Find your Next Apartment With Confidence

Introduction

Rentack is a rental search platform for apartments, condos, and rooms. Filter by city, neighbourhood, price, size, availability date, included utilities, and pet policy. Every landlord and property manager goes through an approval process, and every listing is verified before it's published.

Unit size

How unit size is described varies by province. In Quebec, listings count total rooms, with the half-room being the bathroom: a 3½ is a one-bedroom, a 4½ is a two-bedroom, a 5½ is a three-bedroom, and a 1½ is a studio. Elsewhere in Canada, listings count bedrooms directly — one-bedroom, two-bedroom, bachelor, studio. A Quebec 4½ and an Ontario two-bedroom describe essentially the same unit.

Included utilities

In Quebec, "all-inclusive" (tout inclus) usually means heat and hot water are in the rent, and "chauffé, éclairé" adds electricity. Elsewhere the equivalent is "utilities included," whose scope varies: sometimes heat only, sometimes electricity, water, and occasionally internet. These terms aren't standardized anywhere, so the listing detail is what matters. The gap between a heated and an unheated unit can be substantial in winter.

Furnished, semi-furnished, unfurnished

A semi-furnished unit typically includes the main appliances — refrigerator and stove — but no furniture. A furnished unit includes furniture. In Quebec, a listing with no mention is presumed unfurnished with no appliances, which differs from common practice in most other provinces, where a fridge and stove are generally supplied.

Rooms and shared housing

A room rental is a bedroom in a shared unit, usually with a common kitchen and bathroom. Rent is almost always all-inclusive. The lease may be signed directly with the landlord, or the room may be sublet by a roommate already in place. In Quebec, a roommate named on the lease has the same rights and obligations as any other tenant; a verbal arrangement between roommates does not carry the same protection.

Lease start dates

In Quebec, most residential leases begin July 1st, a convention tied to Moving Day. Inventory peaks between February and May, thins in June, then rebuilds in the fall. Elsewhere in Canada there's no single turnover date: leases generally start on the first of any month, with a peak in August and September in university cities.

Residential leases fall under provincial jurisdiction. The governing body depends on where the unit is located.

Quebec — Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL, formerly the Régie du logement). The TAL lease form is mandatory.

Ontario — Landlord and Tenant Board, under the Residential Tenancies Act. Ontario's standard lease form is mandatory for most private rentals.

British Columbia — Residential Tenancy Branch.

Alberta — Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service.

Saskatchewan — Office of Residential Tenancies.

Manitoba — Residential Tenancies Branch.

Nova Scotia — Residential Tenancies Program.

New Brunswick — Residential Tenancies Tribunal.

Prince Edward Island — Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission.

Newfoundland and Labrador — Residential Tenancies, Digital Government and Service NL.

Rentack does not provide legal advice. Consult your province's body or a local housing organization.

Landlord approval

Every landlord and property manager goes through an approval process before they can post a listing. Rentack does not publish automatically imported listing feeds.

Verified listings

Every listing is verified before it goes live — photos, description, and unit details. Listings that are no longer valid are removed.

Enquiries

Every listing has a contact form. The enquiry is routed to the person responsible for the unit, who calls the renter back.

Cost

Browsing listings, saved searches, alerts, and enquiries are free for renters.