Rentdigi: What Documents Does a Canadian Landlord Ask For Before a Lease?

A Canadian landlord will normally ask for photo ID, proof of income, references, and your consent to run a credit check. That is the standard package, and there is nothing wrong with it.

What surprises most renters is the other half: your Social Insurance Number is not required, a minimum-income rule is illegal in Ontario, and an application fee is illegal in Ontario and BC — though legal in Alberta.

Knowing which is which is the difference between a normal application and one you should walk away from.

The normal package

Expect to be asked for:

• Photo ID — for identity verification
• Proof of income — pay stubs, an employment letter, a notice of assessment, or bank statements
• Employment letter — role, length of service, salary, a contact
• Consent to a credit check — consent is required before anything goes to a credit bureau
• References — a previous landlord, sometimes an employer or personal reference
• First month's rent, and where lawful, a deposit — the limits are provincial; see below

No federal or provincial law prescribes a standard application package. What is regulated is what a landlord may not do with it.

Your SIN is not required

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is direct about this. The SIN is "a confidential number used for income reporting purposes," and you should not give it to a private-sector organization "unless there is a legal requirement to do so." A landlord is not one.

The OPC's guidance to the rental housing sector tells landlords not to request SINs at all, and says that where one is collected optionally it must be clearly marked optional.

The practical point: a credit check needs only your name, address and date of birth. If a landlord tells you they need your SIN to run credit, that is not correct.

Under PIPEDA a landlord must also tell you the purpose of collection before or at the time they collect, gather no more than they need, and not keep it longer than necessary.

What a landlord cannot ask, by province

Ontario

Ontario has the strictest rules in the country. A regulation under the Human Rights Code sets out an exhaustive list of permitted screening practices — the Ontario Human Rights Commission states the regulation "permits no other inquiries."

The key limits:

• Income information may be requested, but only if the landlord also requests and considers rental history, credit references and a credit check together with it. Income cannot be looked at in isolation.
• Rent-to-income ratios are illegal. The "you must earn 3x the rent" or "rent can't exceed 30% of income" rule breaches the Code, except for rent-geared-to-income subsidized units. This was settled in Kearney v. Bramalea Ltd. and upheld on appeal.
• Guarantors may only be required if required of every applicant — not selectively.
• A lack of rental or credit history should not be viewed negatively. That matters enormously for newcomers and students, and our cross-border renting checklist covers the same problem for people arriving from the US.

British Columbia

BC's Human Rights Code protects tenancy applicants on grounds including race, ancestry, place of origin, religion, marital and family status, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age — and lawful source of income, a ground that applies specifically to tenancy. Discrimination based on a perceived characteristic is equally prohibited.

BC has no closed list of permitted questions the way Ontario does.

Alberta

The Alberta Human Rights Act covers race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, gender identity and expression, disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status and sexual orientation.

Landlords may ask about income amount, rental history, credit history and references. They may not ask about family or marital status, plans to have children, religion, or where you were born. A landlord cannot refuse an otherwise-qualified applicant because their income comes from AISH, a rental subsidy or other income supports.

Deposits: the actual limits

This is where provinces diverge most sharply. Do not assume one province's rule applies in another.

Ontario — Maximum one month's rent (one week's if rent is weekly), and it is a rent deposit only: it can be applied to the last rental period and nothing else. There is no damage or security deposit in Ontario. The landlord must pay you annual interest at the rent increase guideline rate. A landlord cannot require post-dated cheques or pre-authorized debit, though you may agree to them.

British Columbia — Security deposit up to half of one month's rent. A pet damage deposit of up to a further half month, regardless of how many pets. Guide and service dogs are exempt. Late rent fees are capped at $25 and must be in the agreement.

Alberta — Security deposit cannot exceed one full month's rent, and it is a one-time payment. Interest must be paid annually unless you and the landlord agree in writing to pay it at the end of the tenancy.

Application fees

Ontario and BC: not allowed. The BC government states plainly that landlords "can't charge a fee for accepting, reviewing or processing a rental application." Ontario prohibits non-refundable application and processing charges; a tenant who has paid one can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board.

Alberta: allowed. Service Alberta's Residential Tenancies Act handbook says a landlord may charge an application fee, and an applicant who does not want to pay it does not have to apply.

Ontario's mandatory standard lease

For most Ontario tenancies signed on or after April 30, 2018, the landlord must use the government's standard lease form.

If they do not provide one, you can request it in writing. The landlord then has 21 days to supply it. If they do not, you may withhold one month's rent — and if it still is not provided 30 days after that, you may keep the withheld amount. You cannot withhold more than one month and must otherwise keep paying rent.

BC and Alberta have no equivalent mandatory lease form.

The red flag that matters most

The RCMP's guidance on rental deposit scams is one line worth memorizing: never send money before viewing a rental in person. Legitimate landlords let you see the unit before any payment.

The other signals from the same advisory: artificial urgency, rent priced well below the area, listing photos that look lifted from a real estate site, communication confined to an app, and insistence on e-transfer specifically — because it is hard to reverse.

Requesting documents before a viewing is not illegal anywhere in Canada. But a demand for full ID, your SIN, banking details or a deposit before you have seen the unit and before anything is signed combines two independently documented problems: over-collection of personal information, and paying before viewing.

If that is the situation you are in, you are allowed to say no and keep looking. Our guide to finding the right rental covers what to verify first.

FAQ

Do I have to give my landlord my SIN?

No. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada advises against giving your SIN to any private organization without a legal requirement, and specifically tells landlords not to request it. A credit check only needs your name, address and date of birth.

Can a landlord require me to earn three times the rent?

Not in Ontario. Rent-to-income ratios and minimum income cut-offs breach the Ontario Human Rights Code, except for rent-geared-to-income subsidized housing — established in Kearney v. Bramalea Ltd. Income can be considered, but only alongside rental history and credit.

Can a landlord charge a rental application fee in Canada?

It depends on the province. Ontario and British Columbia prohibit fees for accepting, reviewing or processing an application. Alberta permits them.

How much can a landlord ask for as a deposit?

Ontario: one month's rent, usable only as last month's rent. British Columbia: half a month, plus up to another half month as a pet damage deposit. Alberta: no more than one full month's rent in total.

What if a landlord asks for money before I see the unit?

Do not send it. The RCMP advises never sending money before viewing a rental in person, and treating pressure to pay by e-transfer before a viewing as a scam signal. Verify who owns the property before any funds move.

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On Rentdigi, every landlord passes government-ID and liveness verification before a listing goes live, so the person asking for your documents is a person we have confirmed exists. See how verification works.

Sources: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada · Ontario Human Rights Commission, Policy on human rights and rental housing · BC Human Rights Tribunal · Alberta Human Rights Commission · Landlord and Tenant Board, A Guide to the Residential Tenancies Act · Government of British Columbia, tenancy deposits and fees · Service Alberta, Residential Tenancies Act handbook · Government of Ontario, guide to the standard lease · RCMP rental scam advisory

This is general information, not legal advice. Tenancy rules differ by province and change over time — check your provincial tenancy authority for your situation.