Repairs and Pest Control
Are you covered by the Residential Tenancies Act?
Please note that the information on this page is for tenants covered under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), specifically those who live in for-profit rental housing. You may be excluded from all or parts of the Residential Tenancies Act if you live in social housing, non-profit housing, co-operative housing, a student dormitory, a shelter, a jail/prison, or a care home. If you share a kitchen or bathroom with your landlord or a landlord's close family member, you are likely exempt from the RTA (unless the landlord moved in after you moved in).
How do I get repairs or pest control done?
Your landlord is required to follow maintenance standards in accordance with City bylaws and the Residential Tenancies Act. Units must be kept in a “good state of repair,” and comply with health and safety standards. It is the landlord’s responsibility to:
- repair appliances
- pay for pest control
- manage garbage
- remove snow
- repair holes and structural issues
- repair electrical and plumbing problems
- and clean common areas
Generally, landlords are not required to do cosmetic repairs.
Ask your landlord in writing to do repairs (and keep a copy for yourself). Texts and emails are only legally recognized if the landlord responds. If – after a reasonable amount of time for the situation – your landlord has not addressed the issue, you can contact The City of Toronto at 3-1-1 and ask for Municipal Licensing and Standards (MLS) to come and do an inspection.
Chapter 629 of Toronto's Municipal Code outlines in detail how landlords must maintain their properties. MLS can order your landlord to fix the issue or face re-inspection fees.
If the landlord has still refused to do the repair, you can file a T2 and/or T6 application with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). They can order your landlord to do the repairs as well as order compensation. Unfortunately, there is a long wait time for a hearing.
You also have the option to pay for the repair yourself and then seek reimbursement through the LTB. You could do this through filing a T6 and/or T2 application.
If you have been living a long time with a pest or repair issue, and your landlord has failed to adequately respond, consider seeking a rent rebate for the months you have had to deal with the issue. You can request this by filing a T2 and/or T6 application with the LTB. You may also be entitled to reimbursement for any damage to your belongs as a result of your landlord's failure to repair a problem or deal with pests. Sometimes indicating that you intend to file is enough to pressure your landlord to meet their basic responsibilities under the act to do repairs/pest control.
For tenant application forms, visit the bottom of this page on the Landlord and Tenant Board website.
For more information, please see this post from the Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations: How to get repairs done.
Source: Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations