Ontario's Standard Lease and the Landlord and Tenant Board: What Student Tenants Get Wrong

What the standard lease has to include

If you rent a private apartment, house or basement unit in Ontario, your landlord has to use the province's standard lease form for most new tenancies. This has been mandatory since April 30, 2018. The form lays out rent, parking, utilities, deposits, smoking rules and maintenance responsibilities in plain language, with a minimum 10-point font so terms are not buried in fine print.

The Ontario government's standard lease guide states that a lease cannot take away a right or responsibility set out in the Residential Tenancies Act. That line matters more than most of the form itself: any clause your landlord adds that contradicts the Act does not hold up, even if you signed it.

What the standard lease does not cover

The standard lease does not apply to every kind of student housing. It excludes care homes, mobile home park sites, land lease communities, co-operative housing and most social and supportive housing. If you live in a university-run residence, you are usually under a residence agreement instead of the standard lease, with different rules set by the school.

Check which category your building falls into before you assume LTB protections apply. A purpose-built student residence operated directly by your university often sits outside the Residential Tenancies Act entirely.

Deposits: what a landlord is allowed to ask for

Ontario does not allow damage deposits or "last month plus extra for damage" arrangements. A landlord is allowed to collect a rent deposit, capped at one month's rent, or one rental period if you pay weekly, applied to your last month of tenancy. A landlord is also allowed to request a key deposit, limited to the replacement cost of a key or fob and refundable once you return it.

A request for a separate damage or security deposit on top of these is not enforceable under the standard lease.

Terms a landlord cannot sneak into "additional terms"

The standard lease has a section for additional terms both sides agree to. Landlords sometimes use it to add house rules that go beyond what the Act allows. A term banning guests, banning roommates, or requiring a pet-free unit through an "additional terms" clause is not enforceable, because the Act already sets the baseline for these issues and a lease cannot remove a tenant right.

Read this section closely before you sign. An unenforceable clause in your lease does not prevent confusion or a dispute with your landlord later, even though the LTB would side with you.

When your landlord will not fix something

Ontario landlords are responsible for maintaining the unit in a good state of repair and meeting health, safety and housing standards. If a landlord ignores repeated requests to fix heating, plumbing, pests or a broken appliance covered in the lease, file a T6: Tenant Application About Maintenance with the LTB.

Document the problem before you file. Photos, dated messages to your landlord, and a written record of when you first reported the issue all strengthen a T6 application.

When your landlord will not return your deposit

Your rent deposit has to go toward your last month of rent, plus interest calculated at the rate the province sets each year. A T2: Application About Tenant Rights covers a dispute where a landlord refuses to apply the deposit correctly, or will not return a key deposit once you have given the key back.

Filing at the LTB

Tenants file a T2 or T6 through the Tribunals Ontario Portal . Both applications cost $53 by mail or in person, or $48 through the portal. LTB fees are non-refundable, even when your application succeeds, so gather your evidence before you file rather than filing first and sorting out proof later.

For a plain-language walkthrough of the hearing process, Tribunals Ontario's LTB site outlines how to prepare and what happens at a hearing.

Mistakes student tenants make most often

Assuming a "no subletting" clause is automatically valid is one common mistake. Under the Act, a landlord is allowed to refuse a sublet only for a reasonable cause, and has to respond to a written request within a set window regardless of what an added clause says.

Another is waiting to complain about repairs until move-out, then trying to use the issue to get out of a lease early. The LTB process works best when you report problems as they happen and keep records for the whole time you live there, not only at the end.

Interest on your rent deposit

A landlord has to pay you interest on your rent deposit every year you live in the unit, at the same percentage as the province's annual rent increase guideline for that year. Most landlords credit this toward your rent rather than paying it separately, but you are still owed it even if a landlord forgets or does not mention it. Check your rent receipts or ask directly if you do not see it applied.

Ending a tenancy before the lease term is up

A fixed-term lease does not end automatically just because you finish the school year and want to move. If your landlord agrees, both of you sign an N11: Agreement to End a Tenancy, which sets an exact move-out date and releases you from rent after that date. Without a signed N11 or an approved assignment, you remain responsible for rent through the end of your lease term, even during a summer you plan to spend elsewhere.

Ask early rather than close to move-out. A landlord with time to find a new tenant is far more willing to sign an N11 than one who finds out with a few weeks' notice.