Can You Run a Credit Check on a Rental Applicant?
Yes. O. Reg. 290/98 under the Human Rights Code lets a landlord request authorization to conduct a credit check on a prospective tenant, and to select or refuse the applicant based on that check, alone or together with credit references and rental history.1 The OHRC adds that a lack of credit history should not be viewed negatively.9
Ontario’s Consumer Reporting Act fits the same purpose. A credit bureau may give a consumer report to someone it has reason to believe intends to use the information in connection with entering into or renewing a tenancy agreement.2 The reverse also holds: nobody may knowingly obtain information from a bureau’s files except for one of the purposes the Act lists.2 A credit check on a rental applicant is lawful. A check on a current tenant out of curiosity, or on someone who never applied, is not a listed purpose.
The authorization part matters. The regulation speaks of requesting the applicant’s authorization, so the check follows the applicant’s yes, not the other way round.1
What Notice and Consent Does the Law Require?
Two sets of rules apply at once, and one written consent can satisfy both if it is worded properly.
Written Notice Under the Consumer Reporting Act
No person may request or obtain a consumer report containing personal information about a consumer unless they first give the consumer written notice, and, if the consumer asks, tell them the name and address of the agency supplying the report.2 The notice must be set out in bold type or underlined, in letters not less than ten point in size.2 A line buried in small print at the bottom of an application form does not meet that standard.
Express Consent Under PIPEDA
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada says landlords must comply with PIPEDA or substantially similar provincial law, and Ontario’s substantially similar law covers personal health information only, so PIPEDA is the rule for a landlord’s rental file.4,6 The Commissioner says landlords should get the applicant’s express agreement before something like a credit check, and must have consent to share the applicant’s information with a credit reporting agency.4
Consent has to be informed. Whatever form you use, tell the applicant what information you are collecting, what you will use it for, which third parties will receive it, and any risk of harm.4 PIPEDA also bars making consent to extra collection a condition of the service: you can’t require consent to more than the stated, legitimate purpose needs.7
What a Soft Credit Check Is
A soft check is an inquiry that does not affect the applicant’s credit score. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada describes hard inquiries as checks that appear on the credit report, affect the score and are visible to anyone who views the report; soft inquiries appear only on the version of the report the consumer sees and do not affect the score.8
FCAC lists “some rental applications” among its examples of hard inquiries.8 Whether a landlord’s check is hard or soft depends on how the screening provider requests it, so ask the provider and tell the applicant which one they will get. PropTx Verify runs a soft credit check that does not affect the applicant’s score. The difference is covered in soft vs. hard credit checks. Either way, the applicant can later see who looked: a bureau’s disclosure to a consumer includes the name and telephone number of every person on whose behalf the file was accessed in the past three years.3
A soft check still needs the same notice and consent. The Consumer Reporting Act and PIPEDA turn on obtaining the report and collecting the information, not on how the inquiry is scored.2,4
What You Need to Run It, and What You Don’t
To run a credit check, the landlord needs at a minimum the applicant’s name, address and date of birth.4 A Social Insurance Number is not required, and the Commissioner says organizations cannot require it unless they can show it is required by law or that no other identifier would do.4 If a form asks for a SIN at all, the Commissioner’s rental tips say it must be clearly marked optional.5 The OHRC goes further: a SIN can reveal information such as refugee status, so housing providers should use other means to run credit checks.10
Other documents are not banned, but each one is a collection of personal information. If you look at a driver’s licence to confirm identity or a pay stub to confirm income, you likely don’t need to keep a copy.4
Read the result fairly. The OHRC says landlords cannot equate the absence of a credit rating with a bad one, and an applicant with a poor rating should be able to explain circumstances that relate to a Code ground before being rejected.10 For more on what the form can ask, see what a landlord can ask on a rental application.
How Long Can You Keep the Credit Report?
Only as long as you need it for the purpose you collected it for. PIPEDA requires personal information to be kept only as long as necessary, and information no longer needed should be destroyed, erased or made anonymous.7 It also says information used to make a decision about someone should be kept long enough for that person to access it after the decision.7
The Commissioner’s practical advice for the rental sector: lock paper files, use passwords and encryption for electronic ones, limit access to people who need it, plan for disposal from the start, and destroy records so they cannot be reconstructed.5 Do not pass a poor result on to an informal “bad tenant” list; the Commissioner has found landlords have no right to do that.4
For a listing REALTOR® collecting applications for a landlord, that means one rule for the whole brokerage file: keep the credit reports for the chosen and declined applicants for a set period you can explain, then destroy them, and don’t forward them to anyone who doesn’t need them for the decision.
What Rights Does the Applicant Have?
Three rights matter in practice.
- To know a report was used. On request, you must tell the applicant whether a consumer report has been or will be referred to, and the name and address of the agency supplying it.2
- To be told after a refusal. If you deny an applicant wholly or partly because of information from a credit bureau or another source, you must tell them so when you communicate the decision, and, if they ask within sixty days, give them the agency’s name and address or the nature and source of the other information. Your notice must mention that right and the time limit.2
- To see their own information. Under PIPEDA an applicant can ask in writing for the personal information a landlord holds about them, and the landlord is expected to respond within 30 days.4 The applicant can also ask the bureau directly for their own report.3
The refusal notice is the one most often missed. A short standard line in your decline email covers it.
What to Tell Applicants
Put this on the application or the consent screen, in plain words:
- A bold or underlined notice, at least ten point, that a credit report will be obtained, and that the applicant can ask which agency supplies it.2
- What you will collect for the check (name, address, date of birth), why, and who will receive it, including the screening provider and the credit bureau.4
- Whether the inquiry is soft or hard, once you have confirmed it with your provider.8
- A separate, express consent to the check, not bundled with consent to anything else.4,7
- How long you keep the report and how it is destroyed.7
- A contact for questions and access requests.5
If a landlord client wants employment and income checked too, those are separate collections with their own consent; see how to verify a tenant’s employment.
This page is general information about Ontario law, not legal advice. Where a situation turns on its facts, get advice from a lawyer or a paralegal.
Questions
Does a Landlord Need Written Consent for a Credit Check in Ontario?
A landlord needs to give written notice before requesting a consumer report, in bold or underlined type of at least ten point, and the Privacy Commissioner expects express consent before the check. A signed or clicked written consent covers both.2,4
Does a Landlord Credit Check Lower the Tenant’s Score?
It depends on whether the inquiry is hard or soft. FCAC says hard inquiries affect the score and some rental applications are hard inquiries; soft inquiries don’t affect it. Ask the screening provider which one it uses.8
Can a Landlord Ask for My SIN for a Credit Check?
A landlord can ask but cannot require it. The Privacy Commissioner says a basic credit check needs only name, address and date of birth, and the OHRC says landlords should use other means than a SIN.4,10
Can a Landlord Refuse Someone With No Credit History?
The OHRC says landlords cannot treat no credit history as bad credit and should not reject an application for lack of credit history. Look at the other information the applicant can provide.10
Sources
- O. Reg. 290/98: Business Practices Permissible to Landlords in Selecting Prospective Tenants for Residential Accommodation
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 1(1) and (2), consolidated to March 8, 2018. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Consumer Reporting Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.33
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, ss. 8(1)(d)(ii), 8(2), 10(1), 10(2), 10(6) and 10(7), consolidated to July 1, 2026. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Consumer Reporting Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.33
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 12(1) and (3), right of consumer to request disclosure. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Privacy in the landlord and tenant relationship
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Are there any privacy laws…?; How should landlords be obtaining my consent?; What personal information do I have to provide…?; Does a landlord require my SIN?; Can a landlord ask to see my driver’s licence…?; Can a landlord put my name on a “bad tenant” list?; How can I find out what information my landlord has about me?. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- 10 privacy tips for the rental housing sector
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Tips 1, 3, 4 and 8. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- PIPEDA in brief
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Substantially similar provincial legislation. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, Schedule 1
Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada, Clauses 4.3.3, 4.5, 4.5.2 and 4.5.3. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Improving your credit score
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Limiting how often you apply for credit: Understanding credit inquiries. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Policy on human rights and rental housing
Ontario Human Rights Commission, Overview, Choosing tenants. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Policy on human rights and rental housing, V. Identifying discrimination in rental housing
Ontario Human Rights Commission, ss. 4.2.4 Credit history and 4.2.5 Social Insurance Number information. Accessed October 22, 2026.
