned. Using it as a pass/fail door — without weighing other inputs — is.

For a pre-qualification flow, this means the compliant pattern collects income as one data point alongside credit and references, and leaves the final judgment to a human. An automated flow that blocks an applicant because they don't hit a 3× income threshold, without considering anything else, is the illegal design.

Can a landlord charge an application fee or security deposit in Ontario?

No. Section 134 of the Residential Tenancies Act prohibits landlords from charging or requiring any payment from a prospective tenant beyond two specific deposits. This prohibition covers application fees, security deposits, damage deposits, pet deposits, and cleaning deposits — by any name.

Renaming a prohibited deposit does not make it legal. A "move-in fund," "administrative deposit," or "cleaning fee" collected at the start of a tenancy is still a deposit under the Act. If it's taken from an incoming tenant as a condition of renting, and it isn't last month's rent or a key deposit, it's prohibited.

This matters in an automated screening flow: if your tool has a payment step — even a nominal one framed as an "application processing fee" — it cannot be presented to Ontario applicants. There is no minimum below which it becomes legal. Zero is the floor.

What deposits CAN an Ontario landlord legally collect?

There are exactly two.

Last month's rent deposit: Collected before or at the start of a tenancy; capped at one rental period; interest must be paid to the tenant annually. Critically, this deposit cannot be applied to repair damage — it applies only to the last month of rent. Landlords who treat it as a security buffer are misapplying it.

Key / fob / access device deposit: Legal only when it is capped at the actual replacement cost of the device — this is a refundable cost-recovery, not a security buffer. A $300 "key deposit" on a $30 fob is not permitted. If the tenant returns the key, the deposit must be returned. If the tenant loses it, the actual replacement cost is what you're entitled to recover — not an inflated amount set at the start of the tenancy.

Everything else — a charge labeled "security," "damage," "pet," "cleaning," or "move-in" — is prohibited under RTA s.134, regardless of what it's called on the lease or the application form. Collecting one of these deposits exposes a landlord to a repayment order from the LTB, including interest.

It's also worth noting what the last month's rent deposit is not: it is not a security deposit in disguise. You cannot deduct from it at the end of a tenancy to cover damage. That's a separate dispute process entirely (through the LTB), not an automatic right against the deposit you're holding.

Is the Ontario Standard Lease mandatory — and what happens if you don't use it?

Yes. The Ontario Standard Lease has been mandatory for most private residential tenancies since April 30, 2018, under the Residential Tenancies Act. If a tenancy requires a written lease, it must use this form.

The consequence for not providing it has real financial teeth. If a tenant requests the Standard Lease in writing, the landlord has 21 days to provide it. If they don't, the tenant may withhold one month's rent — legally, not as a dispute — and/or end a fixed-term lease with 60 days' written notice.

That's a paperwork miss that can cost a month's rent. The Standard Lease is not a technicality to handle after the fact — it should be the default agreement for every new residential tenancy. Landlords can add terms in the addendum section, but those terms cannot override the mandatory provisions of the Act, and any clause that does is unenforceable even if both parties sign it.

Can a landlord run a credit check or ask for a guarantor in Ontario?

Credit check: Yes — with the applicant's written consent. Consent is not optional. It is also a legitimate input into your screening decision, particularly when considered alongside income and rental references (as O. Reg 290/98 requires).

Guarantor or co-signer: Yes — but only if applied consistently to all applicants. Requiring a guarantor from some applicants and not others raises a Code problem if that pattern correlates with a protected ground (e.g., applicants on social assistance, or younger applicants). The criterion must be neutral and uniformly applied.

How to set up a compliant tenant-screening flow in Ontario

The rules above aren't abstract — they translate directly into decisions about how your pre-qualification flow is built and what steps it includes. Here's the compliant-flow checklist:

1. Charge no application fee at any step. If your leasing tool has a payment step before submission, it needs to be removed for Ontario applicants.
2. Never gate on a bare rent-to-income ratio. Collect income as one input — don't use it as a pass/fail door that decides the outcome before a human reviews the file.
3. Accept all legal income types. Employment income, government benefits, pension, support payments — all are valid under Ontario law. Filtering to employment-only is a Code violation.
4. Collect income alongside credit and references, not instead of them. This is what O. Reg 290/98 requires — and it's also better screening practice.
5. Apply every criterion consistently — guarantors, references, income documentation — to all applicants without exception.
6. Use the Ontario Standard Lease as your default agreement. Don't improvise a lease and add it as an afterthought.

Most leasing and screening tools are built for the US market, where application fees and ratio-gating are standard. Their defaults often don't fit Ontario out of the box. A tool worth using in this market lets you control what the flow asks and whether it collects any payment — so you can configure it to match your province's rules. You stay the compliance owner; the tool should give you that control, not take it away.

LetHub is built by a Victoria, BC team with Canadian property managers in mind. You decide what fields you ask and what the flow charges. If you want to see how that looks in practice, the demo is the right next step.

See how a leasing flow you control — what it asks, what it charges — can fit Ontario's rules. Book a demo.

Frequently asked questions

Can a landlord charge an application fee in Ontario?

No. RTA s.134 prohibits application fees. The only payments a landlord may collect from a new tenant are a last month's rent deposit and a key deposit at actual replacement cost.

Is a security or damage deposit legal in Ontario?

No. Damage, security, pet, and cleaning deposits are all prohibited under the Residential Tenancies Act, regardless of what they're called on the lease.

What deposits can an Ontario landlord collect?

Two only: a last month's rent deposit (max one rental period, interest payable annually, not applicable to damage) and a key or fob deposit capped at the device's actual replacement cost.

Can a landlord ask for proof of income in Ontario?

Yes, with the applicant's consent — but income cannot be the sole screening criterion and must be weighed alongside credit checks and/or rental references (O. Reg 290/98).

Is the "30% rent-to-income rule" legal in Ontario?

Not as the sole criterion. Using a rent-to-income ratio alone to reject an applicant is prohibited under O. Reg 290/98; it must be one factor among several, not a standalone gate.

Can a landlord refuse a tenant on social assistance or benefit income?

No. "Receipt of public assistance" is a protected ground under the Ontario Human Rights Code; screening out benefit income — including through an automated filter — violates the Code.

Can a landlord run a credit check in Ontario?

Yes, with the applicant's written consent. It's a legitimate input into the screening decision, particularly as part of a multi-factor review.

Can a landlord require a guarantor in Ontario?

Yes, if the requirement is applied consistently to all applicants rather than selectively — selective application can raise a Human Rights Code issue if it tracks a protected ground.

Is the Ontario Standard Lease mandatory?

Yes, for most private residential tenancies since April 30, 2018. A tenant who requests it in writing must receive it within 21 days; failure to provide it can allow the tenant to withhold one month's rent.

Can a US-built leasing tool be used legally in Ontario?

Only if you can configure it to charge no application fee, accept all legal income types, and not gate on a bare income ratio — its defaults often don't fit Ontario out of the box, and those defaults are the landlord's legal exposure.