Housing: renting your first home
Steps, in order
- Learn how renting normally works: you sign a lease, pay rent monthly, and your landlord must follow the province's tenancy law. Read the lease before signing and keep a copy.
- Expect landlords to ask for proof of income, references, and sometimes a credit check. As a newcomer without Canadian credit history, a larger deposit is not always legal — check your province's rules — and a letter from an employer or a settlement worker can help.
- Search on large, well-known rental portals and on local settlement-agency housing lists. Visit the place before paying anything, and never send money for keys you have not seen.
- Watch for rental scams: no viewing plus pressure to pay in advance, a price far below similar listings, and a 'landlord abroad' story are all warning signs. If you are unsure, ask a settlement agency or call 211 for local housing help before paying.
Rules differ by province: Landlord and tenant rules are provincial or territorial. Deposits, rent increases, eviction rules, and tribunal names differ by province; always check your province's tenancy rules before signing. Start at your province's official site (below), then follow its links to health, driving, tenancy or schools — never assume one national rule.
Province official sites — start here
- British Columbia — official site
- Alberta — official site
- Saskatchewan — official site
- Manitoba — official site
- Ontario — official site
- Quebec — official site
- New Brunswick — official site
- Nova Scotia — official site
- Prince Edward Island — official site
- Newfoundland and Labrador — official site
- Yukon — official site
- Northwest Territories — official site
- Nunavut — official site
Official & finder links
Check before you act: No rental portal is endorsed by this draft and no local listings are included, by design. The parent should add only large, verified portal links at build time, or keep the section portal-free with a 211 pointer.
General information only — not legal or financial advice. Rules, benefit amounts and local services change. Use the official or finder links above to confirm details before acting. No local addresses or phone numbers are listed here on purpose — use the national finders above for your area.