Fair Housing in Ontario: What a Landlord Can and Can't Ask

This article is general information, not legal advice. Screening is governed by the Ontario Human Rights Code and its regulations; consult qualified counsel or the Ontario Human Rights Commission for your situation.

There is a clean line running through tenant screening in Ontario: you are allowed to assess an applicant's ability to pay and be a reliable tenant, and you are not allowed to make decisions based on who they are. The Ontario Human Rights Code draws that line, and crossing it, even unintentionally, exposes you to a human-rights complaint. Here is where the line sits.

The protected grounds

In housing, the Code prohibits discrimination based on: race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed (religion), sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age (18 and over), marital status, family status, disability, and receipt of public assistance. You cannot refuse an applicant, or treat them differently, because of any of these.

What you cannot ask or do

The problem is usually not a landlord announcing they will not rent to someone. It is the ordinary-sounding question or policy that targets a protected ground:

• Questions aimed at a protected ground. "Where are you originally from?" "What church do you go to?" "Do you have children, or are you planning to?" "Is that a disability?" None of these belong in screening.
• "No kids" or "adults only." Family status is protected. You cannot refuse a family with children or advertise a unit as adults-only (outside genuine seniors' housing).
• Source-of-income discrimination. Receipt of public assistance (such as ODSP or Ontario Works) is a protected ground. You cannot refuse someone because their income comes from social assistance, and you cannot advertise for "professionals only" or "working people only."
• Extra scrutiny for some groups. Applying tougher checks, or demanding more documents, from applicants of a certain background, family situation, or income source is discrimination even if everyone is eventually "considered."

What you can ask

Plenty. The key is that you ask it of everyone, and base the decision on ability to pay and tenancy history:

• The same proof of income from each applicant (pay stubs, an employment letter, deposit history).
• Credit references and a credit check, with the applicant's consent.
• Rental history and references, asked with the same factual questions for everyone.

The income rule most landlords get wrong

This one is specific to Ontario and worth memorizing. Under the regulation that governs screening, you may request income information, but only alongside credit references, rental history, or a credit check, and you must consider all of it together. You generally cannot rely on income information on its own, and you cannot use a rent-to-income ratio (the "rent must be under 30 percent of income" rule) as an arbitrary cutoff to screen people out, unless the unit is specifically rent-geared-to-income.

In practice: a rent-to-income figure can be one input, but a strong applicant with solid credit and references should not be rejected because they land slightly over a ratio. Our guide to verifying income goes deeper on doing this fairly.

Consistency is your protection

The single best safeguard, both for fairness and for staying onside of the law, is a consistent process: the same requests, the same criteria, the same questions, applied to every applicant, with the decision documented against ability to pay. If you would not treat a factor as disqualifying for one applicant, it is not disqualifying for another. A repeatable process, like our tenant screening checklist, is what makes "I treated everyone the same" a fact you can show, not just a claim.

Do not forget the duty to accommodate

Beyond not discriminating, landlords have a duty to accommodate disability-related needs up to the point of undue hardship, for example a reasonable modification request or a service animal despite a "no pets" clause. Accommodation is part of fair housing, not an exception to it.

Frequently asked questions

Can I refuse to rent to a family with children? No. Family status is a protected ground, and "adults only" advertising or refusing families is discrimination (outside genuine seniors' housing).

Can I turn down someone on ODSP or Ontario Works? No. Receipt of public assistance is protected. You cannot refuse an applicant because of their source of income, or advertise for "professionals only."

Can I use a 30 percent rent-to-income rule? Not as a sole cutoff. In Ontario you must consider income together with credit and references, and cannot screen people out on a rent-to-income ratio alone.

What if I get it wrong? An applicant who believes they faced discrimination can file with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. A consistent, documented process is your best protection.

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Fair screening and consistent screening are the same thing, and consistency is far easier when your process and records live in one place. Habyn helps small landlords run the same fair, documented process for every applicant. See how Habyn helps landlords.