Standard lease & illegal clauses
Lesson 3 of 7 in Tenant Rights & Disputes · 22 minutes
What goes in a Canadian rental lease — and what landlords sometimes try to put in that's not actually enforceable. Newcomer renters are most often targeted with illegal clauses.
What you'll learn
- Recognise the eight key sections of a standard lease
- Identify five illegal or unenforceable clauses commonly seen by newcomers
- Push back politely — but firmly — when a landlord asks for something illegal
From the lesson
If your lease has a clause saying you can't have visitors after 10 PM, or that you have to clean by hand every Saturday — those are not enforceable. Provincial law overrides anything in the lease.
What's in a Canadian lease
The Ontario Standard Lease (and similar)
In Ontario, since 2018, most private rentals must use the 'Residential Tenancy Agreement (Standard Form of Lease)' — Form 2229E. The standard lease is a multi-page document with parties' names, address, rent amount, services included (heat, water, parking, etc.), rules and special conditions. BC, Alberta, and other provinces don't have a mandatory standard form, but their tenancy boards publish recommended templates. The standard…