Starting April 30th 2018 landlords in Ontario are now required to use a new standardized lease agreement made by the Ontario government.
You can see a copy of the lease here: Click here for Ontario’s new 2018 standardized lease.
Why Is There A Standardized Lease?
According to the government they are trying to make an easier to understand lease which can capture basic information but also prevent landlords from including provisions in the lease which cannot be added. For example a landlord cannot ban guests or pets. Before the standardized lease, lease agreement could look very different from one landlord to the other.
What Properties Does The New Lease Apply To?
All residential tenant properties in Ontario but not care homes, mobile home parks, land lease communities and social housing.
What’s New With The Lease?
- A guidebook in 21 different languages will accompany the lease.
- Section 15 of the lease will allow for tenants and landlords to make additional terms to the lease. But the government is informing tenants and landlords what can and cannot be added in these sections.
- The lease will outline information about rent, deposits, utilities and contact information.
Our Opinion
The standardized lease may have good intentions and will provide one lease for each landlord across the province but we believe not enough is being done to protect the rights of the landlords who invest in their properties. Without more rights for landlords, rental unit conditions across the province can deteriorate or you may even see residential landlords exiting, cutting the supply to an already low vacancy market.
Humberview Insurance is an insurance broker located in Toronto that provides landlord insurance to small and medium sized landlords across Ontario.