Section 20 · vital services
Habitability is the landlord’s job.
A landlord must keep the rental unit and complex in a good state of repair, fit for habitation, and in compliance with health, safety, and maintenance standards — even if the problem existed when you moved in, and even if the lease pretends you accepted the unit “as is.”
Work the file
- Write the landlord. Date it. Describe the problem and the risk (no heat, mould, broken lock, sewage).
- Photograph and video with timestamps.
- Call municipal property standards / bylaw and keep the service request number.
- If vital services the landlord must supply are cut or interfered with, treat it as urgent — T2 territory as well as T6.
- File T6 at the LTB if the landlord will not act. Ask for repairs, a rent abatement, and costs.
Do not stop paying rent as a self-help repair strategy without advice. Ontario’s Board expects the rent stream to continue while you apply. Withholding can hand the landlord an N4.