No Canadian credit history does not mean no Toronto apartment. Landlords commonly accept a stronger income file, an international employment letter, proof of savings, a guarantor, or a voluntary offer of prepaid rent in place of a local credit score. Thousands of newcomers lease downtown condos every year. The approach just has to be built differently.
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A credit report answers one question: will this person reliably pay? Without one, your application needs to answer it another way, job offer or employment letter, savings, references, and sometimes a guarantor or a voluntary prepaid-rent offer. Presented well, that file competes with local applicants. Start with the documents guide, then see the newcomer page for the full landing plan, or the moving-to-Toronto guide if you’re renting from abroad.
Newcomers arriving within 1–3 months, students with guarantors, and professionals relocating on a job offer.
Wiring deposits before verifying a listing is real. Newcomers are the top target for rental scams. Never send money without verification.
A one-page summary of who you are, your role and income, arrival date and what you’re offering. It turns an unusual file into an easy yes.
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About a third of my clients are new to Canada. I know which buildings and landlords work smoothly with newcomer files, and which will waste your time.
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A lot of what renters get told about credit screening in Toronto is folklore rather than law. Here is what the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the province actually say, worth knowing before you accept a rejection you didn’t have to.
The OHRC’s guidance for landlords is explicit: “A lack of rental or credit history should not be viewed negatively.” That is the exact situation almost every newcomer is in. A thin file is not a bad file.
You will still hear it quoted at showings. It has not been lawful for a long time. The OHRC tells landlords plainly that “it is illegal to apply a rent-to-income ratio such as a 30% cut-off rule.” This traces back to Kearney v. Bramalea, where a Board of Inquiry found that rent-to-income ratios and minimum income criteria breach the Human Rights Code, whether used alone or alongside other criteria, because they have a disparate impact on protected groups and do not actually predict who defaults. The Ontario Superior Court upheld the finding that using those ratios as the sole basis for refusing applicants was indirect discrimination.
What a landlord may do is ask about income, but the OHRC is specific about how: “You can ask for income information, but you must also ask for and consider it together with any available information on rental history, credit references and credit checks.” Income cannot be the single gate. That is the legal opening for a strong overall package.
Under the Human Rights Code, an application cannot be refused because of place of origin, citizenship (including refugee status), receipt of public assistance, family status, age, or the other protected grounds. Being new to Canada is itself a protected characteristic in this context, not a risk factor a landlord is entitled to price in.
Asking for a guarantor is legal. Asking you specifically for one because you are a recent immigrant is not. The OHRC condition is that a landlord may require a guarantor only if “you have the same requirements for all tenants, not just for people identified by Code grounds, such as recent immigrants or people receiving social assistance.” If a guarantor appears in the conversation only after your background comes up, that is worth noticing.
Newcomers are asked for a Social Insurance Number constantly, and hand it over because they assume refusing costs them the unit. The federal Privacy Commissioner’s position is that while nothing stops a landlord from asking, “you are under no obligation to provide your SIN”, and a standard credit check only needs your name, address and date of birth. A landlord also needs your consent before sharing your information with a credit reporting agency at all.
| Charge | What Ontario allows |
|---|---|
| Rent deposit | No more than one month’s rent (one week’s if rent is weekly). It must be applied to the last month of the tenancy and cannot be used for damage. |
| Damage, security or pet deposit | Not permitted. |
| Key deposit | Cannot exceed the actual cost of replacing the keys. |
| Post-dated cheques / auto-debit | Can be suggested. You cannot be refused a unit or evicted for declining. |
Why this matters most for newcomers. The request to pay six or twelve months of rent up front “because you have no credit” is the single most common thing I see newcomers agree to in Toronto. A landlord cannot require it. The legal maximum they can demand is first and last. If you choose to offer prepaid rent as a strategy, that is your call to make knowingly, not a condition you owe.
Sources: Ontario Human Rights Commission, Human rights in housing: an overview for landlords and Minimum income criteria; Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Privacy in the landlord and tenant relationship; Landlord and Tenant Board, Information for New Tenants; Steps to Justice, Do I have to pay a deposit?
Reviewed September 11, 2026. General information about Ontario rental rules, not legal advice, confirm your own situation with the Landlord and Tenant Board or a legal clinic.
Yes. It happens every day in Toronto. Landlords commonly accept a strong income file, proof of savings, a guarantor, or a voluntary prepaid-rent offer instead. The application simply needs to be assembled and presented differently.
Not always. A guarantor with Canadian income helps for students and renters without a job offer, but professionals relocating with an employment letter and savings frequently get approved without one.
In Ontario, a landlord generally can’t require more than the standard rent deposit, but a tenant may voluntarily offer prepaid rent, and as a voluntary offer it often strengthens a newcomer application. If anything feels off in a lease, get proper advice. Educational guidance, not legal advice.
Ontario’s Human Rights Code restricts discrimination in housing, including on citizenship and place of origin. In practice, the strongest protection is a file so complete the question never comes up. This is educational information, not legal advice.
Yes. Remote leasing with video showings and digital signatures is routine. Verify everything through a licensed agent before sending any deposit, newcomers renting sight-unseen are the top target for rental scams.
If you are weighing renting against buying, compare the full costs and your expected time in the home. A mortgage payment alone leaves out condo fees, property tax, upkeep, and the cash needed to close.
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