Pets and tenancy law in Canada, province by province

Whether you can keep a pet in a rental in Canada is decided province by province, and none of it is decided by a certificate. Three sets of rules can apply at once: your province’s tenancy law, your lease and any written rules from your landlord, and, in a condo or strata building, the building’s own rules. Human rights law sits over all three where a disability is involved.

This is the position in the five provinces we cover, checked against the legislation in September 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.

Ontario

The rule. Section 14 of the Residential Tenancies Act says a provision in a tenancy agreement prohibiting animals is void. Ontario is the only one of the five provinces with a rule like this.

What it does not do. It does not stop a landlord choosing an applicant without a pet. And it says nothing about a condominium’s declaration, by-laws or rules, which occupiers, tenants included, must follow under section 119 of the Condominium Act. Disputes about condo pet rules go to the Condominium Authority Tribunal.

If the landlord wants the pet gone. A landlord cannot take a unit back from a tenant who has not moved out without an eviction order from the Landlord and Tenant Board (section 39). Where the case is about an animal, section 76 limits the Board to three grounds: substantial interference with others’ reasonable enjoyment of the building, a serious allergic reaction in the landlord or another tenant, or a species or breed that is inherently dangerous. Damage is dealt with separately, as for any tenant.

Money. The only deposit allowed is a rent deposit of up to one month’s rent, used for your last month. There is no pet deposit and no pet fee.

Where to go. The Landlord and Tenant Board. See also the Ontario no-pets clause, and the city guides for Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo.

British Columbia

The rule. A tenancy agreement may prohibit pets, or restrict their size, kind or number (Residential Tenancy Act, section 18). Landlords do not have to allow pets.

Silent leases and changes. Provincial guidance has said that without a written prohibition or restriction, a tenant may be considered allowed to have pets. Get it in writing anyway. During a tenancy, a term can only be added or changed if both landlord and tenant agree (section 14), so a no-pets term cannot simply be added to your existing lease.

Money. If the landlord permits a pet, they may ask for one pet damage deposit of up to half a month’s rent, on top of a security deposit with the same limit. No monthly pet fees. No pet damage deposit for a certified guide or service dog.

Strata buildings. Tenants are bound by the strata’s bylaws and rules, even if the landlord failed to give them a copy. In that case the tenant can end the tenancy without penalty within 90 days of finding out (Strata Property Act, section 146). A bylaw that prohibits pets does not apply to a pet that was already living lawfully with an owner, tenant or occupant when the bylaw was passed, for as long as it keeps living with them (section 123). Strata disputes go to the Civil Resolution Tribunal.

Where to go. The Residential Tenancy Branch. City guides: Vancouver and Victoria.

Alberta

The rule. The Residential Tenancies Act does not mention pets. The province’s handbook for landlords and tenants says landlords may choose to limit most animals, and that a tenant who signs a no-pets lease and then brings in a pet without permission is in breach, which could lead to the tenancy being ended.

Money. A security deposit can be no more than one month’s rent (section 43). A refundable pet fee counts as part of it. A non-refundable pet fee agreed in the lease is outside that limit, though the handbook says fees should reasonably reflect the landlord’s actual costs and can be reviewed by the courts or the dispute service.

Service dogs. The Service Dogs Act and the Blind Persons’ Rights Act stop landlords refusing a tenancy to a disabled person with a trained service dog or guide dog. The handbook says emotional support animals that are not trained service dogs are typically not covered. Human rights law is a separate question, covered below.

Condominiums. Under section 54 of the Condominium Property Act, a condo corporation can give a tenant notice to give up possession if a bylaw is contravened, despite the Residential Tenancies Act and whatever the landlord wants.

Where to go. The Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service. City guides: Calgary and Edmonton.

Manitoba

The rule. The Residential Tenancies Branch tells landlords that the Act lets them decide whether to allow pets. If a landlord gives you rules about pets, the Act treats them as house rules: they must be in writing, made known to you, and reasonable in all the circumstances (sections 29.2 and 11).

Money. The security deposit is capped at half of the first month’s rent. If the landlord allows a pet, they can also take a pet damage deposit of up to one month’s rent, only one however many pets you have, and only if they told you it would be required before you signed or when they gave permission. You are entitled to a receipt. No pet damage deposit can be charged for a service animal as the Human Rights Code defines it, which is an animal trained to assist a person with a disability.

Where to go. The Residential Tenancies Branch. City guide: Winnipeg.

Nova Scotia

The rule. The Residential Tenancies Act does not mention pets. A landlord can make rules for the building, and the province’s renting guide tells tenants who want a pet to check those rules first. Rules must be reasonable, apply fairly to all tenants, and be given to you before you sign. They can be changed on four months’ notice before the lease anniversary (section 9A).

Money. There is no separate pet deposit. Anything a landlord takes on top of rent counts as the security deposit, capped at half a month’s rent (section 12), and the province’s guide says a landlord cannot charge an additional deposit for pets.

A proposal, not the law. A private member’s bill introduced in October 2025 would make no-pets lease clauses and rules void in Nova Scotia, much as in Ontario. As far as we can find, it has not passed. If that changes, the Residential Tenancies Program will say so.

Where to go. The Residential Tenancies Program. City guide: Halifax.

The rest of Canada

Every other province and territory has its own tenancy law and its own tenancy office, and the rules on pets and deposits differ. If you rent anywhere else, check with your own province’s or territory’s residential tenancy office before relying on anything here.

Condo and strata buildings

In Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba, a condo or strata building’s own rules bind tenants as well as owners, and it is the safe assumption everywhere else. A landlord who is happy to have your dog cannot override them, so ask for the pet rules before you sign. How they work for renters.

Human rights and disability-related needs

Human rights law in every province prohibits discrimination in rental housing because of disability, including mental health disabilities. Where a rule such as “no pets” affects someone because of a disability, the landlord or condo corporation may have a duty to accommodate, up to the point of undue hardship.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission says the duty may require changing or waiving a rule, and gives allowing service animals in a no-pets building as an example. It lists three factors for undue hardship: cost, outside sources of funding, and health and safety. The Alberta Human Rights Commission says providers may also have a duty to accommodate other types of assistance and support animals.

Your part is to tell the landlord you have a disability-related need and give enough information for them to understand it, which may include information from a health professional. The landlord may ask for what is reasonably related to the need, not for everything. It is not an automatic right for any animal described as an emotional support animal: requests are decided case by case, on the need and the evidence for it. A registry certificate is not medical evidence and adds nothing.

If an accommodation request is refused, the route is your province’s human rights body: the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the BC Human Rights Tribunal, the Alberta Human Rights Commission, the Manitoba Human Rights Commission or the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.

Trained service dogs are a separate category again, and some provinces certify them under their own laws. Service dogs and emotional support animals, compared.

Where our certificate fits

Nowhere on this page. None of the law above refers to a registry, and a register entry from us, or anyone, does not change a line of it. What changes outcomes is knowing your province’s rules, a well-made request to your landlord and, where a disability is involved, a proper accommodation request. Our certificate is a keepsake, and we would rather you knew that before you bought one.