If you are a newcomer in Canada, it must be very urgent for you to find a place to live. If you are confused about that, don’t worry. In this article, we will introduce you with plenty of advice and details about how to rent a house in Canada.
Types of House Renting in Canada
There are different types of houses in Canada for global students, including: apartment, house or townhouse and condo.
Apartment
The first type of rental in Canada is a normal apartment building with three to five floors, which can contain a dozen of families. The interior includes one-bedroom room, two-bedroom room and three-bedroom room. You can choose one according to your situation.
House
The second type of rental in Canada is the house and townhouse building. It means a single-family house, and the townhouse is a row of houses. This kind of house normally has multiple bedrooms. You can pay the rent according to the size of the bedroom. There are simple bed cabinets inside the bedroom. Kitchen, living room and toilet are shared by all the tenants.
Condo
The third type of house renting in Canada is condo, which is a premium serviced apartment. It has swimming pools, fitness facilities there. Security and power systems are very completed. The inside of the house is very well decorated and the location is very convientient. Therefore the rent will be high.
Student Housing Rent
House rent is about $350-$500 per room.
Apartment rent is between $650-$1000. Cheaper apartments may be unfurnished, more expensive apartments may include plumbing, heating, and appliances.
Typical rent of condo for a two-bedroom room is between $1,200-$1,800.
Utility bills: Generally, the rent includes water, electricity, gas and heating costs in winter, cooking stove and refrigerator, and may even include the cost of parking space, washing machine, etc.
Deposit: Two months’ rent (including one month’s deposit) is often paid when signing a contract.
Detailed Information about renting a house in Canada
Before signing a rental contract, it’s better to check inside the house in person to make sure everything is good. Making sure the stove, outlets, refrigerator, faucets, and light fixtures are working properly, and there are no sewer leaks or bed bugs. Examine the room carefully to see if there are any areas that were damaged before you moved in, and it’s better to take pictures for evidence so you can ask the landlord to fix them.
Contracts are usually yearly and a few are monthly. In Canada, some Chinese lanlords don’t require tenants to sign a lease. The advantage of not signing a lease is that you can stay for a short period of time and move out at any time by notifying the landlord before you leave.
In general, houses and condos are contracted with the landlord, and apartments are usually contracted with you by the head of the apartment building’s management company.
Before signing a contract, please read the terms carefully. The contract is to protect your rights and interests of the rental, with legal benefits. Rental contracts generally include: names and contact information of both parties, address of the house, amount of rent, duration of the rental period, time to pay the rent, rights and obligations of both parties and so on.
A deposit of one month’s or half a month’s rent is usually required to compensate for any damage to the room caused by the tenant during the rental process and to avoid delays in the payment of rent, etc. When paying the deposit, remember to ask for a receipt. Usually when you move out and there are no problems with the room, the deposit will be returned with a receipt. It can also be used for filing your tax return.
The Canadian government requires an indoor temperature should be 20 ℃ in winter. If the house gets too cold, you have the right to ask your landlord to make improvements. Or the tenant can move out without being bound by the contract. In addition, unless there is an emergency, the landlord cannot trespass on the tenant’s room under any circumstances. If he wants to enter the room you rent, he should give 24 to 72 hours’ written notice or ask for your permission.
Landlords don’t have the right to raise rents arbitrarily. According to government regulation, a landlord can only propose a rent increase after a tenant has been renting for 12 months, and the tenant needs to be notified 90 days in advance.
When the contract expires, if you don’t want to renew the contract, you have to inform the landlord at least one to two months earlier. A landlord who is dissatisfied with a tenant and has a valid reason for doing so may give the tenant 20 days’ written notice to move out, or give the tenant a 7 to 14 days changeover period.
If the landlord has other reasons for asking the tenant to move out at the end of the contract, the landlord must give the tenant 60 days’ notice. If there are repairs or alterations to the property, the tenant must be given four months’ notice. If the lease has not expired when the tenant moves out, the tenant should still pay the landlord rent. If the rent is paid monthly, the notice to quit should be given to the landlord in writing at least 1 month before the move.
Useful Websites about House Renting in Canada
View It
You can find houses by price, location, neighborhood, etc., and most of the houses have photos!
uhomes
uhomes is a very useful rental website for global students to find a suitable house abroad. In this website, you can find your dream place to live according to your destination.
Toronto Rentals
This website can be categorized by price range, type of houses, number of houses, bedrooms, house configuration, and even friendliness of people.
Condos
This website can help you choose the best range and find an ideal apartment.
FAQ
The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is about $1,920 and the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is about $2,293.
To live comfortably in Canada, a single person would need an annual salary of $45,000 and above (after taxes), while a family of four would need about $90,000 to $100,000. Influencing factors include lifestyle and region of residence.
A popular criterion for rent budgeting is to follow the “30% rule,” where 30% of your gross income is spent on rent. In 1981, the government found that people who spent more than 30% of their income on housing were “cost overburdened.”
