Ontario’s no-pets clause rule: what section 14 does, and what it doesn’t

Ontario is the province people mean when they say a landlord can’t ban pets. The sentence is half right, and the half that is wrong is where people get hurt. This guide sets out what the rule actually says, what it covers, and what it leaves alone.

What section 14 says

Section 14 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 is one sentence long:

A provision in a tenancy agreement prohibiting the presence of animals in or about the residential complex is void.

Void means the clause has no effect. If your lease has a no-pets clause, you are not breaking your lease by keeping a pet, and your landlord cannot evict you simply for having one. It does not matter whether the clause is printed in the lease or added as an extra term.

What it does not do

It does not stop a landlord choosing between applicants. Section 14 is about a tenancy agreement, and before you sign one there is nothing for it to void. A landlord can ask whether you have pets and can turn down your application because you do. Steps to Justice, Ontario’s public legal information service, says so directly.

It does not reach condo rules. Section 14 is about provisions in a tenancy agreement, and a condo’s declaration, bylaws and rules are not one. The Condominium Act requires occupiers to comply with them, and Steps to Justice says condos can make their own rules about pets and tenants must follow them. How condo rules bind tenants.

It does not apply where the Act does not apply. If you share a kitchen or bathroom with the owner, or with the owner’s spouse, child or parent, and that person lives in the same building, the Act does not cover your accommodation at all, and neither does section 14.

It does not allow a pet deposit. The only security deposit an Ontario landlord may collect is a rent deposit of no more than one month’s rent, and the Act prohibits almost every other charge. A landlord agreeing to your pet does not change that.

It does not excuse what an animal does. A pet is allowed. Noise, damage and danger are separate questions, and the Act deals with them.

How an animal can still end a tenancy

Only the Landlord and Tenant Board can order an eviction. A landlord’s notice starts a process; it does not end one.

The route that usually applies to animals is section 64. A landlord can give notice where the conduct of a tenant, someone living with them or someone they let into the building substantially interferes with the reasonable enjoyment of the building by the landlord or other tenants. The notice form is the N5. It must give at least 20 days, and it gives you seven days to stop the problem; if you do, the notice is void. If a further problem arises within the following six months, the landlord can give a second notice, on at least 14 days, that cannot be fixed that way.

When an eviction application of this kind is grounded on an animal, section 76 sets a specific test. The Board cannot end the tenancy unless it is satisfied that you are keeping an animal and that one of these is true:

• the past behaviour of an animal of that species has substantially interfered with the reasonable enjoyment of the building by the landlord or other tenants;
• the presence of an animal of that species has caused the landlord or another tenant to suffer a serious allergic reaction;
• the presence of an animal of that species or breed is inherently dangerous to the safety of the landlord or other tenants.

For the first two, the Board also cannot evict if it is satisfied that your animal did not cause or contribute to the problem.

Damage is a separate ground. If an animal causes undue damage through carelessness, the landlord can give notice under section 62, and you can void it by repairing the damage or paying the reasonable cost within seven days; deliberate damage is treated more harshly. And if your landlord lives in the same building and it has three or fewer units, a problem that affects the landlord can bring a shorter notice with no seven-day chance to put things right.

What this means in practice

If you are applying with a pet, expect to be asked, and do not lie if you are. A false answer starts a tenancy on the wrong foot, and a landlord who feels misled is a landlord who will be watching for a section 64 problem. A clear request and a one-page pet resume do better at the application stage than silence does.

If you are already a tenant and want a pet, the lease cannot stop you, but condo documents can, so check them first. Telling your landlord costs nothing.

If you get an N5, read it the day it arrives and deal with the problem inside the seven days. Community legal clinics funded by Legal Aid Ontario give free advice to tenants who qualify, and the Board’s own site explains the process.

Where our certificate fits

Nowhere in this. Section 14 protects every tenant it covers, with no paperwork at all. A certificate from a private register, ours included, adds nothing to it, and it will not help at the application stage or at the Board. If you would like a keepsake record of your animal anyway, that is what we sell.