Should Landlords Use the Standard Lease Form or a Custom One?

The short answer: the standard form is generally required

For most residential tenancies in Ontario that began on or after April 30, 2018, landlords are generally required to use the government's standard form of lease — not a document the landlord happened to download elsewhere, and not a form drafted by a lawyer or property manager from scratch. This isn't a minor administrative preference; it's a requirement built into the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, specifically so that every tenancy in the province starts from the same baseline set of terms, written in the same plain language, regardless of which landlord happens to own the unit.

That requirement doesn't mean a landlord loses all flexibility. The standard form has a dedicated section — generally referred to as Schedule A — specifically designed for additional terms that go beyond what the base form covers. Understanding how that section works, and what it can and can't be used for, is the real question most landlords actually need answered.

Which tenancies the standard lease applies to

The standard lease requirement generally applies to most private residential tenancies — houses, apartments, condos — entered into on or after April 30, 2018. It generally does not apply to certain categories, including most social and supportive housing, co-operative housing, and a handful of other exempt categories under the RTA. Tenancies that began before that date and have continued on a periodic basis aren't automatically required to be switched over, though a tenant can generally request that the landlord provide the standard form going forward, and the landlord generally must comply within a set period.

What happens if a landlord doesn't use it

If a landlord fails to provide the standard lease where it's required, the practical consequences generally flow through the tenant's side: a tenant can generally request the standard form in writing, and the landlord generally has 21 days to provide it. If the landlord doesn't comply within that window, the tenant may, in some circumstances, be entitled to withhold the equivalent of one month's rent — generally giving the landlord a strong, practical incentive to simply use the right form from the outset rather than deal with that complication later. Separately, a custom lease doesn't automatically mean every term in it is enforceable; its terms are still measured against the RTA regardless of what form it was written on.

Adding extra terms through Schedule A

Most of what landlords actually want beyond the base form — rules about parking, storage, smoking, specific maintenance responsibilities, pet-related conditions where applicable, or details about utilities and appliances — can generally be added as additional terms attached to the standard lease. These additional terms become part of the lease and are generally enforceable, provided they don't conflict with or reduce a right or protection the RTA already guarantees to the tenant. This is really the core of how most landlords get the specificity they want without abandoning the standard form altogether.

Terms that generally don't survive even if signed

Certain categories of additional terms are routinely found unenforceable because they conflict directly with RTA protections: a blanket "no pets" clause is generally unenforceable as written (though building-specific condo rules can sometimes still restrict pets separately), clauses attempting to waive a tenant's right to assign or sublet entirely, clauses imposing penalties beyond what the RTA allows for late rent, or terms trying to shorten a tenant's notice periods below the statutory minimums. Landlords who build a custom lease around these kinds of terms, assuming they'll hold up because the tenant agreed, are often surprised at a hearing to learn the term simply doesn't apply.

Common, generally enforceable additions landlords use

Terms that tend to hold up well as additional terms include reasonable rules about parking assignments, smoking restrictions within the unit or building, requirements to carry tenant insurance, specifics about garbage and recycling procedures, and clarity about who's responsible for minor items like lightbulb replacement or lawn care in a house rental. The common thread among enforceable additions is that they address genuinely practical, operational matters without attempting to strip away a right the RTA already gives the tenant.

Other additions that generally work well include clarifying which utilities are included in rent versus billed separately, setting out expectations for how often routine inspections (where they're permitted under the entry rules) might occur, and specifying move-in and move-out procedures such as key return or a walkthrough. None of these terms override the RTA's baseline protections; they simply add clarity to the practical operation of the tenancy, which tends to prevent misunderstandings later rather than create new disputes.

Why a fully custom lease generally creates more risk

Beyond the specific unenforceable-term problem, a fully custom lease creates a more basic risk: inconsistency with a document every tenant, lawyer, and adjudicator in Ontario is already familiar with. The standard form's language has been vetted and is generally well understood by the LTB; a custom document drafted independently, even with good intentions, is more likely to contain ambiguous language, omissions, or structure that doesn't map cleanly onto how the Board actually evaluates tenancy disputes. For a small landlord without dedicated legal support reviewing every clause, that gap in familiarity is a real and avoidable source of risk.

There's also a credibility dimension worth considering. At a hearing, a landlord relying on the standard form with a clearly attached, reasonable schedule of additional terms generally presents as someone who followed the expected process. A landlord relying on an unusual, independently drafted lease may face more scrutiny simply because the document itself looks unfamiliar, even where its substance isn't actually problematic. That extra scrutiny is an avoidable complication for most landlords.

A practical recommendation for most landlords

For the overwhelming majority of landlords, the practical path is to use the standard lease form as the base document every time, and to attach a Schedule A with whatever specific, operational terms matter for that particular property — parking, pets where applicable, insurance requirements, utility arrangements — rather than drafting a custom lease from scratch or relying on a generic template found online. This approach keeps the tenancy anchored to a document the RTA, the LTB, and tenants themselves already recognize, while still giving a landlord room to address the specific details that matter for their property.

It's also worth reviewing the schedule of additional terms periodically, particularly if a landlord manages more than one property or has been using the same template for several years. Rules change, circumstances change, and a schedule drafted years ago may contain a term that's since become outdated or that was never quite right to begin with. A brief annual review — checking the additional terms against current guidance and against what's actually being enforced in practice — is a small task that keeps the lease genuinely reflective of how the tenancy actually operates, rather than a document that technically exists but doesn't match reality.

Landlords who are unsure whether a particular additional term they've been using, or are considering adding, would actually hold up are generally well served by having it reviewed rather than assuming either that it's fine because a previous tenant signed it, or that it's necessarily unenforceable because it goes beyond the base form. A short, targeted review of a handful of specific clauses is often far more useful than a full rewrite of an entire lease.

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Reviewed by Ryan J. Manilla, BA, JD

Legal Reviewer · Landlord Tenant Ontario