What can a landlord ask for on a rental application in Canada?

Three kinds of law decide what goes on a rental application: the province's tenancy law (fees and deposits), privacy law (what a landlord can collect and keep), and human rights law (what can never count against an applicant). Here's how they add up in the five provinces this guide covers.

Yes, in every province, with the applicant's consent. The Privacy Commissioner of Canada says a landlord needs consent to share an applicant's details with a credit reporting agency, and that a name, address and date of birth are enough to run the check.¹ What changes by province is the paperwork around it.

• Ontario: the Consumer Reporting Act requires written notice before a landlord gets a report. If the report is part of why you turn someone down, say so when you give your decision, and if they ask within 60 days, give them the agency's name and address.¹¹
• British Columbia: the privacy commissioner says consent can be collected on the application, but the check itself should run only on your shortlist, near the end.²⁰ If a report leads you to refuse someone or change the terms, tell them in writing within 30 days.²⁴
• Alberta: consent is required, and the commissioner says an applicant can get their own credit report and give you a copy instead.²⁹
• Manitoba: the Personal Investigations Act requires consent before a landlord checks an applicant with anyone else, including a credit bureau. Written consent must be in at least 10-point type, above the signature.^39,40 After a refusal, written notice is due within 10 days.³⁹
• Quebec: allowed with consent, using only a name, address and date of birth.⁴⁴ The consent has to say who will be consulted, and it can't be open-ended.^49,51 The province's human rights commission strongly discourages checking every applicant, because it can screen people out for their social condition, and says landlords should accept other proof that someone can pay.⁵²

Does a landlord's credit check hurt your score?

It can. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada lists “some rental applications” among the hard inquiries that can affect a credit score, while checking your own report is a soft inquiry that doesn't.⁵ It's one more reason to run the check only on applicants you're seriously considering.

Our tenant credit check consent form covers the wording, and what a tenant credit check shows walks through reading the report.

They can ask, but they can't require it, and in Quebec they shouldn't collect it at all. Service Canada says you don't have to give a SIN to fill in a rental application,⁴ and the federal Privacy Commissioner says a landlord doesn't need one for a credit check; if a form asks for it, the question has to be clearly marked optional.^1,2

• BC: the privacy commissioner says not to ask every applicant for a SIN, or to make it optional, because a name and date of birth usually identify someone well enough.²⁰
• Alberta: the commissioner says to avoid it, and that a landlord can't refuse a tenancy because an applicant won't give it.²⁹
• Quebec: a landlord can look at an ID card, a SIN card included, but can't record its number, and can't turn someone down for refusing to give it.^44,45

For landlords, a SIN adds risk without adding anything the credit check needs. The Ontario Human Rights Commission notes it can reveal things like refugee status, so a blank should never count against anyone.¹⁰

A landlord can ask to see government photo ID in every province, to confirm who they're dealing with. Keeping a copy is where the provinces split.

• Ontario and Manitoba: the federal Privacy Commissioner says a landlord can ask to see ID but likely doesn't need to keep a copy of a driver's licence.¹
• BC: view it and hand it back. The commissioner says not to photocopy it or write down a licence or passport number.^20,21,22
• Alberta: looking is fine; a photocopy may not be, since a driver's licence also records eye colour, height and weight.²⁹
• Quebec: the same as BC. A landlord can look at an ID but can't photocopy it, photograph it or note its numbers.^44,45

If you want more certainty than a glance, an ID verification does the checking for you. In a tenant background check from The Great Renter, the applicant photographs their ID and takes a live selfie through a secure link, so you confirm who they are without ever holding a copy.

Outside Quebec, yes: whether someone can afford the rent is exactly what a landlord is allowed to find out. The federal Privacy Commissioner says a landlord can ask to see pay stubs or tax information if they explain why, and likely doesn't need to keep a copy once the income is confirmed.¹

• Ontario: Regulation 290/98 lets a landlord ask for income information, but only alongside rental history, credit references or a credit check, and income has to be weighed together with them.⁷ The Human Rights Commission says a landlord can confirm income exists but shouldn't judge where it comes from, that nothing in the regulation allows questions about employment history, and that requiring a permanent job has been found discriminatory.¹⁰
• BC: the privacy commissioner says to ask for proof of income only when references aren't enough,²⁰ and then for one document: recent pay stubs, a letter from the employer or permission to call them, a tax assessment, or bank statements showing payroll deposits. Ask only about the current job.²¹
• Alberta: the commissioner allows reasonable proof that the applicant can pay the rent, with an explanation of why it's needed.²⁹ The Human Rights Commission says a landlord can ask how much someone earns but can't refuse them because of where it comes from, such as AISH.³⁴
• Manitoba: the Human Rights Commission says a landlord may ask about the applicant's employer, position and salary.⁴²
• Quebec: the exception. The Commission d'accès à l'information has ordered landlords to stop collecting employer names, salaries and banking details, and the Tribunal administratif du logement says that information isn't needed to sign a lease.^45,50 An applicant can still choose to show a pay stub or an employment letter, and the human rights commission suggests landlords accept that kind of proof instead of a credit check.^52,54

Calling the employer

Only with the applicant's consent. Checking with anyone other than the applicant counts as collecting personal information, so the federal Privacy Commissioner says to get consent first.¹ BC's commissioner accepts an applicant's permission to call their employer as a form of income proof,²¹ Alberta's says information should come from the applicant unless they agree otherwise,²⁹ and Manitoba's Personal Investigations Act requires consent before any such inquiry.³⁹

This is the version of the question people search most, and the answer changes the most by province. A bank statement shows far more than income: balances, account numbers and every place the applicant spends money.

• BC: the only province with official guidance that names them. The privacy commissioner lists bank statements showing regular payroll deposits as one of several acceptable proofs of income, says the applicant can black out every other transaction and balance, and says a landlord can't require three months of statements.²¹ Banking details, like account numbers for paying rent, can't be required before the tenancy starts.²⁰
• Quebec: no. The human rights commission lists a bank balance and account number among the things a landlord can't require,⁵⁴ and the privacy regulator has ordered landlords to stop collecting banking details.⁵⁰
• Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba: no rule names bank statements. They fall under the general privacy rule that a landlord collects only what's reasonably needed and says why,^1,29 so a pay stub or employer letter should normally do. In one federal case, a property manager settled a complaint by making banking details optional on its form.³

Yes, in every province, with consent. The federal Privacy Commissioner says a landlord needs the applicant's consent both to get a reference and to give one about a former tenant.^1,2

• Ontario: rental history is on Regulation 290/98's list of things a landlord may request.⁷ The Human Rights Commission says having no rental history isn't the same as a bad one, and warns against refusing someone only because of where or how long they lived before.¹⁰
• BC and Alberta: the privacy commissioners say a reference should stick to what matters for a tenancy, such as rent payment history, complaints and damage, not personal characteristics, and that a landlord can reasonably decline an applicant who won't give any.^20,29
• Manitoba: the Personal Investigations Act means consent comes before the call.³⁹ The Human Rights Commission warns that requiring references can unfairly exclude refugees, immigrants and young people.⁴²
• Quebec: a landlord can ask for the name and contact details of a current or previous landlord, or a reference letter.⁴⁴

Our landlord reference letter template includes a written request and a call sheet with the same questions for every reference.

Usually, but not selectively. A guarantor requirement is a term of the tenancy, and every province's human rights law bars setting different terms because of a protected characteristic.

• Ontario: Regulation 290/98 lets a landlord require a guarantee of the rent.⁷ The Human Rights Commission says to ask only if you ask every tenant, or because of poor references, credit or a history of default, never because an applicant is a newcomer, young, a lone parent, on social assistance or racialized.^9,10
• Manitoba: the Human Rights Commission suggests letting applicants offer a guarantor, and its sample policy says not to require one without reasonable cause.^42,43
• Quebec: the human rights commission says a landlord may ask for a guarantor when an applicant can't show they can pay, as long as the decision isn't based on stereotypes.⁵⁴ What a landlord collects about the guarantor is limited to their identity and their ability to pay.⁵¹
• BC and Alberta: no specific guidance, so the general rule applies: a guarantor requirement can't be imposed because of a protected characteristic.^23,33

Rarely. Outside Quebec it isn't banned outright, but the privacy regulators set a high bar, and in Quebec it's off the table.

• BC: the privacy commissioner treats criminal history as sensitive. A landlord needs a purpose a reasonable person would accept, such as a unit in the same building as a daycare, and can't make consent to a check a condition of renting unless it's necessary, which it usually isn't.²⁰
• Alberta: the commissioner says asking may not be reasonable, and a landlord has to be ready to justify it.²⁹
• Ontario: Regulation 290/98 doesn't mention police record checks, and the Human Rights Commission warns they can have an adverse impact, for example on people whose police contact relates to mental health. It allows that a narrow case, such as a lone parent renting out the basement of their own home, may justify one with the applicant's permission.¹⁰
• Manitoba: no specific guidance; as with any check involving someone other than the applicant, consent comes first.³⁹
• Quebec: no. The privacy regulator ordered a landlord to stop asking applicants about criminal convictions,⁵⁰ and the human rights commission counts checking criminal history among the practices a landlord should avoid.⁵³

A criminal record isn't a protected ground in housing in Ontario, BC or Alberta (Ontario and BC protect it only in employment), so in those provinces the limit comes from privacy law rather than human rights law.^8,23,33

If a check is justified, the applicant has to request it. In Canada, criminal record checks are done by local police or an RCMP-accredited company, with the person's consent,⁶ and in Ontario the results go to the applicant first, then to a landlord only with their written consent.¹⁷

Not in Ontario, BC or Manitoba, and it's risky in Quebec.

• Ontario: the Residential Tenancies Act bars charging a prospective tenant any fee unless a regulation allows it, and no regulation allows an application fee. A refundable key deposit is the only extra amount permitted.^12,13
• BC: section 15 of the Residential Tenancy Act bans any fee for accepting or processing an application, investigating the applicant, or accepting them as a tenant.^18,19
• Manitoba: banned since May 30, 2023, including any payment for investigating an applicant.³⁵
• Alberta: not banned, but the government's handbook says a fee should cover only actual costs, be disclosed up front, and may be unenforceable if it goes further. A refundable fee counts toward the one-month deposit limit.³¹
• Quebec: the Civil Code bars a landlord from requiring any amount other than rent, “in the form of a deposit or otherwise”.⁴⁷ Yet the government's legal information site says a landlord may ask an applicant to pay reasonable costs for a credit check.⁵⁵ With the official sources pulling in different directions, the safe course is not to charge.

Every province caps deposits, and each counts them differently.

• Ontario: the only deposit allowed is a rent deposit of no more than one month's rent, requested on or before signing and applied to the last month of the tenancy. It can't be used for damage, and the landlord pays interest on it every year at the rent increase guideline rate: 1.9% for payments due in 2027.^12,14 A refundable key or fob deposit is the one extra.¹³ So “first and last month's rent” is legal in Ontario; a damage or pet deposit isn't.
• BC: a security deposit and a pet damage deposit are each capped at half a month's rent.^18,19 Prepaid last month's rent counts as part of the security deposit, so landlords can't ask for “first and last month's rent”.^25,26
• Alberta: a security deposit can't exceed one month's rent, and it goes into a trust account within two banking days.^30,32 Any refundable amount counts toward that limit.³¹
• Manitoba: a security deposit of up to half the first month's rent, plus a pet damage deposit of up to one month, neither payable until the tenancy agreement is made.^35,36
• Quebec: no deposit of any kind, keys included. A landlord can require only the first month's rent in advance.^46,47

Holding deposits

A payment to take the unit off the market is still a deposit. In Ontario it has to be the rent deposit, refunded if the unit is never handed over.¹² In BC, paying a deposit establishes the tenancy, so the landlord can't then rent to someone else.¹⁹ In Manitoba, a deposit can't be required before the agreement is signed,^35,37 and in Quebec none is allowed at all.⁴⁷

Post-dated cheques

Ontario bars requiring post-dated cheques or automatic debits, though a tenant can choose to use them.^12,16 Manitoba and Quebec also bar requiring post-dated cheques, and allow them if the tenant offers.^35,46,47 BC goes the other way: a landlord can ask for them if it's a term of the tenancy agreement.²⁷ Alberta's law and handbook don't address them.

Tenant insurance

In Ontario, the standard lease lets landlord and tenant agree that the tenant must carry liability insurance, and the tenant then shows proof if asked; contents insurance is the tenant's call.¹⁵ In BC, tenant insurance can be an additional term of the tenancy agreement,²⁸ and Alberta's official lists of what a lease covers include insurance requirements.³² Manitoba is the outlier: its Residential Tenancies Branch says a landlord generally can't insist on liability insurance as a condition of the tenancy.³⁸

Every province's human rights law bars refusing a tenancy, or offering worse terms, because of a protected characteristic. That makes some questions pointless at best and evidence of discrimination at worst. The Ontario Human Rights Commission says asking applicants' ages on a form has been found to be discrimination based on family status, even when it's framed as optional.¹⁰

Leave these off the form and out of the conversation:

• Age (beyond confirming an applicant is an adult, or old enough for a seniors building) and whether anyone is, or might become, pregnant
• Children, family size, marital status or relationships
• Race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, ethnic origin, citizenship or immigration status
• Religion or creed
• Sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression
• Disability, health or medications
• Where income comes from (social assistance, disability benefits or a pension, for example), as opposed to whether there's enough of it

Each province adds its own details:

• Ontario protects receipt of public assistance and citizenship, and the Commission says a 30% rent-to-income cut-off is not allowed.^8,9
• BC protects lawful source of income and Indigenous identity; age protection starts at 19.²³
• Alberta protects source of income, and the Human Rights Commission says courts have found rent-to-income ratios unfairly disqualify some groups. Its examples of questions not to ask include whether you plan to have children, where you're from, and whether you go to church.^33,34
• Manitoba protects source of income, political belief and social disadvantage, which covers things like a history of homelessness or chronic low income.⁴¹
• Quebec protects social condition, language and political convictions, and the Civil Code separately bars refusing someone because they're pregnant or have children, unless the unit is too small.^47,48

1. Use an application that asks only what your province allows. Our free Ontario, BC, Alberta and Manitoba rental applications mark the sensitive questions optional and leave off the ones that can't be asked.
2. Ask every applicant the same questions and apply the same criteria. The Ontario Human Rights Commission says a landlord should be able to show how the successful applicant was chosen.¹⁰
3. Screen your shortlist, not everyone. Run the credit check once you're seriously considering an applicant.²⁰
4. Call past landlords with the applicant's consent and the same questions each time.²
5. Keep only what you need, then destroy it. Don't keep applications indefinitely.² In BC, keep anything you used to decide for at least a year first.²¹