Moving with a pet: eight questions to ask before you sign a lease

Before you sign, you are an applicant, and in every province this site covers a landlord can turn an applicant down because of a pet. That is not a reason to hide the animal. It is a reason to ask the right questions while you still have the most choice, and before any money changes hands.

This covers Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.

1. What does the lease say about pets, and can it say that?

Ask for the lease before the day you are expected to sign it, and read the clause about animals. What it can lawfully say depends on the province. In Ontario, a clause that prohibits animals is void, and most private leases must use the province’s standard form. In British Columbia, a tenancy agreement may prohibit pets or restrict their size, kind or number. In Alberta and Manitoba, the landlord decides. In Nova Scotia, the standard form of lease must be used and a landlord can also set rules for the building, so ask for the rules as well as the lease. The province-by-province summary is here.

2. Who decides?

An owner with one unit, a property management company and a large landlord with a written pet policy will each answer differently. Ask who the landlord is, whether there is a written pet policy, and who signs off on it. A policy you can read is easier to work with than a preference you have to guess at.

3. Is the unit in a condo or strata building?

If it is, the building’s declaration, bylaws and rules bind you as a tenant, whatever your lease says, and they can restrict or prohibit pets, in Ontario as much as anywhere. In British Columbia, a landlord must give you the strata bylaws and rules, and a Notice of Tenant’s Responsibilities, before you rent. In Ontario, the owner must give you the condo’s declaration, bylaws and rules, but the deadline is ten days after the lease is signed, so ask to see them first. How condo and strata rules reach tenants.

4. What is the deposit, and is it lawful?

Deposits are capped in every province covered here, and the caps differ.

• Ontario: a rent deposit of no more than one month’s rent, and no pet deposit.
• British Columbia: a security deposit and a separate pet damage deposit, each up to half a month’s rent, and only one pet damage deposit however many pets you have.
• Alberta: the security deposit, refundable pet deposits included, is capped at one month’s rent.
• Manitoba: a pet damage deposit of up to one month’s rent is allowed.
• Nova Scotia: the security deposit is capped at half a month’s rent, and there is no extra deposit for pets.

Deposits in more detail.

5. Is anyone asking for a pet fee?

This is where the provinces differ most. In Ontario, the Residential Tenancies Act prohibits almost every charge beyond rent and the rent deposit, and a pet fee is not among the exceptions. A non-refundable pet fee is not one of the fees British Columbia’s tenancy regulation allows either. In Alberta, the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta says a landlord can charge a pet fee, which should be a reasonable amount, so read the lease to see whether yours is refundable. Anywhere else, ask what the money is for and check with the province’s tenancy office before you pay it.

6. Does the unit suit the animal?

This is the question a reasonable landlord will be asking, so ask it yourself first. Outside space and whether it is fenced, which floor and whether there is an elevator, who is above and below you, and what happens during the working day. If a large dog would be miserable there, a refusal would be a fair one, and it is better to know now.

7. Will there be a move-in inspection?

A pet is the first thing blamed for damage that was already there. Ask for a written condition inspection at the start, and take dated photographs of floors, doors, blinds and screens. In British Columbia, a landlord and tenant must inspect the unit together at move-in, and again when a tenant starts keeping a pet if no inspection was done at the start. Nova Scotia recommends a condition report, and if one is prepared it becomes part of the lease.

8. Can you get it in writing?

If a landlord or property manager says pets are fine at a viewing, get that in an email before you sign, and ask for the lease to name the animal. Manitoba’s Residential Tenancies Branch gives tenants the same advice: get permission in writing, have a pet clause added to the tenancy agreement, and make sure any no-pets clause is taken out. A verbal yes at a viewing is not much use a year later when the property manager has changed.

Once you are in

The free template makes the request, and a one-page pet resume answers the questions that come next. The eight questions above are the homework, and they cost nothing.

Our certificate does not help with any of this. It creates no rights, it is not part of any provincial scheme, and a landlord is free to ignore it. If you would like a keepsake record of your animal anyway, that is what we sell, and it is best bought after the lease is sorted, not instead of sorting it.