What documents should you have ready for finding a rental in Toronto?
Having all your documents 100% ready to go has become increasingly important in the current rental market. It's bananas out there - I'm seeing a ton of properties get leased within 24 hours of being posted, especially anything near U of T or Ryerson. We've got 3 years worth of students moving to Toronto at the moment because of covid-delayed in-person learning.
The documents you need will ultimately boil down to your individual scenario, so I'm going to try to break this down into categories. I'm also going to address pre-paid rent and guarantors. As always, this is not professional and/or legal advice, just my thoughts and opinion as a Realtor in Toronto for 5 years.
Note: For any of these documents, please ensure that you hide any sensitive information such as SIN numbers, employee numbers, account numbers, etc. Please also make sure you are only giving this information to credible individuals.
Canadian Citizen/Resident | Employed by a Company
This is probably the most straightforward scenario in terms of documents required. If you fall into this group, you will need:
- Employment letter stating salary, job title, and length of employment
- Full Credit Report with Score
- 2 Recent Pay Stubs
- Copy of Government-Issued Photo ID
- Previous Landlord/personal references (if available)
Canadian Citizen/Resident | Self-Employed
You don't necessarily need all of the following, but as much as you can provide to satisfy a Landlord that you have sufficient cash flow to pay rent.
- 2 Years of Notice of Assessments
- Any screenshots of business or personal investment/savings accounts
- Payroll or dividend reports/screenshots
- Full Credit Report with Score
- Copy of Government-Issued Photo ID
- Previous Landlord/personal references (if available)
Canadian Student
Renting as a student is always a little tougher due to lack of employment and likely sparse credit history. I encourage you to see what options your school provides in terms of housing and to explore Purpose-Built Rentals as well. I know how tough it can be to budget with tuition, groceries, books, etc - I encourage you to try to find roommates via Facebook groups to bring your monthly costs down.
- Proof of Enrolment in School
- Full Credit Report with Score
- Proof of employment if applicable (e.g. part-time jobs, working at the school as a teaching or research assistant, etc.)
- Whenever possible, an Ontario-based Guarantor* (See notes below)
- Copy of Government-Issued Photo ID
- Screenshots of any personal investment/savings accounts
- Possibly offer Pre-Paid Rent** (See notes below)
International Student
- Proof of Enrolment in School
- Credit report from your home country (if available)
- Screenshots of any personal investment/savings accounts
- Whenever possible, an Ontario-based Guarantor* (See notes below)
- Possibly offer Pre-Paid Rent** (See notes below)
- Copy of Government-Issued Photo ID
New Immigrant | Employed
- Employment letter stating salary, job title, and length of employment
- Proof of ability to legally work/live in Canada (e.g. PR or Visa)
- Credit report from your home country (if available)
- 2 Recent Pay Stubs
- Copy of Government-Issued Photo ID
- Previous Landlord/personal references (if available)
- Screenshots of any personal investment/savings accounts
- Whenever possible, an Ontario-based Guarantor* (See notes below)
- Possibly offer Pre-Paid Rent** (See notes below)
New Immigrant | Not-Yet Employed
- Proof of ability to legally work/live in Canada (e.g. PR or Visa)
- Credit report from your home country (if available)
- Copy of Government-Issued Photo ID
- Screenshots of any personal investment/savings accounts
- Whenever possible, an Ontario-based Guarantor* (See notes below)
- Possibly offer Pre-Paid Rent** (See notes below)
*Guarantors: A Guarantor (sometimes referred to as a co-signer) is someone who signs the leases with you and essentially is assuming responsibility for the lease in the event you cannot pay rent. If you are signing a lease with a Guarantor, a Landlord or their agent will want to see your Guarantor's proof of employment, credit report, pay stubs and Photo ID. Most Landlords will prefer that your Guarantor is based in Ontario, as someone that is in another province or country can be harder to track down to enforce rent payments.
**Pre-Paid Rent: There is a lot of misconception around pre-paid rent, so let me start by saying that a Landlord cannot demand prepaid rent as a condition of renting a property. A Landlord also cannot take extra rent as a 'security deposit'. However*,* in lieu of credit history and employment, a Tenant can voluntarily offer to prepay rent. I have seen anywhere from 4 months to the full year paid upfront. Let me be clear: I am not trying to encourage this practice, as I know it can be financially straining and that not everyone has the privilege of being able to afford this. Nevertheless, the reality is that prepaid rent has become an increasingly common practice and especially so in this competitive rental market where students and new immigrants are trying to catch a break in securing a rental.
