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How to Screen Tenants in Ontario (Legally and Effectively)

By Steve Bulatovic · 7 min read

The quality of your tenant determines the quality of your experience as a landlord. A thorough, legally compliant screening process is the most important thing you can do to protect your investment. Done right, it dramatically reduces the risk of missed rent, property damage, and disputes. Done carelessly — or illegally — it can expose you to a human rights complaint. Here's how to screen well and stay onside.

Start with a complete application

Every applicant should complete a standard rental application. In Ontario, the OREA rental application is the norm. It captures employment, income, rental history, and references, and it gives you written consent to run a credit check. Don't proceed with anyone who won't complete one fully.

Run a credit check

A credit check is the backbone of tenant screening. It shows you the applicant's payment history, outstanding debts, and credit score. You're looking for a pattern of meeting obligations — not necessarily a perfect score. With written consent, you can pull a report from Equifax or TransUnion. A strong score with a clean payment history is reassuring; a pattern of collections, missed payments, or prior tenant judgments is a yellow or red flag worth investigating.

Verify income and employment

A common guideline is that gross monthly income should be roughly three times the monthly rent, though this is a guideline, not a legal requirement. Verify income with recent pay stubs and an employment letter confirming position, salary, and length of employment. For self-employed applicants, ask for notices of assessment or bank statements. The goal is simply confidence that the applicant can comfortably afford the rent.

Check references

Previous landlord references are gold. A former landlord can tell you whether rent was paid on time, whether the unit was cared for, and whether they'd rent to the person again. Be aware that a current landlord eager to get rid of a problem tenant may give a glowing review — a previous landlord (two tenancies back) often gives a more honest picture.

Know what you cannot ask or consider

This is critical. Ontario's Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination in housing on protected grounds including race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed (religion), sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, and receipt of public assistance. You cannot refuse an applicant — or apply different standards — because of any of these.

You can ask about income and run credit and reference checks, but you must apply the same standards to everyone. For example, you cannot require a higher income multiple from a single parent than from a couple, and you cannot refuse someone because their income comes from public assistance. The safest practice is a consistent, written screening standard applied identically to every applicant.

Document your decision

Whatever you decide, base it on legitimate, consistent criteria — credit, income, references — and keep records. If a rejected applicant ever alleges discrimination, your documentation showing a neutral, consistently applied standard is your protection.

Or let a professional handle it

Screening done right takes time and a working knowledge of both credit analysis and human rights compliance. When we lease your property, full tenant screening — credit, income verification, references, and identity verification — is part of the service, conducted to a consistent, legally compliant standard. It's one less area where a well-meaning landlord can accidentally create liability.