# What counts as a maintenance emergency in an Ontario rental?

Updated 2026-10-03.

Ontario law does not define a maintenance emergency. The Residential Tenancies Act lets a landlord enter a unit without written notice "in cases of emergency", but leaves the word to judgment. The clearest markers the law does give are the vital services: heat in season, hot or cold water, electricity, gas and fuel.

## What the Act says

Section 26 allows entry at any time without written notice in cases of emergency, or when the tenant consents at the time of entry. Every other repair visit needs 24 hours written notice under section 27.

Section 20 makes the landlord responsible for keeping the unit in a good state of repair, fit for habitation and compliant with health, safety, housing and maintenance standards.

## The vital services

Section 2 lists them: hot or cold water, fuel, electricity, gas and, for part of the year, heat. Section 21 says a landlord must not withhold the reasonable supply of a vital service it is obliged to supply, or deliberately interfere with it.

O. Reg. 516/06 sets the heat season at September 1 to June 15, with at least 20 degrees Celsius in habitable space.

## Heat in Toronto

Toronto sets a higher bar. Chapter 497 of the Municipal Code, Indoor Temperature Standards, section 497-2.1 A (By-law 1511-2025, in force June 1, 2026), requires a minimum of 21 degrees Celsius, measured 1.5 metres above the floor, in all areas of the unit from October 1 to May 15. The City applies it where the heat is provided at the property owner's expense.

## Sorting a call

A workable test is whether waiting for a 24 hour notice would put people or the building at risk. A lost vital service, water coming through a ceiling, or a door that no longer locks is in that category. A loose handle, a sticking door or a scuffed wall is not, and waits for a notice and a booked visit.

Record what was reported, when, and what was found. Entry without notice is lawful in an emergency, and the record is what shows it was one.

## Where Roundhouse fits

This website is not an emergency line. Roundhouse answers plumbing, electrical, major appliance, heating and cooling failures, lockouts and a door that will not lock 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and books everything else in office hours. See the [emergency checker](https://roundhousegroup.ca/tools/emergency-checker/), [rental repairs](https://roundhousegroup.ca/services/repairs/) or [request work](https://roundhousegroup.ca/request-work/).

We only use ECRA/ESA-Licensed Electrical Contractors.

## Related pages

- [Can a landlord charge a tenant for damage to a rental unit in Ontario?](https://roundhousegroup.ca/answers/landlord-charge-tenant-for-damage-ontario/)
- [What is a WSIB clearance certificate, and why does a property manager need one?](https://roundhousegroup.ca/answers/wsib-clearance-certificate-property-manager/)
- [What temperature does a Toronto landlord have to keep a rental unit at?](https://roundhousegroup.ca/answers/toronto-heat-bylaw-landlord/)

## Questions

### Does the Residential Tenancies Act define an emergency?

No. Section 26 lets a landlord enter without written notice in cases of emergency, but the Act does not define the word, and LTB Interpretation Guideline 19 does not define it either.

### Is no heat an emergency in a Toronto rental?

Heat is a vital service from September 1 to June 15 under O. Reg. 516/06, and Toronto requires at least 21 degrees Celsius from October 1 to May 15 where the landlord supplies the heat. A unit without heat in that period has lost a vital service.

### What should a property manager do first in a maintenance emergency?

Stop the damage and make the unit safe, then record it. Shut off the water where it is safe to, get a qualified trade on site, and log what was reported, when, and what was found. Entry without notice is lawful in an emergency under section 26, and the record is what shows it was one. See [after hours maintenance](https://roundhousegroup.ca/after-hours/).

### Can a landlord enter without notice to deal with an emergency?

Yes. Section 26 of the Residential Tenancies Act allows entry at any time without written notice in cases of emergency, or when the tenant consents at the time of entry.

## Sources

- [Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17, sections 2, 20, 21 and 26](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/06r17)
- [O. Reg. 516/06 under the Residential Tenancies Act, section 4, heat as a vital service](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/060516)
- [LTB Interpretation Guideline 19, right of entry](https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Interpretation%20Guidelines/19%20-%20The%20Landlords%20Right%20of%20Entry%20into%20a%20Rental%20Unit.html)
- [City of Toronto, indoor temperatures in apartment units](https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/housing-shelter/rental-housing-rights-information/housing-property-standards/indoor-temperatures-in-apartment-units/)
- [City of Toronto By-law 1511-2025, Chapter 497, Indoor Temperature Standards, in force June 1, 2026](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/bylaws/2025/law1511.pdf)