I know this may sound a stupid question but as we have never rented before and will have to when we arrive for at least 6 months, everyone says about getting references.
What needs to be written in these and by whom can they be written?
Again apologizes for silly question but if anyone can shed some light on it for me I will be most grateful

Thank you

Hi,
I've been renting a condo in Toronto for the last month and I just took a reference from my landlord back in the UK. It just said " Mr. ______ has been a tenant of mine for the last 18 months and I find him to be a very reliable and trustworty one. If you have any questions do not hesitate to get in touch with me". My landlady here didn't ask to see any reference or even take a deposit but she was very cool and we clicked very well upon first meeting so that is probably the reason behind that.

On the other hand the house I am considering renting from April to May is owned by a more nervous landlady and she isn't at ease with me not being Canadian

I just put the name of a Canadian friend in the line on the form -- as far as I know they were never contacted for a reference. All the landlord was really interested is how much money I have on the side (as I don't have employment yet). Good luck.

Hi Whelan,

Whereabouts are you heading to? When we got here we were searching for rentals and faced the same problem, then by luck we found an agency who were really good. They realised that newcomers to Canada don't always have history of renting before and all they wanted from us was proof that we had money in the bank - we gave them a bank statement from the UK (same one we had to give CIC as proof of funds), and we paid our first months rent up front.

Send me a pm and I can let you know more details if you're interested.