Andrew Fothergill was recently featured in Redfin's guide on what to look for during a first apartment walkthrough, alongside property managers and investors from across North America. The advice in that piece is solid, and the tip we contributed holds up anywhere: most people confirm the water turns on and never confirm it drains, and almost nobody plugs a charger into the outlets or checks cell reception room by room before they sign.
But if you are renting in Ontario, one of the assumptions running underneath that article, and underneath nearly every North American renting guide you will find, does not apply here at all.
Ontario does not have damage deposits
Most US-based advice about move-in walkthroughs is built around protecting a security deposit. The logic is straightforward: you paid the landlord a lump sum at move-in, the landlord holds it against damage, and at move-out you argue about how much of it you get back. Document everything, the reasoning goes, or you lose money.
In Ontario, that framework simply does not exist.
Under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, a landlord may collect exactly two things at the start of a tenancy: a rent deposit, capped at one month's rent (or one week's rent on a weekly tenancy), and a refundable key deposit that cannot exceed the actual replacement cost of the keys or fobs. That is the entire list.
The rent deposit is applied to your last month of rent. It is not security against damage, and it cannot be applied to damage, cleaning, or unpaid utilities without your written agreement. Damage deposits, pet deposits, cleaning fees, and administrative charges for paperwork are all prohibited. If a landlord in Ontario asks you for a damage deposit, they are either unfamiliar with the legislation or hoping you are.
There is one more piece landlords routinely miss: interest is payable on the rent deposit every year, at the provincial rent increase guideline rate. For 2026, that guideline is 2.1%, and 1.9% for 2027. In practice, when rent rises by the guideline amount, the interest owed usually offsets the top-up the landlord is entitled to collect, so no money changes hands. But the obligation is statutory, not optional, and a tenant who has never seen it credited is entitled to ask.
So if the deposit is not at risk, why document anything at all?
Because documentation matters more here, not less
This is the part that surprises people on both sides of the lease.
In a security deposit province or state, the deposit acts as a rough ceiling on your exposure. The landlord holds your $1,800 and the fight, however annoying, is bounded by that number.
Ontario removes the deposit, and with it the ceiling. A landlord who believes a tenant damaged the unit cannot help themselves to anything. They have no self-help remedy whatsoever. What they have instead is the right to bring an application to the Landlord and Tenant Board and prove the claim, and the amount they can pursue is not capped at one month's rent. As of October 1, 2025, the LTB's monetary jurisdiction sits at $50,000.
That changes the character of a move-in inspection entirely. It is not deposit insurance. It is evidence in a proceeding that may happen a year or more from now, in front of an adjudicator who was not there and who will decide the matter on the strength of the documents in front of them.
For a tenant, a dated photo of a scuffed baseboard is the difference between "that was there when I moved in" and "prove it." For a landlord, a signed and dated condition report is the difference between a recoverable claim and a write-off.
The RTA does not require a move-in inspection
Here is the second gap between the American advice and Ontario reality. Several provinces and many US states require a landlord to conduct a joint move-in inspection and produce a signed condition report, sometimes with the deposit forfeited as a penalty for skipping it.
Ontario has no such requirement. There is no statutory move-in inspection, no prescribed condition report form, and no penalty for a landlord who never offers one.
That means the walkthrough in Ontario is entirely a matter of contract and good practice. The Ontario Standard Lease is mandatory for most residential tenancies signed after April 30, 2018, but it does not contain a condition report. Any inspection you get comes from the landlord's own process, or from you asking for one.
Practically, for tenants: do not wait to be offered a walkthrough. Ask for one before you take the keys, and if the landlord will not attend, do it yourself on move-in day and email the results to them the same day. An email you sent that went unanswered is still evidence. A folder of photos on your phone that the landlord never saw is much weaker.
For landlords: the absence of a legal requirement is not a reason to skip it. It is the reason to build your own, because nothing in the legislation will fill the gap for you at a hearing.
What actually happens when a landlord claims damage
Because this drives so much of what is worth documenting, it helps to know the mechanics.
If the tenant is still in possession, a landlord seeking compensation for damage files an L2 application with the LTB. If the tenant has already moved out, the landlord files an L10, Application to Collect Money a Former Tenant Owes, and this is where the clock matters: the application must be filed within one year of the date the tenant vacated. Miss that window and the LTB route closes; the landlord is left with Small Claims Court, where Ontario's limit is also $50,000.
At the hearing, the landlord carries the burden. They have to show the damage was caused wilfully or negligently by the tenant, their guests, or other occupants, that it goes beyond normal wear and tear, and that the repair costs claimed are reasonable. Invoices, quotes, and before-and-after photos are the currency.
Two consequences follow from that, and they point in the same direction for both parties:
- A tenant with timestamped move-in photos of a pre-existing condition wins that specific argument almost automatically.
- A landlord without a baseline record is frequently unable to prove the "before" at all, which is how legitimate damage claims collapse.
The move-in inspection is the only moment where both records get created at once.
An Ontario-adapted walkthrough checklist
The Redfin piece covers the universal ground well, and it is worth reading. What follows are the items that carry particular weight here.
Test drainage, not just supply. Run every sink, tub, and shower for a full minute and watch how quickly the basin clears. Listen for gurgling. Slow drainage at a walkthrough is very often a partial blockage or a venting problem that becomes an emergency work order in your first month.
Plug something into every outlet. A phone charger is all you need. Dead receptacles and outlets controlled by an unmarked wall switch are extremely common in older housing stock across the Quinte and Northumberland corridor, and they are impossible to renegotiate after you have signed.
Check cell reception room by room. Stand in each bedroom and each corner of the unit with a live call running. In converted houses and lower-level units this varies dramatically, and it is not something you can fix later.
Locate and test the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Ontario requires working smoke alarms on every storey and outside all sleeping areas. Carbon monoxide alarms are required adjacent to sleeping areas in any residential building with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage. Press the test button on each one. This is a landlord obligation and a live safety issue, not a formality.
Confirm how heat is supplied and who pays for it. Most Ontario municipalities have a minimum heat bylaw, commonly requiring a landlord to maintain roughly 20°C through the colder months. Confirm the fuel source, confirm which utilities are in your name under the lease, and confirm the thermostat actually controls your unit and not a neighbour's.
Photograph the mechanical spaces. Snap the data plates on the furnace and water heater. You are not buying the building, but the age of the equipment is a fair signal of how the property has been maintained and what your winter utility bills are likely to look like.
Open everything. Ovens, fridges, cabinets, under-sink cupboards, closets. Look for droppings, traps, water staining, and soft spots in the cabinet floor.
Then send it. Wide shots of every room, close-ups of every defect, all timestamped, uploaded to cloud storage, and emailed to the landlord or property manager the same day with a short note. That email is the record that matters.
How we handle this at Blue Anchor
Every tenancy we place gets a documented move-in condition report with photos, filed against the unit and retained for the life of the tenancy. Owners get the same record at takeover, which is why we book a takeover walkthrough as part of our onboarding process before we take over day-to-day management of a property.
It is not a complicated system. It is just one that has to exist before you need it, because in Ontario there is no deposit sitting there to paper over a missing record.
If you are a landlord who wants the legislative side in more depth, we maintain a free Ontario Legislation Tracker covering current and pending changes to the RTA.
Frequently asked questions
Can my landlord charge me a damage deposit in Ontario? No. The only deposits permitted under the RTA are a rent deposit of no more than one month's rent, applied to your last month, and a refundable key deposit limited to the actual replacement cost of the keys.
Is my landlord required to do a move-in inspection? No. Ontario has no statutory move-in inspection requirement and no prescribed condition report form. It is good practice rather than law, which means tenants should request one and landlords should build their own.
Can my landlord keep my last month's rent deposit for damage? Not without your written consent. The rent deposit is applied to your final month of rent. A landlord seeking compensation for damage must apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board.
How long does a landlord have to claim damage after I move out? One year from the date you vacated, using an L10 application to the LTB. After that the LTB route is closed and the landlord would have to pursue the claim in Small Claims Court.
Do I get interest on my last month's rent deposit? Yes, annually, at the provincial rent increase guideline rate, which is 2.1% for 2026. In most years the interest owed offsets the top-up a landlord may collect when rent increases, so it is applied as a credit rather than paid out.
