Hi All,

I have read the Renting article on this forum and have done lots of other research but the rental process looks so different to the UK from what I am reading.

My wife and I are permanent residents (we landed in January) and are currently in Canada doing a recce trip to suss out where will settle.

We have sold our house at home, so have a rather large bank balance, so proving our finances won't be an issue, but from what I am seeing, most landlords want to see income proof. We don't have jobs yet and won't start looking until June when we come back from the UK for good in June. (As mentioned just a cross coyuntry recce until April at the moment.)

There doesn't seem to be a national website, or even a provincial, or even a regional website you can blanket search. It also seems like Craigslist is the best way to find properties. That's like our GUMTREE in the UK, and unless you were looking to get scammed, you wouldn't use that.

Very few private rentals in the UK anymore, it's mostly through estate agencies (or realtor management companies) which is the safest way to make sure things are all above board. I've read a few articles for rentals in Ontario, and it all seems a bit lawless, landlords can do what they like, get rid of you as long as they say they are moving in (even if thats not true), can withold deposits, change the cost of the advertised rental price at the last minute.

I just wondered what peoples experiences have been so far when they first moved here? We have money to buy a modest property outright, but we didn't really want to do that until we were dead certain we loved where we were living.

Any advice would be appreciated.

There are plenty of property management cos. who handle rentals. realtor.ca - Select For Rent.

Familiarize yourself with the rules. This is for ON, all provinces have their version.
Residential Tenancies Act

You can ask a realtor to look for you, there wouldn't be any charge for it - I can recommend a couple if you say where you are hoping to move to.

Kijiji is used more for rentals in Ontario - plus www.padmapper.com - www.realtor.ca - (select 'rentals') - and a fair few others, as indicated in the Wiki Renting-Canada : British Expat Wiki

In Ontario, you pay 'first and last' months rent, there is no deposit other than possibly a key deposit - which can't be more than the cost of replacement. You can read about Ontario rental laws here: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/06r17 and here: Ontario Tenants, housing and tenant rights information, Toronto Canada

There are rental agencies (such as Cornerstone, Effort Trust etc.,) but it's mostly for their own properties.

If you are only going to want one for a short term tenancy you may have problems finding one - tenancies tend to be for a minimum of 12 months, however, there are some available but you would need to be prepared to pay over the odds.

With regards to the lack of employment on renting, although it's against the law I ended up having to give 12 post dated cheques to secure an apartment when I first arrived. If you are able to get references from your bank / Equifax report etc., it may be of help. You can read more about renting here: https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/re...fore/index.cfm

Hope that helps a little!

Thanks Siouxie, that's actually really helpful. I think 12 months will be fine, we aren't looking for luxury, but ideally a house, which I have been struggling to find.

We are considering a few areas, Collingwood, Owen Sound, Leamington, we will be visiting and staying in these and a few others for a few days at a time to get a feel.

My wife loves the west coast, but we like most are priced out of Vancouver. Thanks again for the suggestions.

Have you considered airbnb? I have arrived in the Okanagan this week, currently staying with mother-in-law in Kelowna but when the rest of the family join me in April we got a 2 bedroom basement suite from airbnb, in Vernon (our chosen destination) fully furnished (as our stuff will be on a ship) and cut a deal for a long term rental for $4k all in for 2 months (april and may) inc all bills.

I live in Owen SOund, House Rentals are hard to come by. There are building a lot of new houses right now. You can rent apartments here just a few names to avoid. I can help you out that way.


Owen SOund is nice, but property taxes are way higher than anywhere else I lived before. Collingwood is expensive as its a good snow place for winter so rentals are way highr than anywhere else in this area. Depending what you want and work wise, Look at Markdale, Chatsworth, Port Elgin, Southampton, Hanover.

The Residential Tenancies Act hugely favours the tenant in Ontario. The issue some people have is that they don't know what the act says so can fall foul of unscrupulous landlords (that often don't know the law either). Your best protection is to read the act and know your rights. Basically your rental contract can say whatever it wants but if it contradicts what is in the Act then its not worth the paper its written on. A new lease agreement for all rentals in Ontario will come into effect shortly.

Thanks for the tips all, that's some very useful information.

At present on our entire recce of Canada we will have amassed 55 nights of accommodation, building a great reputation as house sitters for people who need their pets looked after whilst they are vacation.

So we may look into the longer term sits as well. We have used lots of airbnb's, homeaway rentals, vrbo etc over the years but those aren't necessarily useful when looking for at less touristy prices.

We may find an area we love right away, and invest in a property right out the gate, but I believe it's sensible to rent somewhere first to see if it's a place you want to call home.

Seems the house prices in Canada are going up and up and up right across the country. So it maybe worth getting on the ladder with a small investment property or a fixer upper like we did when we first bought in the UK.

Thanks again everyone, some helpful stuff to take away there.

We rented without jobs when we first moved over here. I think maybe we paid the first two months' rent up front as a gesture of goodwill.

Thanks, that's good to know. The helpful thing about house sitting for people looking after their pets, is they are always friendly and more than happy to offer advice.

The guy who we are house sitting for now looking after his dog in Victoria, has been really useful to meet when it comes to renting.

No idea if you're intending to stay on the Island, and if so where, but we found Rowan Property Management very helpful. They're based in Duncan