Can a landlord change the locks?

First, check whether you were given a new key. In Alberta, Ontario and PEI a landlord can change the locks as long as you get a key right away (or as soon as practicable in PEI), but in the other provinces the landlord needs your agreement. If you were locked out or not given a key, ask the landlord in writing for access and contact your province's tenancy office right away. In Ontario, the Landlord and Tenant Board can order the landlord to let you back in if the unit is still vacant.

In Alberta, Ontario and PEI, the law focuses on the key rather than notice: the landlord may change the locks but must give the tenant a new key right away. In British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, the landlord needs the tenant's agreement (or, in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, an order or officer's authorization). In no province can a landlord change the locks to keep a tenant out.

In British Columbia, a new tenant can ask the landlord to rekey the locks at the start of the tenancy, at the landlord's cost, unless that was already done when the last tenant left. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the landlord is expected to change the locks for a new tenant at the landlord's own cost. In other provinces, ask the landlord before you move in whether the locks have been changed.

Contact your province's tenancy office right away and ask the landlord in writing for a key. Keep photos and a written record of what happened. Then apply for an order: the Landlord and Tenant Board in Ontario (within one year), Form J in Nova Scotia, Form 2(A) in PEI, or an Application for Dispute Resolution in Newfoundland and Labrador. In British Columbia, the government also points locked-out tenants to the Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre, a legal advocate or a lawyer.

No. And an eviction notice on its own is not enough either. A landlord has to get an order from the province's tenancy office or a court, and only a sheriff or court bailiff can enforce it. British Columbia's government says plainly that landlords cannot lock a tenant out, even during an eviction. See how to evict a tenant for the legal steps.

Not to remove a tenant who still lives there. Depending on the province, the order comes from a tenancy board or office (such as the RTB, LTB, RTDRS or the Director) or a court, and a sheriff or court bailiff enforces it. Several provinces, including Ontario, Saskatchewan and PEI, also let a landlord take back a unit that has truly been abandoned. A routine lock change during a tenancy is a different matter, and it is allowed only with the tenant's agreement or by giving the tenant a new key, depending on the province.

No. Unpaid rent is not a reason to lock a tenant out in any province covered here. The landlord has to give the proper notice for unpaid rent, get an order and have a sheriff or court bailiff enforce it. Manitoba's Residential Tenancies Branch, for example, can charge a landlord who locks out a tenant an administrative penalty. See what to do if a tenant doesn't pay rent.

Penalties vary. In Alberta, it is an offence with a fine of up to $5,000. In British Columbia, a landlord who illegally evicts a tenant can face a penalty of up to $5,000 and have to repay the tenant's costs. Manitoba can charge an administrative penalty, and Saskatchewan can award the tenant punitive damages. In Ontario, the Board can order the landlord to pay costs, reduce the rent, pay a fine or let the tenant back in, and rental housing offences carry fines of up to $100,000 for an individual and $500,000 for a corporation.

Yes, in every province covered here, while the tenant still lives in the unit and there is no enforced eviction order. The narrow exceptions are a unit the tenant has moved out of or abandoned, and an order being carried out by a sheriff or court bailiff. Even then, the landlord must follow the province's rules for any belongings left behind.

Keep a record of the threat, including any texts or emails, and reply in writing that a lockout without an enforced order is not allowed. Contact your province's tenancy office for advice before things escalate. Keep paying your rent, since falling behind gives the landlord a lawful reason to start the eviction process. If the locks are changed, follow the steps for a lockout right away.

Only with the landlord's consent in most provinces, and in British Columbia and PEI it must be in writing. British Columbia, Saskatchewan and PEI also let a tenant get an order to change the locks, and New Brunswick allows it with a residential tenancies officer's written authorization. In British Columbia, unlawful landlord entry is a common reason to ask. In Alberta, you can add an inside-only removable lock such as a chain without consent. In Ontario, changing the locks without consent is an offence, and in British Columbia it could lead to eviction.

First check that the tenancy has really ended, because a tenant who still lives in the unit cannot be locked out whatever the key situation. If the tenant has moved out, British Columbia (RTA s.37), Saskatchewan (s.51) and Prince Edward Island (s.39) require the tenant to give the landlord all keys when leaving. In Ontario a refundable key deposit must be returned when the keys come back, and for Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador we found no rule on returning keys at move-out, so ask that province's tenancy office. SQRFT advice: ask for the keys in writing with a date, keep proof of any rekeying cost, and ask the tenancy office whether it can be claimed rather than assuming it can.

In Ontario a landlord may charge the direct cost of an extra or replacement key, and a key deposit must be refundable and no more than the expected direct replacement cost. In Prince Edward Island the landlord may charge the actual cost of replacing keys or additional keys, but not when new keys are needed because the landlord changed the locks. In British Columbia a key fee must be refundable on return, no more than the direct replacement cost, and cannot be charged if the key is the tenant's only means of access. Nova Scotia's standard lease has a box for a locked-out or key charge, so the lease sets it, and in the other provinces covered here we found no rule, so check your lease and ask the tenancy office.

We found no rule in the Acts we reviewed that requires a landlord to keep a spare key to a tenant's unit. Nova Scotia's Renting Guide says the landlord is allowed to have a key, and in Alberta a tenant who changes the locks with permission must give the landlord a new key right away. Elsewhere the rules are about changing locks: in British Columbia and Saskatchewan a landlord may change them only if the tenant agrees and receives new keys, in Ontario and PEI a landlord who changes them must give the tenant new keys, and in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador neither side can change them without the other's consent (in New Brunswick an officer's written authorization is the other route).

SQRFT advice, not law: a key does not give a landlord a right to walk in. Entry still needs the notice or reason your province sets, so see whether landlords are allowed to enter the property.