Can a landlord charge for cleaning?

Ask for a written breakdown with receipts and photos, compare it with your move-in report, and do not sign anything you disagree with. In British Columbia, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador the landlord needs your written agreement or a tenancy office decision to keep the money, and in Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia the tenancy office decides if you disagree. In Saskatchewan the landlord's claim is heard only if you dispute it with the ORT within 60 days after the tenancy ends, and in Alberta the landlord deducts under the lease and you can apply to the RTDRS if you disagree. See what to do when your landlord won't return your deposit for where to apply.

Carpets are judged by the same tests as the rest of the unit. A landlord can claim carpet cleaning only if you left the carpet dirtier than the reasonably or ordinarily clean standard your province sets, not for wear that comes from ordinary use over time. A Saskatchewan lease cannot charge for cleaning automatically, an Alberta cleaning deduction needs cleaning charges you agreed to in the lease, and in Ontario the rent deposit cannot be used for it. Photos of the carpet at move-in and move-out are your best evidence.

The test is the condition you left the unit in, not who did the cleaning. If you left it reasonably clean (ordinarily clean in some provinces), the landlord has no cleaning claim just because it prefers to bring in cleaners before the next tenant. If you did not, it can claim the cost of getting the unit back to that standard through the province's deposit process. In Alberta, deductions follow the lease and cleaning needs cleaning charges you agreed to, so read any cleaning clause before you sign.

There is no fixed price. A deposit can be kept only for money the tenant actually owes, so a cleaning claim should match the real cost of the cleaning the unit needed to meet the province's standard, backed by receipts or invoices. If the amount looks too high, dispute it with your province's tenancy office, which decides what is owed.

Usually not as a separate charge on top of the deposit. Saskatchewan does not allow a lease to charge for cleaning automatically. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador treat extra money taken on top of rent as a security deposit, and New Brunswick treats money given as security against cleaning as a security deposit, so the deposit cap and return rules apply. PEI allows only the one security deposit, Manitoba bars any payment its Act does not permit, and Ontario bans fees and similar charges unless a regulation exempts them, while Alberta lets cleaning charges agreed in the lease come out of the deposit. In British Columbia, check with the Residential Tenancy Branch before paying a separate cleaning fee.

Yes, if the unit was not left reasonably clean (ordinarily clean in some provinces) when you moved out. The landlord can then claim the cost through the province's deposit process, which in most provinces means your written agreement or a claim to the tenancy office within a short deadline. In Alberta it needs cleaning charges in the lease, and in Ontario the rent deposit cannot be used for cleaning at all.

Ask for the invoice and any photos, and compare them with your move-in report. If the carpet was already stained or worn when you moved in, or the charge is for ordinary wear, say so in writing and do not agree to the deduction. Then use your province's process: dispute the landlord's claim with the tenancy office, or apply yourself if the deposit was not returned. What to do when your landlord won't return your deposit has the offices, deadlines and fees.

Reasonably clean in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and PEI, and ordinarily clean in Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Newfoundland and Labrador's lease conditions require the tenant to keep the premises clean. Normal wear and tear is never the tenant's cost, and in Ontario and PEI the cleaning duty shifts to the landlord to the extent the tenancy agreement says the landlord cleans.

New Brunswick's Act is explicit: the landlord must hand over the premises in a good state of cleanliness and repair. In other provinces, ask your tenancy office if a unit is not fit to live in when you get the keys. Either way, record any dirt on the move-in report and in dated photos, so it cannot be charged to you when you leave.

No. No province covered here lets a landlord charge a tenant for normal wear and tear. Alberta's Act describes it as the deterioration that happens over time even with reasonable care, BC's policy guideline as natural deterioration from aging where the tenant used the unit reasonably, and Nova Scotia's Act as the usual deterioration from living in a place, relative to the length of the lease.

It depends on the province. In Alberta, a landlord without both inspection reports cannot deduct for damage, and the government's guidance says cleaning costs too, although it can still apply to the RTDRS or court. In British Columbia, skipping the inspections costs the landlord its right to claim against the deposit for damage, and in PEI the Director can hold a skipped inspection against the landlord. Elsewhere reports are optional or done on request, but without one it is harder for either side to show what the unit looked like at move-in.

Start with proof: dated photos, the move-in report where there is one, and any quotes or receipts for the cleaning. To take cleaning costs from the deposit, use the province's process: in British Columbia a written agreement or a Residential Tenancy Branch order (the landlord has 15 days after the later of the tenancy end and the forwarding address), in Manitoba written notice within 28 days, in Saskatchewan 7 business days, in New Brunswick a Security Deposit Claim within 7 days, in Nova Scotia Form R within 10 days, in Prince Edward Island Form 2B within 15 days, and in Newfoundland and Labrador a written agreement or a director's decision. In Alberta a landlord can deduct only if the tenant agreed to cleaning charges, and can otherwise apply to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service or the Alberta Court of Justice.

In Ontario the rent deposit cannot be used for cleaning, and an untidy unit alone is not a ground for eviction. The Landlord and Tenant Board application we found is for undue damage, and we found no separate cleaning-claim rule.

A landlord can claim the real cost of the cleaning needed to bring the unit back to the standard the law expects, through the province's process (in Alberta, the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service or the Alberta Court of Justice). It cannot claim for normal wear and tear. In Saskatchewan a landlord must also take reasonable steps to keep its loss down, so a claim should match what the cleaning actually cost. Receipts and a move-in report make a claim much easier to prove.