Guarantor or Co-Signer: What’s the Difference?
People use the words loosely, but the two roles create different obligations.
- Guarantor. Signs a separate guarantee promising to pay what the tenant owes if the tenant doesn’t. A guarantor who doesn’t live in the unit is not a tenant: the Residential Tenancies Act defines a tenant as a person who pays rent in return for the right to occupy a rental unit.6
- Co-signer as co-tenant. Signs the lease itself as a tenant. Ontario’s Standard Lease says that where there is more than one tenant, each tenant is responsible for all tenant obligations, including the full amount of rent.9 A parent who signs as a tenant takes on the whole lease, not a backup role.
Which one fits depends on what the parties intend. If the person will not live there, a guarantee is usually the cleaner fit, because it names them for what they are.
When Asking for a Guarantor Is Appropriate
O. Reg. 290/98 allows a landlord to require a prospective tenant to obtain a guarantee for the rent.1 The Ontario Human Rights Commission reads that permission narrowly. A co-signer may be appropriate where a tenant has poor references, a poor credit history or a history of default. Landlords are not allowed to require one simply because the applicant is in a Code-protected group, and the OHRC lists lone parents, newcomers to Canada, youth, people with a past, present or perceived mental illness, people receiving social assistance and racialized people as examples.2
The OHRC’s overview adds that a guarantor may be required only if it is required of all tenants.3 Read together, the safe practice is a written rule tied to the file (for example, “a guarantor is required where the credit report shows collections in the last two years”) that you apply to every applicant who meets it.
| Reason for asking | Rests on the file? |
|---|---|
| Collections or judgments on the credit report | Yes2 |
| A previous landlord reports unpaid rent | Yes2 |
| No Canadian credit file | No. The OHRC says no credit history is not bad credit history.2 |
| Applicant is a student or under 25 | No. Age and youth are Code grounds.4,2 |
| Income comes from social assistance | No. Receipt of public assistance is a Code ground.4 |
| Income doesn’t meet a 30% ratio | No. The OHRC’s position is that income ratios are not permitted.2 |
What a Guarantor Is Liable For
A guarantor is liable for what the guarantee says, and nothing the guarantee doesn’t say. The regulation speaks of a guarantee “for the rent”.1 Whether a particular guarantee also covers damage, or other amounts, depends on its wording, which is why the wording matters more than the label.
Three points decide most disputes:
- Writing. Ontario’s Statute of Frauds says no action may be brought to charge a person on a promise to answer for the debt or default of another unless the agreement, or a note of it, is in writing and signed by that person.5 A verbal promise from a parent is not enough.
- Duration. When a fixed-term lease ends without being renewed or terminated, the Act deems it renewed as a monthly tenancy on the same terms.7 Whether a guarantee carries over into that monthly tenancy, and through later rent increases, depends on what it says. Say it explicitly.
- Where it is enforced. The Landlord and Tenant Board determines applications under the Act.8 A claim against a guarantor who is not a tenant is a claim on a contract, and where to bring it is a question for a lawyer or paralegal.
Screening the Guarantor
A guarantee is worth what the guarantor can pay, so screen them, with the same rules that protect any applicant.
- Get the guarantor’s own written consent to a credit check. Ontario’s Consumer Reporting Act requires written notice before requesting a consumer report containing personal information, in bold or underlined type of at least ten point.10 The Privacy Commissioner expects express consent for a credit check.11
- Verify identity and income the way you would for a tenant, through a connected source where possible.
- Don’t hold the guarantor to a test you couldn’t apply to the tenant. The OHRC says landlords cannot require a guarantor to meet minimum rent-to-income ratios that they could not impose on the prospective tenant.2
- Check that the guarantor is reachable and, ideally, in Ontario. A guarantor abroad is harder to enforce against.
- Don’t ask the guarantor anything you couldn’t ask the tenant: no SIN, no questions about family, age or origin.11,4
Lease Wording
Most Ontario residential tenancies must use the Standard Lease.9 Its section 1 names the landlords and tenants who are parties, and its section 15 allows additional terms specific to the tenancy, attached to the lease; any extra term that tries to take away a right or responsibility under the Act is void.9 A guarantor who is not a tenant should not be listed as a tenant in section 1.
The usual approach is a separate guarantee agreement signed by the guarantor, referred to in the additional terms. Whatever the form, have a lawyer or paralegal draft or review it so that it covers, at least:
- The names of the guarantor, the tenant, the landlord and the unit address.
- Exactly what is guaranteed: rent only, or also other amounts the tenant owes.
- Whether the guarantee continues if the tenancy becomes month-to-month and if the rent increases lawfully.
- How the landlord must notify the guarantor of a default, and how the guarantor can end the guarantee, if at all.
- The guarantor’s signature and date, with a copy given to the guarantor.5
This page is general information about Ontario law, not legal advice. The enforceability and scope of a guarantee turn on its wording and the facts; get advice from a lawyer or paralegal before relying on one.
Questions
Can an Ontario Landlord Require a Guarantor?
Yes. O. Reg. 290/98 allows a landlord to require a guarantee for the rent, but the OHRC says it must rest on the applicant’s file, such as poor credit or references, and not on a Code ground such as being a newcomer or a student.1,2
Is a Guarantor a Tenant?
Not if they don’t live there. The Residential Tenancies Act defines a tenant as someone who pays rent for the right to occupy the unit. Someone who signs the lease as a tenant, though, takes on all tenant obligations.6,9
Does a Guarantee Have to Be in Writing?
Yes, to be enforced. Ontario’s Statute of Frauds bars an action on a promise to answer for another person’s debt unless it is in writing and signed by the person giving it.5
Can a Landlord Require a Guarantor to Earn a Certain Income?
Not by a ratio the landlord couldn’t apply to the tenant. The OHRC says landlords cannot require a guarantor to meet minimum rent-to-income ratios they could not impose on the prospective tenant.2
Sources
- O. Reg. 290/98: Business Practices Permissible to Landlords in Selecting Prospective Tenants for Residential Accommodation
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 2(1), consolidated to March 8, 2018. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Policy on human rights and rental housing, V. Identifying discrimination in rental housing
Ontario Human Rights Commission, ss. 4.2.1, 4.2.4 and 4.2.6 Guarantors. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Policy on human rights and rental housing
Ontario Human Rights Commission, Overview, Choosing tenants. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 2(1), consolidated to July 1, 2025. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Statute of Frauds, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.19
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 4, consolidated from December 9, 1994. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 2(1), definition of “tenant”, consolidated to September 21, 2026. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 38(1), consolidated to September 21, 2026. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 168(2), consolidated to September 21, 2026. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Guide to Ontario’s standard lease
Government of Ontario, About the standard lease; sections 1, 15 and 17; updated October 27, 2025. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Consumer Reporting Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.33
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 10(2) and (6), consolidated to July 1, 2026. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Privacy in the landlord and tenant relationship
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, How should landlords be obtaining my consent?; Does a landlord require my Social Insurance Number (SIN)?. Accessed October 22, 2026.
