Rental application package in Ontario: what to ask for and what not to

A rental listing can bring thirty applications in a weekend, and they arrive as screenshots, half-filled PDFs and emails with six attachments. The landlord wants to choose quickly. The agent wants to avoid a human rights complaint or an illegal charge. A fixed package, asked the same way of everyone, handles both.

This post summarizes what the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Residential Tenancies Act say, as read on October 31, 2026. It isn’t legal advice. Confirm anything unusual with your brokerage or a lawyer.

What the Human Rights Code allows you to ask

The Ontario Human Rights Commission’s policy on rental housing explains that a regulation under the Code (Regulation 290/98) sets out what information can be used when choosing tenants. In short:

• •Rental history, credit references and credit checks: these may be requested. A lack of rental or credit history should not be viewed negatively.
• •Income information: a landlord can ask for it, but must also ask for and consider any available rental history, credit references and credit checks together with it. Income can be considered on its own only when no other information is available, and only to confirm the person has enough income to cover the rent.
• •No rent-to-income cut-off: the Commission states it is illegal to apply a ratio such as 30%, except for subsidized units where rent is geared to income.
• •A guarantor: a landlord can ask for one to sign the lease, but only if the same requirement applies to all tenants, not just people identified by Code grounds such as recent immigrants or people receiving social assistance.
• •Nothing else: the Commission says Regulation 290/98 permits no other inquiries.

A package that fits those rules

• •Full legal name, current contact details and the unit they are applying for.
• •Employer, position, length of service and a way to confirm it, or the equivalent for self-employment, pension or other income.
• •Proof of income: recent pay stubs, a letter from the employer, or a Notice of Assessment.
• •Current and previous addresses with landlord contact details, so you can check rental history.
• •Consent to a credit check, and the credit report or score if the applicant provides one.
• •A government photo ID to confirm identity, collected once the landlord is serious about the applicant.
• •References: a landlord reference first, then a personal or work reference.

Treat income as one input. If a landlord says “we only take applicants earning three times the rent”, that is the 30% rule in other words, and it is the kind of rule the Commission says is illegal. Record the decision against the whole file: history, references, credit and income together.

Ask every applicant for the same things, in the same order. If one person gets a guarantor request and another doesn’t, you need a reason that has nothing to do with who they are.

What the RTA says about money

The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 applies to most private residential rental units, including houses, condominiums and basement apartments. Its rules on money at the application stage are short:

• •Rent deposit: under section 106 a landlord may require one if they do so on or before entering into the tenancy agreement, and it can’t be more than the lesser of the rent for one rent period and the rent for one month.
• •If the tenant never gets in: section 107 requires the landlord to repay the deposit if vacant possession isn’t given to the prospective tenant.
• •No application fees: section 134 says that, unless otherwise prescribed, no landlord shall collect or require from a prospective tenant a fee, premium, commission, bonus, penalty, key deposit or like amount, refundable or not. It also bars requiring payment for goods or services as a condition of granting the tenancy.
• •No post-dated cheques: section 108 says neither a landlord nor a tenancy agreement shall require a tenant or prospective tenant to provide post-dated cheques or to permit automatic debiting or charging of a card for rent.

So don’t put an “application fee” on the form, and don’t tell an applicant to bring post-dated cheques. If a landlord wants a credit check, who pays for it is a question for the brokerage and the landlord. Don’t invent a fee.

Handling the applications

• •Use one form for everyone, so you compare like with like.
• •Collect documents in one private place, not in a personal inbox where they sit forever.
• •Keep a simple status for each application: new, reviewing, approved, declined.
• •Tell the landlord what you collected and what you didn’t ask for. They make the decision.
• •When you decline an applicant on behalf of a landlord, be able to point to the reason in the file.
• •Delete what you no longer need, following your brokerage’s retention policy.

Frequently asked questions

How Listing Launchpad handles rental applications

Listing Launchpad was built so a lease listing doesn’t turn into a pile of attachments.

• •Thirty different formats: each agent has one rental application link. The applicant picks the property from your list of rentals and answers the same sections: about them, an emergency contact, employment, residential history, vehicles and parking, and pets.
• •Documents in the inbox: documents are requested to match the answers, such as photo ID, bank statements, pay stubs and a Notice of Assessment, up to 13 uploads, kept in private storage that only you can open.
• •Losing track: the Rentals inbox lists every application as new, reviewing, approved or declined, and you get an in-app notification when one arrives.
• •Lease wording: mark a listing as a lease and the wording and the net sheet follow, with commission in months of rent.

It collects the application and documents. It doesn’t run credit checks or screen tenants, and it doesn’t write the lease, so keep using your screening service and the Ontario Standard Form of Lease. What you ask for is still your call, so check the form against the points above.