Served Scarborough
Property maintenance in Scarborough, from towers to creek watersheds
Scarborough is the eastern part of the City of Toronto, under the same by-laws as the rest of the city since 1998. What sets the work apart is the building stock: apartment towers mostly built before 1981, and houses on lots drained by Highland Creek, the Rouge River and Taylor-Massey Creek.
Checked 2026-10-03
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Coverage
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Towers on hot water heat
By our count from the City's apartment building registration data (July 2026), about 460 RentSafeTO buildings sit in Scarborough's six wards, 162 of them 10 storeys or more, and about nine in ten built before 1981. Most list hot water heat, so a no heat call is often a boiler, a pump or a riser valve, not a furnace. Most also report no air conditioning, which makes the amenity room cooling rule a summer job in its own right. See rental apartment buildings and the RentSafeTO guide.
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Flooding, creek by creek
13 of the City's 67 Basement Flooding Protection Program study areas cover Scarborough wards, named for Highland Creek, the Rouge River, Taylor-Massey Creek and the Scarborough Waterfront. TRCA calls Highland Creek the most urbanized watershed in the Toronto region, with about 9 percent of it under stormwater management controls (TRCA). A backup in a Scarborough basement unit goes to a licensed drain contractor with a camera, and the backwater valve and sump pump that follow can go to the City's subsidy. See waterproofing.
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Houses with rooms for rent
In Scarborough a multi-tenant house is capped at six rooms in every zone and licensed by the City. A repair in a licensed house, a fire separation, a smoke alarm, a bedroom door, is closed out with photos ready for the next inspection. Municipal Licensing and Standards East District, at 1530 Markham Road, covers all six wards; complaints go through 311.
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Who does the work
Plumbing is done by licensed plumbers and drain work by licensed drain contractors. Gas work is done by TSSA registered contractors. We only use ECRA/ESA-Licensed Electrical Contractors. Pest control is done by licensed exterminators.
To send a Scarborough job, request work.
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Toronto by-laws that apply in Scarborough
A purpose built rental building of three or more storeys and ten or more rental units registers with the City every 12 months under RentSafeTO, and answers urgent service requests, a loss of heat, water, power or building security among them, within 24 hours and others within 7 days (sections 354-1.1, 354-2.1 and 354-3.1.C).
Source: Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 354, Apartment Buildings
Where the landlord pays for heat, every unit must reach at least 21 C, measured 1.5 m above the floor, from October 1 to May 15 (Chapter 497, Indoor Temperature Standards, section 497-2.1 A, By-law 1511-2025, in force June 1, 2026). The dates come from By-law 1395-2024.
Source: City of Toronto By-law 1511-2025, Chapter 497, Indoor Temperature Standards
An installed cooling system runs from June 1 to September 30 and holds 26 C or less (section 497-2.2). A RentSafeTO apartment building that does not cool every unit keeps at least one existing indoor amenity space at 26 C or less over the same months, unless only construction could achieve it (section 497-2.3). Both rules sit in Chapter 497 from June 1, 2026, when By-law 67-2026 deleted the old cooling rule, section 629-38 F.
Source: City of Toronto By-law 1511-2025, Chapter 497, sections 497-2.2 and 497-2.3
A house with four or more rooms rented as bedrooms to people who do not live as one household is a multi-tenant house and needs a City licence. In Scarborough, as in Etobicoke and North York, a multi-tenant house may have at most six rooms in all zones.
Source: City of Toronto, Multi-tenant house owners and operators
For work completed on or after November 12, 2025, the Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy pays up to $6,650 per single family home, duplex, triplex or fourplex, covering a plumbing assessment, up to two backwater valves, a sump pump with battery backup and weeping tile severance. Apartment buildings of five or more units are not covered.
Source: City of Toronto, Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program
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Six wards, mostly built before 1981
Scarborough was a township from 1850, a borough from 1967 and a city from 1983, and joined the new City of Toronto on January 1, 1998 with Etobicoke, North York, York, East York and the old City of Toronto (City of Toronto Archives). The City groups six wards, 20 to 25, as Scarborough for its Committee of Adjustment panel (Scarborough panel). In the 2021 Census, 45.7 percent of dwellings were rented in Scarborough Southwest and 45.0 percent in Scarborough-Guildwood, against 20.6 percent in Scarborough North and Scarborough-Rouge Park (City of Toronto ward profiles). In Wards 20, 21 and 24, close to 70 percent of homes were built before 1981.
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Common services in Scarborough
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Questions
Is Scarborough still a separate city?
No. Scarborough became part of the City of Toronto on January 1, 1998. Every Toronto by-law applies there, and the City groups Wards 20 to 25 as Scarborough.
How many RentSafeTO buildings are in Scarborough?
About 460 registered apartment buildings with about 48,700 units sit in Wards 20 to 25, the six wards the City groups as Scarborough, by our count from the City's apartment building registration open data, July 2026. 162 of them are 10 storeys or more.
Where is the City's by-law office for Scarborough?
Municipal Licensing and Standards East District, at 1530 Markham Road, serves all six Scarborough wards. Complaints go through 311.
Does a Scarborough tower without air conditioning need a cool room?
Yes, if it is a RentSafeTO building without cooling in every unit and it has an indoor amenity space. At least one such space is kept at 26 C or less from June 1 to September 30, unless only construction could achieve it (section 497-2.3).
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