# Property maintenance across the City of Toronto Updated 2026-10-03. Toronto licenses three different kinds of rental activity, moved its heat season in 2025, replaced its temperature by-law in 2026 and runs one water utility for the whole city. Each of those changes how a job is scoped, who gets told and what goes in the file. ## Which licence the building carries A tower of three or more storeys and ten or more rental units is a RentSafeTO building, evaluated and audited by the City against its [plans and service request process](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/toronto-code-354.pdf). A rooming house is a [multi-tenant house](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/toronto-code-575.pdf). A unit being emptied for a renovation needs a [renovation licence](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/toronto-code-662.pdf). A rented condo suite or a duplex needs neither of the first two, and still falls under the City's [property standards](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_629.pdf). We ask which one applies before a trade is booked, because it decides the paperwork that goes with the job. The [RentSafeTO guide](https://roundhousegroup.ca/answers/rentsafeto-landlord-requirements/) covers the tower rules in detail. ## Heat, then cooling A no heat call between October 1 and May 15 is a [Chapter 497](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/bylaws/2025/law1511.pdf) matter at 21 C. From June 1 the question flips to the air conditioning where it is installed, or to a cooled amenity space in a RentSafeTO building without it. Our [heat and cooling checker](https://roundhousegroup.ca/tools/heat-and-cooling-checker/) gives the date rule for any day of the year, and [heating and cooling](https://roundhousegroup.ca/services/hvac/) covers the furnace, boiler and fan coil work. ## Water on the City side and yours [Toronto Water](https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/your-water-pipes-meter/water-related-help-advice/no-water-or-low-water-pressure/) owns the pipe to the property line. A backup that starts on the private side goes to a licensed drain contractor, with a camera clip on the file so the owner can see where it failed. The [flooding subsidy](https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/managing-rain-melted-snow/basement-flooding/basement-flooding-protection-subsidy-program/) can pay for the backwater valve and sump pump that follow. See [basement flooding in a Toronto rental](https://roundhousegroup.ca/answers/basement-flooding-rental-toronto/). ## Scarborough Scarborough was its own city until January 1, 1998 and is now the eastern part of Toronto, under every by-law on this page. About 460 RentSafeTO buildings sit in its six wards, and 13 of the City's basement flooding study areas follow its creeks. [Property maintenance in Scarborough](https://roundhousegroup.ca/areas/scarborough/). ## North York North York was also its own city until 1998. The same Toronto by-laws apply, from the towers along Yonge Street to the 3 to 6 storey rental buildings that make up most of its registered apartment stock. [Property maintenance in North York](https://roundhousegroup.ca/areas/north-york/). ## 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 Toronto job, [request work](https://roundhousegroup.ca/request-work/). ## The by-laws behind a Toronto job - A purpose built rental building of three or more storeys and ten or more rental units registers with the City every year under RentSafeTO. The owner keeps a tenant service request process that answers urgent vital service requests within 24 hours and others within 7 days, plus a pest management plan, an electrical maintenance plan and a state of good repair plan. Source: [Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 354, Apartment Buildings](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/toronto-code-354.pdf) - 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). By-law 1395-2024 moved the season from September 15 to June 1 to these dates, in force April 30, 2025. Source: [City of Toronto By-law 1511-2025, Chapter 497, Indoor Temperature Standards](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/bylaws/2025/law1511.pdf) - An installed cooling system must run from June 1 to September 30 and hold 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. No rule yet makes a landlord install cooling. Source: [City of Toronto By-law 1511-2025, Chapter 497, sections 497-2.2 and 497-2.3](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/bylaws/2025/law1511.pdf) - A house with four or more rooms rented to people who do not live as one household needs a multi-tenant house licence, renewed every 12 months, with a fire safety plan, a pest management plan and a tenant service request plan filed at application. The licence replaced the old rooming house rules on March 31, 2024. Source: [Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 575, Multi-Tenant Houses](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/toronto-code-575.pdf) - Since July 31, 2025, a landlord who gives an N13 to renovate or repair needs a Rental Renovation Licence, generally applied for within 7 days of the notice, plus a tenant accommodation plan and tenant compensation. Source: [Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 662, Licensing of Rental Renovations](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/toronto-code-662.pdf) ## Who rents here 48 percent of Toronto households rented their home in the 2021 Census, 557,975 of 1,160,890, and 30 percent of occupied dwellings were condominiums ([City of Toronto, 2021 Census backgrounder](https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/8e3a-CityPlanning-2021-Census-Backgrounder-Housing-Indigenous-Peoples.pdf)). The city itself was formed on January 1, 1998 from six municipalities: the old City of Toronto, Etobicoke, Scarborough, North York, York and East York ([City of Toronto Archives](https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/accountability-operations-customer-service/access-city-information-or-records/city-of-toronto-archives/whats-in-the-archives/research-by-topic/resources-on-former-municipalities/)). A 1960s tower in Scarborough and a new condo on the waterfront sit under the same by-laws and need very different trades. ## Related pages - [Property Maintenance in Scarborough](https://roundhousegroup.ca/areas/scarborough/) - [Property Maintenance in North York](https://roundhousegroup.ca/areas/north-york/) - [What does RentSafeTO require of a Toronto apartment building owner?](https://roundhousegroup.ca/answers/rentsafeto-landlord-requirements/) ## Questions ### When does the Toronto heating season start and end? October 1 to May 15, at a minimum of 21 C in every unit the landlord heats, under section 497-2.1 A of Chapter 497. Before April 30, 2025 the season ran September 15 to June 1. ### Does a Toronto landlord have to install air conditioning? No. Where cooling is installed it must hold 26 C or less from June 1 to September 30. On June 24 and 25, 2026, Council directed staff to report back by June 2027 with a maximum indoor temperature by-law for Council approval ([item 2026.CC42.12](https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.CC42.12)). Until one passes, no rule makes a landlord install cooling. ### How much is Toronto's basement flooding subsidy now? Up to $6,650 in total per property for work completed on or after November 12, 2025, covering a plumbing assessment, up to two backwater valves, a sump pump with battery backup and pipe severance. Downspout disconnection is not eligible. ### Who fixes a sewer backup at a Toronto rental? Report it to 311, which runs 24 hours a day. Toronto Water owns the pipe from the main to the property line; from the property line into the building it belongs to the owner, and that side is the plumber's job.