Landlords
- when you rent them a home
- while they live there
Examples of tenants’ rights that you must respect:
- their right to equality
- their right to privacy
- their right to peaceful enjoyment of their property
- their right to the inviolability of their home
- their right to dignity
- their right to integrity
These rights are guaranteed by the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
This video imitates a reality show by featuring prospective tenants who must compete to obtain housing.
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Selecting tenants: avoid discrimination and respect people’s privacy
You must not discriminate when choosing your tenants. Everyone has the right to housing, regardless of their personal characteristics.
1. Be careful about the biases that influence your choice of whether to rent to someone.
For example:
- You cannot decide that someone who views the property will not be a ‘good’ tenant because they have children, are on social assistance or use a wheelchair.
- You cannot use people’s ethnic origin, religion or French abilities in your selection criteria.
- Remember that having a precarious job or being on social assistance does not necessarily prevent people from paying their rent.
2. Ask only for the information required to determine if the person is in a position to rent your home
You cannot require people to provide the following information in order to sign a lease:
- the number of people who will be living there
- the age or sex of their children or the type of custody arrangement
- their employment or salary details or their employer’s contact information
- their social insurance, health insurance or passport number
- their T4, pay stub, bank account balance or bank account number
- their driver’s licence or registration number or the make or year of their vehicle
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This document contains a list of authorized questions: Propriétaires d’immeubles à logements : un aide-mémoire sur les droits de la personne en matière de logement (French only)
3. Get the person’s consent before you do any checks
(for example, a credit check)
You cannot:
- ask about any personal characteristics (for example, their religion, their age or if they are married)
- refuse to rent your home to someone on the basis of your biases
You can:
- verify the person’s ability to pay rent. For example, you can ask for proof of regular payments.
We suggest conducting a credit check only when the person fails to provide you with proof of regular payments.
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Respecting your tenants while they occupy the home
You must respect your tenants’ fundamental rights and freedoms.
For example, you cannot:
- enter the dwelling without the tenant’s permission, other than in certain exceptions
- evict your tenant without valid reason
- harass your tenant
- allow discriminatory messages to be displayed in the building’s common areas
What should I do if someone files a complaint against me?
Your tenants can file a complaint against you if you violate their rights at the time you rent to them or while they live there. For example:
- You refuse to rent someone a home because of their personal characteristics
- You harass someone because of their personal characteristics
If the Commission accepts your tenant’s complaint and decides to investigate, we will contact you to let you know.
Learn more about how you must cooperate with our investigation:
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most common questions that we receive about landlords’ obligations.
Useful links
The Commission provides a variety of free tools to help you understand and meet your obligations.
- For Rent Without Discrimination campaign
- Aide-mémoire sur le droits de la personne en matière de logement (French only)
Organizations
- Tribunal administratif du logement
- Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCALQ)
- Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec