Student Housing in Ontario: Residence, Rentals and What It Costs

What first-year residence costs

Residence fees vary by room type and whether a meal plan is mandatory. At University College, University of Toronto, 2026-27 occupancy fees range from $16,548 to $21,236 depending on room type and meal plan, according to the University College residence fees page . Traditional dorm-style rooms with a mandatory meal plan sit at the higher end, while apartment-style residences with kitchens and an optional meal plan cost less on the room side.

Check your specific school's residence and meal plan pages before you budget, since fees differ across Ontario institutions and change every academic year. Ask whether your building requires a meal plan. Buildings with shared kitchens usually make it optional, which lowers your total bill if you already cook for yourself.

Guaranteed first-year spots

Most Ontario universities guarantee a residence space to incoming first-year students who apply and pay a deposit by a spring deadline. At the University of Ottawa, for example, students secure a spot with a $1,000 deposit due by an early-June deadline, according to the university's OUInfo residence page . Deadlines and deposit amounts change every year, so confirm the current date on your specific offer school's housing page as soon as you accept your admission.

The guarantee usually covers direct-entry high school applicants who apply by the deadline, not transfer students, returning students, or students who accept a late admission offer. If you fall outside the guarantee, apply anyway: many schools fill cancellations from a waitlist through the summer.

Off-campus rent by city

Rent varies sharply across Ontario's main university and college cities. Average two-bedroom apartment rents from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Fall 2024 rental market survey:

Source: CMHC Fall 2024 Rental Market Report . A one-bedroom unit or a shared room in a larger unit costs less than these two-bedroom averages, and splitting a two or three-bedroom unit with roommates usually beats a studio on a per-person basis. Check the full CMHC data tables for your specific city before you sign, since rates shift with each survey.

Deposits, utilities and hidden costs

Ontario law caps the rent deposit a landlord collects at one rent period, usually one month, and that deposit must go toward your last month of rent, not damage. A landlord cannot legally demand a separate security or damage deposit on top of that.

Ask before you sign whether heat, hydro, water and internet are included in rent. Older houses split into student rentals often bill utilities separately and unevenly among the number of tenants, which adds real cost on top of the listed rent, especially through an Ontario winter.

Leases and tenant rights

Off-campus rentals in Ontario, including most student houses and apartments, fall under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. Your landlord must use the province's standard lease form for most private residential tenancies, and you keep rights around notice periods, repairs, and rent increase limits under that Act.

On-campus residence contracts work differently. Most university dorms sit outside the Residential Tenancies Act under section 5(g), which means your residence agreement, not provincial tenancy law, governs issues like early termination or room changes. Ask your residence office for written confirmation of which rules apply to your specific building, and keep it with your contract.

Co-op terms and short leases

If your program includes co-op or work terms, you'll often need housing for a four-month block rather than a standard twelve-month lease. Some landlords near co-op-heavy schools offer four-month subleases built around the school's work term calendar, but many standard leases still run twelve months, so search specifically for a sublet or a landlord experienced with co-op turnover before you sign a full-year lease you won't use over the summer.

Roommates and commuting trade-offs

Sharing a unit cuts your per-person rent the most in Ontario's expensive cities, but it adds friction around chores, guests, and shared bills. Look for a lease that names every tenant individually, and understand that joint and several liability still applies before you sign with people you don't know well.

Commuting from a cheaper neighborhood or a nearby smaller city trades rent savings for transit time and cost. Weigh a monthly transit pass and travel time against the rent difference before you commit to a longer commute, especially in winter when Ontario transit slows with weather.

Finding a place off campus

Most Ontario schools run an off-campus housing listing service through their student housing office, aimed at landlords who rent specifically to students near campus. Start there before a general rental site, since listings get vetted and often include past-tenant reviews.

Tour a unit in person or over video call before you send any money, and never wire a deposit to a landlord you have not verified owns the property. Ask current tenants at a building about heat, noise, and how fast the landlord responds to repair requests.

What residence fees include that rent doesn't

A residence fee usually bundles utilities, internet, basic furniture, and building maintenance into one price, along with proximity to class that saves a transit pass or parking cost entirely. Off-campus rent rarely includes all of that, so compare the full cost of an off-campus unit, including utilities, internet and a transit pass, against the residence sticker price rather than comparing rent alone. A growing number of purpose-built student accommodation buildings near campus sit between these two options, bundling furniture and utilities like a residence while running on a standard lease. Check what you actually get for the price at one of these buildings before assuming it works like either a dorm or a typical rental.

Rent increases and renewing your lease

Ontario sets an annual rent increase guideline that caps how much a landlord raises the rent on an existing tenancy without applying to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an above-guideline increase. Units first occupied on or after November 15, 2018 sit outside that guideline entirely, so a newer building's landlord raises rent by any amount with proper written notice. Check your building's first-occupancy date before you assume your rent is capped.

Your landlord must give proper written notice, using the correct form, before any rent increase takes effect, and only one increase is allowed in any twelve-month period on the same unit. If a renewal offer looks unusually steep, check your building's status and your notice against the current Landlord and Tenant Board rules before you agree to a new rate.

Tenant insurance

The Residential Tenancies Act doesn't require tenant insurance, but most private landlords add it as a lease condition anyway. A basic renter's policy covers your belongings against theft or fire and covers you if you accidentally damage the unit, and it usually costs far less than a single month's replacement cost for a laptop, textbooks and furniture. Ask your specific insurer about student discounts and confirm the policy covers the full lease term before you sign.

Subletting and assigning your lease

If your program includes a term away, co-op or exchange, Ontario tenants generally hold the right to sublet or assign a unit for the remaining lease term, and a landlord cannot unreasonably refuse consent. Get any sublet or assignment agreement in writing and confirm with your landlord in writing too, since a verbal handshake with a subletter leaves you responsible if rent stops arriving.

Smaller college towns

Smaller Ontario college and university towns such as London, Kingston, Guelph, Hamilton, Peterborough and Sudbury generally rent for less than Toronto, Ottawa or the Waterloo Region, though supply tightens every September when a new class of students arrives. Check CMHC's rental market data for your specific city before committing to a budget, since local numbers move independently of the province-wide trend.