Pet request letter template for Canadian renters (free)

Here is a complete pet request letter you can use. It is free, there is nothing to sign up for, and it works whether you are applying for a place, asking part way through a tenancy, or asking a landlord who will need to check with a condo board or strata council.

Copy it, replace anything in square brackets, delete the lines that do not apply to you, and send it by email so you have a dated record.

It makes no legal threats and mentions no certificates, because neither helps.

The template

[YOUR NAME] [YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS] [YOUR PHONE NUMBER AND EMAIL] [TODAY’S DATE] [LANDLORD OR PROPERTY MANAGER NAME] [THEIR ADDRESS OR EMAIL] Dear [NAME], Re: Request to keep a pet at [UNIT ADDRESS] I am writing to ask whether you would agree to my keeping a [BREED] [DOG, CAT OR OTHER ANIMAL], [PET NAME], at [UNIT ADDRESS]. [PET NAME] is [AGE] and has lived with me since [WHEN]. [TWO OR THREE SENTENCES ABOUT THEM: their temperament, what they are like indoors, how they are with visitors and other animals.] [HOW DAY-TO-DAY LIFE WILL WORK: your working pattern, whether anyone is home during the day, walks, a dog walker or daycare, and who looks after them when you travel.] [PET NAME] is spayed or neutered, microchipped and up to date on vaccinations, and I can send the records from our veterinarian. [IF YOUR MUNICIPALITY REQUIRES IT: They are licensed with the city.] I will take responsibility for any damage they cause beyond normal wear and tear, as I would for anything else in the unit. [IF APPLICABLE: [PET NAME] lived with me at [PREVIOUS ADDRESS] for [HOW LONG] without any complaints, and [PREVIOUS LANDLORD] is happy to confirm that. Their contact details are [DETAILS].] [BRITISH COLUMBIA OR MANITOBA ONLY, IF YOU WISH: I am happy to pay a pet damage deposit within the limit the law allows.] [ALBERTA, ONLY IF YOU ARE APPLYING, IF YOU WISH: I am happy to pay a refundable pet deposit, provided that it and my security deposit together stay within the one month’s rent the Residential Tenancies Act allows.] If the building has condominium or strata rules about pets, I would be grateful for a copy, and I will follow them. I would be glad to answer any questions, and you would be very welcome to meet [PET NAME] first. If you agree, could you confirm it in writing, including any conditions, so that we both have a record? It would help me to hear from you by [DATE], though I understand if you need longer. Thank you for considering this. Yours sincerely, [YOUR NAME]

What each paragraph is doing

The request comes first, in one plain sentence. Opening with legislation reads as a threat and puts a person on the defensive before they have understood the question.

The pet is in the middle, because that is what persuades. A landlord’s real question is whether this will cost them money or trouble. The answer is a specific, unexciting description of a specific, unexciting animal.

The routine answers the worry nobody says out loud. A landlord picturing a dog in an apartment is usually picturing barking or chewed doors while you are at work. Saying how the day works heads that off.

The health and responsibility paragraph is short on purpose. The damage sentence says plainly what a landlord most wants to hear, and it is close to what you are responsible for anyway. Only write commitments you genuinely mean. They are undertakings in your name.

The reference is worth more than anything you say about yourself. Manitoba’s Residential Tenancies Branch suggests exactly this to tenants: letters from previous landlords or from your veterinarian. If you can get one, attach it. A one-page pet resume does the same job in more detail.

The condo or strata line shows you know how buildings work. If the building has its own pet rules, the landlord cannot override them, and asking early saves everyone a wasted month.

The close asks for a written yes, with conditions. Manitoba’s Residential Tenancies Branch advises tenants to get permission in writing, added to the tenancy agreement, with any “no pets” clause removed. That is good advice anywhere. And a date, not a deadline: none of these provinces sets a legal deadline for answering a pet request, so the date is a courtesy that tells them when you need to plan.

Three things to leave out

Legal threats and ESA language. Do not quote human rights law, and do not describe your pet as an emotional support animal or mention a certificate or registry. A certificate carries no weight with a landlord, ours included, and leaning on one makes the rest of the letter less credible. If your animal is part of how you manage a disability, that is a different request, an accommodation request, and it is better made separately and plainly. How that works.

American law. If you have read that landlords must accept emotional support animals or cannot charge deposits for them, that was written about the United States, whose federal fair-housing rules treat them as assistance animals. Canada has no emotional support animal rule as such. Whether a landlord must allow an animal that meets a disability-related need is a human rights accommodation question, decided case by case on evidence from a health professional who treats you.

Money you cannot lawfully pay. No pet deposit in Ontario, no extra pet deposit in Nova Scotia, never more than the limit in British Columbia or Manitoba, and in Alberta a refundable pet deposit only within the one-month total for all deposits. The limits, province by province.

Notes by province

Ontario. If you are already a tenant, a “no pets” clause in your lease is void, so strictly you are not asking permission. The letter still earns its place when you are applying, because a landlord can choose another applicant; when the unit is in a condominium, because the condo’s declaration, by-laws and rules bind occupiers whatever the lease says; and when you would simply like to start well with the person who fixes your heating. For an existing tenancy outside a condo, you can change “ask whether you would agree to my keeping” to “let you know that I plan to keep”, or keep the request and add, near the end: “I understand that section 14 of Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 makes a term in a tenancy agreement that prohibits animals void. I am writing anyway, because I would rather you heard about [PET NAME] from me and we agreed together how things will work.” The Act does not cover every home, for example a room where you share a kitchen or bathroom with the owner, a co-op or a student residence. Delete the deposit line: an Ontario landlord cannot take a pet deposit. More on the Ontario rule.

British Columbia. A landlord can refuse pets. If they allow one, they can ask for one pet damage deposit of up to half a month’s rent, on top of the security deposit, and offering it is reasonable. Monthly pet fees are not allowed. Ask for the pet terms to be written into the tenancy agreement. In a strata building, the strata’s bylaws bind you as a tenant.

Alberta. A landlord can refuse pets. If you offer money, check the arithmetic: any refundable pet deposit counts towards the security deposit, and the total cannot exceed one month’s rent. A non-refundable pet fee is not covered by that limit and you will not get it back, so read the lease before you agree to one. In a condominium, the bylaws apply to you as well as the lease.

Manitoba. A landlord can refuse pets. If they agree, they can ask for a pet damage deposit of up to one month’s rent, on top of the security deposit, and only one however many pets you have. Ask for a receipt, and ask for the permission to go into the tenancy agreement.

Nova Scotia. A landlord can rule out pets in their rules, which should be given to you before you sign. Delete the deposit line: the province’s own guide says a landlord cannot charge an additional deposit for pets, and all deposits together are capped at half a month’s rent.

After you send it

Diary the date. If they ask questions, answer the same day if you can: a fast, specific reply is persuasive in itself. If the answer is yes, make sure it is in writing before the animal arrives. If it is no, ask for the reason in writing, and read what to do when a landlord refuses.

If something is unclear about your rights, your province’s tenancy office is free. The links are in our province-by-province guide.

Where we fit

If you would rather not fill in the brackets yourself, we write this letter for you: $35 for the letter on its own, or $55 with our certificate and card. You get this letter written from what you tell us and adapted to the province the rental is in, with a one-page pet resume, as PDFs and as text you can edit. What the paid letter includes.

The template above is the same kind of letter, and it is free. Paying us saves you the writing; it does not make a landlord more likely to say yes.

The certificate stays out of the letter either way. Attaching a certificate from us, or anyone, will not help, and it can make a careful request look as if it is reaching for authority it does not have. Our certificate is a keepsake, and it is best kept that way.