Standard lease
If a term takes away an RTA or Code right, that term dies.
Most new private residential tenancies must use Ontario’s standard lease. Even when a landlord uses a homemade contract, the Act and the Human Rights Code still apply.
Ask for the standard lease
If you request a standard lease in writing and do not receive it within 21 days, the Act gives tenants a rent-withholding remedy in prescribed situations. Use that remedy with advice — it is powerful and easy to get wrong. Official guide: Guide to Ontario’s standard lease.
Terms that usually cannot stand
- No guests / no overnight visitors
- No pets as a blanket ban in most private units (condo corporation rules can be different)
- Damage deposits and extra fees the Act does not authorize
- “Tenant waives the right to the LTB”
- Rules that exclude children or people with disabilities
When the fixed term ends
You do not have to sign a new lease. The tenancy usually continues month-to-month on the same lawful terms. To leave, tenants generally give 60 days’ notice ending on the last day of a rental period (28 days for most weekly tenancies), using the proper tenant notice form.