Listing a tenanted property in Ontario: notice and showings
A tenant stays in place when the owner lists, and under the Residential Tenancies Act you can show the unit to buyers only on at least 24 hours’ written notice that names the reason, the day and a time between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. A sale does not end the tenancy. A buyer who needs the unit for their own family can have the seller serve notice, with at least 60 days and a month’s rent in compensation.
Listing a house or condo with a tenant in it is a three-way arrangement: your seller wants a sale, the buyer wants to see the place, and the tenant has a home there and a legal right to be left alone in it. The listings that go badly are the ones where nobody set the rules for showings before the sign went up. This post covers what the Act says about entering the unit, what a sale does to the tenancy, and how to run the listing so the tenant isn’t working against you.
Who may enter, and when
Section 25 of the Residential Tenancies Act says a landlord may enter a rental unit only as sections 26 and 27 allow. For a listing, three of those rules matter.
- •Showing to buyers: section 27(2) lets the landlord, or a registered broker or salesperson with the landlord’s written authorization, enter on written notice given at least 24 hours before the time of entry, to let a potential purchaser view the unit.
- •What the notice says: section 27(3) requires it to specify the reason for entry, the day of entry and a time of entry between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
- •When the tenant says yes: section 26(1) allows entry without written notice if the tenant consents at the time of entry, and in an emergency. A text that says "come by whenever" last week isn’t consent at the time of entry.
One trap: the no-notice showing in section 26(3) is for prospective tenants, and only once the landlord and tenant have agreed to end the tenancy or one has given notice of termination. It doesn’t cover buyers. A buyer showing always runs on the 24-hour written notice, or on the tenant’s consent at the door.
What the sale does to the tenancy
Section 37(1) says a tenancy may be terminated only in accordance with the Act. The Act has no rule that a sale, by itself, ends one, so unless the tenant leaves or a notice is served properly, the buyer takes the property with the tenant in it. That is what your seller’s buyers are really pricing, and it is why the lease, the rent and the end date belong in the listing conversation before the first showing.
Section 49 is the exception buyers ask about. A landlord who has signed an agreement of purchase and sale can give the tenant notice on the purchaser’s behalf if the purchaser in good faith needs the unit to live in, or for their spouse, a child or parent of theirs or their spouse’s, or a caregiver. The rules to know:
- •Only after a signed agreement. There is no notice on the strength of an offer, and a listing can’t promise vacant possession it doesn’t have.
- •Small buildings and condo units only. Subsection (1) covers a residential complex of no more than three units, and subsection (2) a condominium unit. A larger rental building isn’t covered.
- •At least 60 days. The termination date must be at least 60 days after the notice and fall on the end of a rental period or fixed term.
- •The tenant can leave sooner. Under section 49(4) and (5) the tenant may choose an earlier date on at least 10 days’ notice.
- •Compensation stays with your seller. Section 49.1 requires one month’s rent or another acceptable unit, and says the duty remains with the landlord who gave the notice, not the purchaser.
Check the current version of the Act and the Landlord and Tenant Board’s forms before anyone serves a notice, and send your seller to a paralegal or lawyer for it. Serving one isn’t your job, and a seller who serves it wrongly can lose weeks.
Running the listing with a tenant in place
| Settle this | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Written authorization to enter | Section 27(2) lets a salesperson enter only with the landlord’s written authorization. Get it with the listing agreement. |
| One showing window | Agree blocks with the tenant, for example Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons, so each notice just books a slot inside it. |
| The lease facts | Rent, term, end date, deposit held, who pays utilities, and whether the tenant is staying. Buyers and their agents ask for all of them. |
| Photos and video | Ask the tenant before you shoot, tell them the date, and agree what is moved or put away. Don’t publish photos of their belongings. |
| The sign and lockbox | A lockbox on a tenanted unit invites entry without notice. Most tenanted listings are showing-by-appointment only. |
The tenant isn’t obliged to help you sell, and a tenant who feels pushed around can make showings hard in ways the Act leaves them free to. Courtesy goes further than the 24 hours: a call the day before, a time that works around their shifts and their kids, and a clean-up window before the open house, if the tenant agrees to one. Many agents also write the showing schedule into the seller’s instructions so every buyer agent sees the same notice requirement.
Describe the tenancy in the remarks plainly, and leave out anything about the tenant’s circumstances. "Tenant in place, 24 hours’ written notice for all showings, lease to August 31, 2027, $2,350 a month" tells a buyer agent what they need.
Frequently asked questions
Can I hold an open house in a tenanted unit in Ontario?
Only if the tenant agrees. Showings run on 24 hours’ written notice per entry or the tenant’s consent at the time, and a public open house is many entries at once. Most agents use private appointments, or hold the open house after the tenant has agreed in writing to the day and hours.
Does the tenant have to move out when the unit sells?
No. Under the Residential Tenancies Act a tenancy ends only as the Act allows, and a sale is not one of those ways. A buyer who needs the unit to live in can have the seller give notice under section 49 once an agreement is signed.
How much notice does a tenant get for a buyer’s own-use notice?
At least 60 days, ending on the last day of a rental period or fixed term, and the landlord owes one month’s rent or another acceptable unit.
Can my brokerage serve the notice?
Treat it as legal work. The notice is the landlord’s, given on the purchaser’s behalf, and the forms and current rules are the Landlord and Tenant Board’s. Point the seller to a paralegal or lawyer.
How Listing Launchpad handles a tenanted listing
Listing Launchpad was built so the facts you chase from a seller are asked once and kept with the listing. For a tenanted property, that is mostly the lease details and the showing requests.
- •The lease details only the landlord has: mark the fields you need as Ask client in the client portal and your seller answers each on its own screen, with Not sure and a note under every question. Nothing they send reaches the listing until you approve it.
- •Showing requests that need a notice: the listing’s single-property website has a showing request form, and every request lands as a lead on the listing, so you can turn it into a 24-hour notice for the tenant and book it inside the agreed window.
- •A record of what was agreed: the seller’s answers, your approvals and your notes stay on the listing, so the lease terms in the remarks match what the seller confirmed.
The client portal and the listing website are on every plan, Free included. The website carries a small Listing Launchpad credit on Free and Starter, which Pro and Studio remove.
Robert Cekan is a REALTOR® in Hamilton, Ontario, the publisher of Urbanicity Hamilton, and the founder of Listing Launchpad. The playbooks here come from running real listings.