Ontario lease agreement guide: the Standard Form of Lease, deposits, and rent rules explained

What an Ontario lease agreement is

A lease agreement (also called a tenancy agreement or rental agreement) is the contract between a landlord and a tenant for a residential unit. In Ontario the contract never stands alone: the RTA sits on top of it, and whenever a lease clause conflicts with the Act, the Act wins — the clause is void, even if both sides signed it willingly.

Tenancies can begin without a written lease (a verbal agreement still creates a legal tenancy under the RTA), but for most Ontario rentals, provincial law requires a specific written form. That form, described next, is where Ontario differs from every other province — and where most template sites get it wrong.

The Ontario Standard Form of Lease: mandatory since 2018

Since April 30, 2018, most new residential tenancies in Ontario must use the province's Standard Form of Lease (officially the “Residential Tenancy Agreement (Standard Form of Lease)”, Form 2229E). It's free from the Government of Ontario's forms repository. The landlord must give the tenant a copy of the signed agreement within 21 days of signing.

The standard form covers the core terms:

• Legal names of the landlord and tenant(s)
• The rental unit address (including unit type — house, condo, basement suite, room)
• The tenancy term and start date
• Rent amount, what it includes (parking, utilities, cable, etc.), and how it's paid
• The rent deposit and key deposit, if any
• Smoking rules, tenant insurance, and contact addresses for both parties

Who must use it: private residential rentals — apartments, condo units, houses, townhouses, secondary and basement suites, and rooms in rooming houses.

Who doesn't: care homes; sites in mobile home parks and land-lease communities; social and supportive housing that is exempt from the rent-increase guideline; member units in co-operative housing; and housing the RTA doesn't cover at all (for example, units where the tenant shares a kitchen or bathroom with the owner, and most student residences). One caution: “exempt from the standard form” does not always mean “exempt from the RTA” — several of these categories still have tenancy protections.

The standard form is a skeleton, not the whole body. Landlords can (and should) attach additional terms — but only ones consistent with the RTA. There's a full breakdown of the form and the clauses worth adding on our Ontario lease agreement template page (linked in Related guides below).

If your landlord used the wrong form — or no form

A tenancy signed on a non-standard form is not void; the tenancy exists and the RTA applies in full. But the RTA gives tenants a specific remedy:

1. The tenant asks the landlord, in writing, to provide the Standard Form of Lease.

2. If the landlord doesn't provide it within 21 days, the tenant may withhold rent — up to one month's rent and no more.

3. If the landlord still hasn't provided it 30 days after the tenant began withholding, the tenant does not have to repay the withheld rent.

4. The tenant also gains the right to end a fixed-term or yearly tenancy early — giving at least 60 days' written notice — either because the standard form wasn't provided in time, or within the window after receiving it if they don't agree with its terms.

One related duty: any landlord with a written tenancy agreement must also give the tenant their legal name and an address for serving documents. It's on the standard form — one more reason to use it.

Clauses the RTA makes void (even if you signed them)

Landlords often download leases from other provinces (or the U.S.) that are packed with unenforceable terms. Under the RTA (section 110 and related rules), the following are void in Ontario — and if a clause contradicts the RTA, only that clause dies; the rest of the lease carries on:

• “No pets” clauses — a landlord cannot prohibit pets. The exception is condominiums: if the condo corporation's declaration bans or restricts pets, that rule can govern. Landlords can still act if a pet causes damage, danger, or serious interference.
• Damage, security, cleaning, or pet deposits — see deposits below.
• Late-payment penalties and rule-breaking fines — a landlord cannot charge penalties for late rent or for breaking house rules.
• Extra fees for guests, children, or visitors — not permitted.
• Requiring post-dated cheques or automatic debit — a landlord can ask, but can't require it; tenants choose their payment method (and can change it by agreement).
• Shifting the landlord's repair and maintenance duties to the tenant — the landlord must keep the unit in a good state of repair and fit for habitation, no matter what the lease says. (A tenant can agree to do specific work, like snow removal, only as a separate, severable agreement — and the duty itself doesn't transfer lightly.)

Deposits: first and last, and almost nothing else

Ontario's deposit rules are the strictest in Canada, and the most commonly broken:

• The only rent deposit allowed is the last rental period's rent — for a monthly tenancy, one month's rent (“first and last”). It can be collected on or before the day the tenancy begins — not after, and not in larger amounts.
• It can only ever be applied to the last period's rent. Not cleaning, not damage, not unpaid utilities. A landlord who uses it for anything else without the tenant's written agreement is breaking the rules.
• No security, damage, cleaning, or pet deposits. Any such deposit is illegal even if the tenant “agreed” to it. A tenant who paid one can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board (Form T1) to get it back.
• Key deposit: the one exception. A landlord may collect a refundable key/remotes/fob deposit, but no more than the expected direct replacement cost — think the price of cutting new keys, not a round $250 “administrative” figure. It's returned when the keys come back.
• Your deposit earns interest. The landlord must pay interest on the rent deposit every year, at the same percentage as that year's rent-increase guideline (2.1% for 2026), on or before the tenancy's anniversary. If rent has increased, the landlord can ask the tenant to top the deposit up by the same amount — so in many years the interest and the top-up roughly cancel out.

This is also why “first and last plus a damage deposit” in an Ontario listing is a red flag worth reporting. Our security deposit guide (in Related guides below) walks through what to do if you've already paid one.

Rent increases: the 2026 guideline is 2.1%

For rent-controlled units, Ontario publishes an annual guideline — the most a landlord can raise rent in a year without Landlord and Tenant Board approval. For 2026, the guideline is 2.1% (down from 2.5% in 2025; by law the guideline is tied to the Ontario Consumer Price Index and can never exceed 2.5%).

The pillars of the system:

• Once every 12 months — at least 12 months must pass between increases (and since the tenancy began).
• 90 days' written notice, on the proper form: Form N1 for guideline-covered units, Form N2 for exempt ones.
• Rent control covers units first occupied on or before November 15, 2018. Units first occupied after that date (most new condos and newly built rental units) are exempt from the percentage cap — but the 12-month and 90-day notice rules still apply.
• Above-guideline increases (AGIs): a landlord of a covered unit who wants more than 2.1% must apply to the Board (Form L5) and prove one of three grounds — an extraordinary increase in municipal taxes/charges, eligible capital expenditures (major work with a benefit of at least five years — never routine maintenance), or the cost of providing security services. The increase isn't lawful until the Board orders it.

If an increase breaks these rules — wrong form, short notice, too much money — it is void. Don't just pay it: keep paying the lawful rent, and if you already paid the extra, you can apply to the Board (Form T1) for a rebate, generally within one year of the first overcharge. Full detail is in our Ontario rent increase guide (in Related guides below).

What happens when the lease term ends

A fixed-term Ontario lease does not end the tenancy. When the term expires, the tenancy automatically continues month-to-month on the same terms (RTA section 38) — the landlord cannot demand a new lease, a renewal fee, or that the tenant leave, and the tenant doesn't have to re-apply.

To leave, a tenant gives at least 60 days' written notice (Form N9), ending on the last day of a rental period. Landlords, meanwhile, can only end a tenancy for reasons the RTA lists, using the Board's N-forms — Form N4 for non-payment of rent, N12 when the landlord or a family member genuinely needs the unit, N13 for demolition, conversion, or major repairs, among others. Only the Landlord and Tenant Board can order an eviction, and only the Sheriff can enforce one; changing the locks or shutting off services is illegal. The eviction process guide (in Related guides below) explains the full sequence.