Is your Ontario unit exempt from rent control?

An Ontario rental unit is outside the rent increase guideline if it was first occupied for residential purposes after November 15, 2018 and fits one of three situations set out in the Act, unless your tenancy agreement was made on or before that date. Exempt doesn't mean unregulated: the landlord still needs 90 days of written notice on the proper form and 12 months between increases.

How to read the result

The tool asks yes, no or not sure questions: the kind of building, whether anyone lived in any part of it on or before the cut-off date, your unit's features if it's in a house, when your agreement was signed, and whether your home has its own rules (social housing, a care home). "Not sure" gets you how to find out.

The outcome is one of four: covered by the guideline; exempt if the landlord can prove it; outside the Act; or under different rent rules. An exempt outcome lists what the landlord must still do. Read "exempt" as "exempt if the facts are as you entered them".

The three situations in the Act

The exemption is section 6.1 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, in force since December 6, 2018. A unit qualifies under one of these, and only one needs to be true.

1. A new building, mobile home park or land lease community

The unit is in a building, mobile home park or land lease community and no part of it was occupied for residential purposes on or before November 15, 2018 (s. 6.1(2), para. 1).

The test looks at the whole building: if anyone lived in any part of it on or before the date, no unit there qualifies under this branch, however new yours is.

2. An addition

The unit is entirely in an addition and no part of the addition was occupied for residential purposes on or before November 15, 2018 (s. 6.1(2), para. 2).

"Entirely" matters: a unit that straddles the old building and the new wing doesn't qualify. For a mobile home park or land lease community, an addition means an expansion beyond its boundaries (s. 6.1(1)).

3. A new unit in a detached, semi-detached or row house

This is the branch for basement and attic apartments added to a house after the cut-off date. All four conditions must be met (s. 6.1(3)):

1. On or at any time before the cut-off date, the house contained not more than two residential units.
2. The unit has its own bathroom and kitchen facilities. Entrances: One or more entrances; at each, a door that can be secured from inside; at least one capable of being locked from outside.
3. The unit became a residential unit of that kind after November 15, 2018.
4. At least one of these is true:
   • When the unit was first occupied, the owner (or one of the owners) lived in another residential unit in the house;
   • The unit is in a part of the house that was unfinished space immediately before it became a residential unit.

When the exemption doesn't apply even though the unit is new

• A lease signed early. The exemption doesn't apply to a tenancy under a tenancy agreement entered into on or before November 15, 2018 (s. 6.1(4)). That tenancy stays under the guideline for as long as it lasts.
• The next tenant. Only that tenancy is excluded; a subsequent tenancy can be exempt (s. 6.1(5)).
• No proof. The onus is on the landlord to prove that the subsection applies (s. 6.1(6)). If the landlord can't show it, the exemption fails.

What an exempt unit must still follow

Section 6.1 lists exactly which sections an exempt unit is spared: ss. 120, 121, 122, 126, 127, 129, 131, 132, 133, 165, 167 (not ss. 116, 118, 119)Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, s. 6.1(2)checked September 30, 2026; for a unit in a house, s. 6.1(3) gives the same list without ss. 165 and 167. The notice section and the 12-month rule aren't on the list, and the LTB's guide says so in plain words: The landlord must still give at least 90 days' notice in writing using the proper form but there is no limit on the size of the rent increaseTribunals Ontariochecked September 30, 2026.

The N2 instructions: The landlord can raise the rent by any amount (12 months and 90 days still apply). To check whether the notice came early enough, use the N1 notice calculator, which handles N1 and N2 dates alike.

Other homes outside the guideline or under different rules

A new tenancy

The guideline never limits the starting rent: on turnover, the landlord and the new tenant agree on the rent amount (Residential rent increases). The Act sets the lawful rent for a new tenant (s. 113): The rent first charged to the new tenant (subject to s. 111). Where an LTB order prohibiting an increase is in force for the unit: The landlord must give written notice about the lawful rent before the agreement; the new tenant may apply within one year (ss. 114 and 115).

Outside the Act altogether

Includes hotel/motel/cottage-type seasonal accommodation, farm-employee accommodation, shared bathroom or kitchen with the owner or the owner's close family living in the building, short-term emergency shelter, hospitals and similar, some programs (s. 5.1). None of the rent rules on this site apply to these (s. 5).

Social, community and non-profit housing

Social housing is covered by the Act but has different rules on rent control and increase notices. For the units listed in s. 7(1), including non-profit housing and non-member units in co-operatives, the guideline and most other rent rules don't apply. In the Act's terms: Ss. 111-115, 117, 120-122, 126-133 do not apply to these units. On the 12-month rule: Section 119 does not apply to geared-to-income units in paras 1-4 and to paras 5-6 units (s. 7(2)). On a geared-to-income rent: Part VII does not apply to an increase in the amount geared-to-income paid by the tenant (s. 8(1)). The same treatment extends to these units: Units under certain Canada-Ontario affordable housing programs (O. Reg. 516/06 s. 6) and the Rural and Native Rental Housing Program.

Homes for special care and developmental-services residences

Ss. 111 to 115 and 119 to 134 (including the guideline and the 12-month rule) do not apply (s. 6(1)).

Care homes

The guideline applies to the rent portion but not to the cost of services like nursing, food or cleaning. Increases to care or meal charges need 90 days of notice on Form N3 and are void unless notice is given (s. 150).

Mobile homes and land lease communities

Covered by the guideline. When a tenant sells the home and assigns the site, the increase for the buyer is limited: Not more than the prescribed amount: the greater of $50 per month and the increase the landlord could have taken had the former tenant stayed (s. 165).

How to find out when your unit was first occupied

If the exemption is argued at the LTB, the landlord has to prove it, not you (s. 6.1(6)). The government's guidance: The landlord can include an additional term under section 15 of the lease stating that the unit is exempt, and keep records. It lists the records that prove the exemption:

• for a new building or an addition: Building permits, permit applications and plans; occupancy permits; new home warranty documents; documents from the builder;
• for a new unit in a house: Documents from the builder or invoices from the contractor; before-and-after photographs; building permits, permit applications and plans.

1. Look in your lease for an additional term saying the unit is exempt.
2. Ask your landlord in writing which of the three situations they rely on and to show the records above.
3. If you know someone lived anywhere in the building on or before the cut-off date, the new-building branch fails, whatever the landlord says.
4. Call the LTB at 1-888-332-3234. The government's page: A tenant or landlord can contact the LTB, or apply on A1 for a determination of whether the Act applies.
5. For a binding answer, file A1 - Application about Whether the Act Applies (s. 9(1)(a)). You can make this application if you are the landlord or the tenant. The fee is $53Tribunals Ontariochecked September 30, 2026.

Worked examples

If you disagree with your landlord about the exemption

Only the LTB decides whether a unit is exempt, on an A1 application or inside another case, and the landlord has to prove it. If you've been paying an increase above the guideline in a unit you believe is covered, the N1 calculator totals the difference and shows how long you have to claim it, and lists free legal help. For a covered unit, the limit itself is on the guideline page.

Sources

1. Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17 (consolidation from September 21, 2026; currency date September 28, 2026)Government of Ontario
2. Brochure: A Guide to the Residential Tenancies ActTribunals Ontario
3. Form N1 Notice of Rent Increase: Instructions (November 30, 2015)Tribunals Ontario
4. Form N2 Notice of Rent Increase, Unit Partially Exempt: Instructions (May 2017)Tribunals Ontario
5. Residential rent increasesGovernment of Ontario
6. O. Reg. 516/06 (General) under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006Government of Ontario
7. LTB contactTribunals Ontario
8. Form A1 Application about Whether the Act Applies: InstructionsTribunals Ontario
9. LTB forms, filing and feesTribunals Ontario

Every source listed here was consulted on September 30, 2026.