Housing Rights
Eviction protections, security deposits, habitability, rent increases, housing discrimination, and tenant privacy across Canada.
Covered in this guide:
If you rent in Canada, your landlord must keep the place habitable, follow a formal eviction process, and respect your privacy — but the details are provincial. Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act, BC's Residential Tenancy Act, and Quebec's Civil Code each set different rules on deposits, rent increases, and notice. Quebec bans security deposits; Ontario allows only last month's rent. Discrimination is banned by your provincial human rights code and the federal Canadian Human Rights Act for federally regulated landlords.
Key Laws
Canadian Human Rights Act
R.S.C. 1985, c. H-6
Prohibits housing discrimination on protected grounds
National Housing Strategy Act
S.C. 2019, c. 29, s. 313
Right to adequate housing, Federal Housing Advocate
National Housing Act
R.S.C. 1985, c. N-11
CMHC mandate, mortgage insurance, affordable housing
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Part I, Constitution Act, 1982, s. 15
Equality rights applicable to housing
Eviction Protections
A landlord cannot just tell you to leave. Every province and territory requires a formal eviction process — written notice, a legally valid reason, and in most cases a tribunal order before you actual...
Security Deposits
This is the area where Canadian rules diverge the hardest. What a landlord can take, what they have to return, and the deadline for returning it depend entirely on which side of a provincial border yo...
Habitability Standards
Every Canadian landlord owes a statutory duty to deliver a safe, livable unit that meets building code standards. That covers working plumbing, electrical, heating, and pest control — the basics that...
Rent Increases
Most provinces cap how often and how much rent can move. The general rule across the country: rent goes up at most once every 12 months, and a landlord must give written notice — usually 90 days in ad...
Discrimination in Housing
Refusing to rent to someone, treating them worse, or evicting them based on a prohibited ground is illegal in Canada — at the federal level under the Canadian Human Rights Act, and at the provincial l...
Tenant Privacy
The unit is your home, not the landlord's drop-in office. Across every Canadian province, a landlord owes at least 24 hours' written notice before walking in.Entry has to be for a valid reason — neces...