Investors Renting rules and holding costs
What the by-laws say about renting a home, before you buy it.
Rental licensing, short-term rentals, extra units, tax and water rates: what a home can be used for and what it costs to hold, each with its source and date.
- Free quick check, right here
- The rules for 64 cities, free
- A list of up to 50 addresses, compared
- NoteZoning permits up to 4 units
- NoteShort-term rentals: principal residence only
- Facts2026 tax rate 1.10% of assessed value
- Flagged9-storey application 140 m away
- Nothing on recordFlood plain overlay
- Facts1 Gbps internet on this street
Records from
- City of Toronto
- City of Ottawa
- City of Hamilton
- City of Guelph
- Government of Ontario
- Statistics Canada
- Natural Resources Canada
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Canada Energy Regulator
- Ontario Energy Board
- Ontario Ministry of Health
- OpenStreetMap
The batch screen
Your list of addresses, compared on the records.
Up to 10 or 50 addresses in, one page back: the same 13 records, side by side.
- Zoning
- Extra units
- Rental rules
- Permits
- Heritage
- Flood plain
- Applications nearby
- Tax rate
- Water and sewer
- A map with every address numbered
- Every line in fullWith its source and date.
- The same table as a spreadsheet
It compares what the records say. It never ranks the addresses or says which to buy.
Sample batch screen, made-up addresses
10 addresses in Anytown and Exampleville
- Permits and renovations
- Flagged
- 3 of 10 addresses: a permit still open or without a final inspection
- Flood plain overlay
- Flagged
- 2 of 10 addresses inside the City's flood plain overlay
- Extra units allowed
- Note
- All 10: up to 3 or 4 units, by lot
The page adds a map of the addresses and every line in full; the spreadsheet has the same table, a row per address.
Free
The rules by city
Rental licensing, short-term rentals, extra units, the residential tax rate and water and sewer rates for 17 Ontario cities, each with its by-law or rate schedule and the date it was checked.
15 checks for investors
The records an investor reads
From the investors' guide: whether a home can be rented and how, the units on record, and the holding costs. Each name opens the free entry that says what the record is and where it is published.
What's changing nearby
3 checks
Municipal applications, construction forecasts, Canada Energy Regulator
The home and the lot
8 checks
- Permits and renovations
- Zoning
- Building size from City maps
- Lot size from City maps
- Extra units allowed
- Heritage
- Trees on and near the lot
- Rental and home business rules
Municipal permits, zoning by-law, 3D building and parcel maps
Costs and the market
4 checks
Municipal rate by-laws, Statistics Canada
How many a report can answer depends on the town: what we cover, town by town.
Batch screen
A list of addresses, in one table
Paste 10 or 50 Ontario addresses; get one table back by email within 24 hours, a row per address, a column per record, as a page and a spreadsheet. Prices include HST.
Open the sample batch screen: ten made-up addresses in two made-up towns, as the page and the spreadsheet a real order gets.
The table compares the same records across addresses; it never ranks them or says which to buy. The full report on one home (every record, the map, the questions to ask) is a separate order.
The income check
A unit, rooms, a short-term rental or a home business: what the records show for the plan.
Tell us the plan; the page reads the records it runs into, for that address.
- Zoning and official plan
- Extra units
- Rental licensing
- Short-term rentals
- Home business
- Permits on file
- Lot and building size
- Heritage
- Parking
- Transit
- Tax and water rates
- Area values
- Your plan printed at the top“Adding a unit”, “Renting rooms”…
- Who works on each flagged lineDesigners, garden suite builders, paralegals, property managers, with the register to check.
- Where to ask for the restThe City's records search, the Fire Code for a second unit, the standard lease.
It never says what the home can earn: only what the records show. Ordering opens soon: [email protected] to be told when it does.
Sample income check, made-up address
88 Sample Crescent, Anytown ON
- Permits and renovations
- Flagged
- The 2019 underpinning permit is still open
- Extra units allowed
- Note
- The by-law permits up to 4 units on this lot
- Rental and home business rules
- Note
- A rental housing licence for each rented unit
The full page adds every record with its source and dates, the kinds of business for each one flagged, and where to ask for what isn't public.
Landlord's first steps
Renting the home or a unit in it: the steps, each with its official page.
One page for the address, from the town's rules to the first tax return.
- The town's rental rules
- CO and smoke alarms
- Insurance
- The standard lease
- Rent increases
- The Landlord and Tenant Board
- Rental income and tax
- Tax, water and services
- Each step with its official pageThe Province, the Board, the CRA, and the date we read it.
- The address's own records beside itRental rules, permits, tax and water rates, services.
- Who answers each questionNever legal, tax or insurance advice.
Ordering opens soon: [email protected] to be told when it does.
Sample landlord's first steps, made-up address
88 Sample Crescent, Anytown ON
- The town's rules for a rental unit
- Before renting
- A rental housing licence for each rented unit
- Ontario's standard lease
- The lease
- Required for most tenancies signed since 30 April 2018
- Reporting rental income
- After
- The CRA's guide T4036 and Form T776
The full page adds every step's official page and date, and the address's records with their sources.
One home in full
Every record on one home, with the map.
Down to one home? The full report reads every record we check for it, with the map.
- What the zoning permits on the lot
- Rental licensing and short-term rules
- What holding it costsTax, water and sewer, each with its by-law or rate schedule.
Every line names its source and the date we checked it.
Sample report for a made-up address
88 Sample Crescent, Anytown ON
- Extra units allowed
- Note
- The by-law permits up to 4 units on this lot, including a garden suite
- Rental and home business rules
- Note
- Short-term rentals only in a host's principal residence, with a City permit; a rental housing licence for each rented unit
- Property tax rate
- Facts
- The 2026 residential rate is 1.10% of assessed value (sample figure)
The full report adds a map of what's nearby, and every line opens to show its source and dates.
From the city tables
Three rules that change the numbers
Each line comes from the city's own by-law page, with the date we checked it; the by-city page has the rest.
- 1 Jan 2027
Ottawa: a rental renovation licence
Ottawa's Rental Renovation Licence By-law, approved on 15 July 2026, takes effect on 1 January 2027. Ottawa's rules.
City of Ottawa. Checked 5 Oct 2026.
- 180 nights a year
Toronto: short-term rentals
Toronto limits short-term rentals to the operator's principal residence; an entire home may be rented up to 180 nights a year, with City registration and a 6% Municipal Accommodation Tax. Toronto's rules.
City of Toronto, Municipal Code Chapter 547. Checked 5 Oct 2026.
- Up to 4 units
Hamilton: fourplexes
Hamilton permits up to four units in the R1, R1a and R2 zones since February 2024; areas still under a former municipality's by-law follow that by-law. Hamilton's rules.
City of Hamilton, by-law 05-200. Checked 5 Oct 2026.
How it works
From the city's rules to the address
Read the city's rules
Free, for 64 cities: rental licensing, short-term rentals, extra units, tax and water, each with its source.
Check the address
The free check answers nine picks on screen, including whether extra units are allowed and the short-term rental rules.
Order the report
The full report on the home within 24 hours, with a person checking every line. 10 reports $99.99 for a search across several homes.
Questions by city
Questions by city
Each page names the record that answers one question, and where to read it.
What about rents and returns?
No rents, no income estimates, no opinion of value: what the records allow and what holding the home costs. The deal's numbers are yours.
More for landlords
The landlords' pages
The fine print
Public records, not advice
What public records show and where they come from: never whether a use is allowed for one home, a value or advice. The City, a lawyer and an appraiser answer those.
By-laws change: each line carries the date we checked it.
Questions
Does the report say whether a home may be rented?
It says what the records show: whether the City licenses rentals, its short-term rental rules, what the zoning permits and whether a second unit is registered, each with its by-law. Whether a particular use is allowed for a particular home is a question for the City or a lawyer.
Does it cover condo rules?
No. Condo documents and condo rules are outside what OfferDue reads; a lawyer reviews the status certificate.
Are the city rules up to date?
Each rule names its by-law or rate schedule and the date we checked it. A rule can change after that date; the City's page is the current version.
How does a pack work?
10 reports $99.99, HST included. Send up to three addresses with the order and the rest by reply to your report email, any time within twelve months.
Selling a tenanted home?
The Board's ten updated forms, the N12 for a buyer moving in, and showing a rented home: selling a rented home.
Where does the data come from?
Municipal open data, conservation authority maps, the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada. Each line of a report names its publisher and the date we checked it.
Does it work in my town?
Every Ontario address gets the provincial and federal checks. Permits, applications, zoning and heritage depend on what each municipality publishes: what we cover, town by town.
Public-record information, not legal, financial, insurance or inspection advice. OfferDue reports what each record and official page shows, with its source and date. Page reviewed 28 Oct 2026.