Thorough Tenant Screening for Reliable and Trustworthy Occupants

By selecting the best candidates, we minimize the risk of future issues and ensure long-term success.
 
With our detailed screening, you can rest easy knowing your property is in good hands with trustworthy tenants.
What tenant screening actually checks
Screening is not one check. It is a set of them, and each answers a different question.
A credit check shows whether an applicant has a history of paying what they owe. Rental history and landlord references show how they have behaved as a tenant. Income and employment verification confirms they can cover the rent. Identity verification confirms they are who they say they are.
Run on their own, each of these is easy to misread. A thin credit file is not the same as a bad one, and a strong income with no rental history is not a problem in itself. The point of screening is to assemble a picture, not to apply a single cut-off.
What Ontario landlords are allowed to ask
This is where screening most often goes wrong, and it is worth knowing before you or anyone acting for you turns an applicant away.
The Ontario Human Rights Code protects people in housing on the grounds of race, colour or ethnic background, religious beliefs or practices, ancestry, place of origin, citizenship, sex including pregnancy and gender identity, family status, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, age, and receipt of public assistance. People are also protected from discrimination because they are a friend or relative of someone covered by those grounds.
A regulation under the Code sets out which business practices are acceptable and what information can be used when choosing tenants. According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, rental history, credit references and credit checks may be requested, and a lack of rental or credit history should not be viewed negatively. A landlord can ask for income information, but must also ask for and consider alongside it any available rental history, credit references and credit checks. Income information can only be considered on its own when no other information is made available, and it should be limited to confirming that the person has enough income to cover the rent.
A guarantor can be requested, but only where the same requirement applies to every applicant rather than to particular people. The Commission states that Regulation 290/98 under the Code permits no other inquiries.
The 30% rent-to-income rule is not legal in Ontario
Plenty of landlords still screen on a rent-to-income ratio, usually the rule that rent should not exceed 30% of gross income. In Ontario that practice is not permitted.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission states it plainly: it is illegal for housing providers to apply a rent-to-income ratio such as a 30% cut-off rule. The one exception is subsidized units where the rent is geared to income level.
If a ratio has been used as a filter on your property, that is worth correcting now, whoever manages it.
What you cannot require from an applicant
A Social Insurance Number is the most common one. The Government of Canada's guidance lists renting a property, including the application and lease negotiation, among the situations where a person does not have to provide their SIN, and lists requesting a credit report as another. Asking for one in these situations is described as strongly discouraged though not illegal, and a person cannot be denied a product or service for refusing to give a SIN where it is not legally required.
A credit check does not need a SIN to run.
How SMOOTH screens applicants
We run credit checks with the applicant's written consent, verify income and employment, contact previous landlords, and confirm identity. We weigh those together rather than scoring against a single threshold, which is both better practice and what the rules require.
We do not guarantee how a tenancy will go, and no screening process can. What good screening does is reduce the chance of a placement that was predictable from the start, and give you a documented, defensible basis for the decision you made.
Frequently asked questions
Can a landlord refuse an applicant for having no credit history?
Not on that basis alone in Ontario. The Human Rights Commission's position is that a lack of rental or credit history should not be viewed negatively.
Can a landlord ask how much an applicant earns?
Yes, but income information has to be considered alongside rental history, credit references and credit checks where those are available, and it should only confirm that the person can cover the rent.
Do I have to give my SIN to rent a property?
No. Federal guidance lists renting a property among the situations where a SIN is not required, and you cannot be refused for declining to provide one.
Does screening guarantee a good tenant?
No. Good screening lowers risk and documents your decision. It does not predict behaviour.
This page is general information for Canadian landlords and is not legal advice. The Ontario rules described here come from the Ontario Human Rights Commission's policy on human rights and rental housing. Rules differ by pro