Can a landlord charge for water?

We found no set number of hours in the Acts we reviewed, but each province covered here protects water in some way. It is a vital service in Ontario and Manitoba; New Brunswick allows interruptions only in an emergency or for maintenance or repairs, and treats a loss of water as an emergency repair; damaged or blocked water pipes are emergency repairs in BC and PEI; Alberta's housing standards require a continuous water supply; and in Newfoundland and Labrador water cannot be disconnected without your written consent. If the water is off and the landlord is not acting, use the emergency contact, then call your tenancy office or local public health inspector.

Yes, if the lease says you pay them. Sewer charges follow the same rule as water: the lease decides who pays, and a landlord generally cannot add the charge partway through a tenancy if the rent already covers it. Nova Scotia's Act names water and sewers among the services a landlord cannot stop providing without proper notice of a rent increase or the Director's permission.

We found nothing about GST or HST on utility charges in the tenancy Acts we reviewed. If a landlord adds tax to a water charge, ask for a breakdown that matches the supplier's bill, and check with the Canada Revenue Agency whether tax applies to that charge. If the charge itself is not allowed under your lease, your province's tenancy office can decide the dispute.

We found no mention of water heater rentals in the tenancy Acts we reviewed, so start with your lease. If the rent includes hot water, the landlord usually cannot pass on a new charge partway through: Saskatchewan bars a new charge for something you got at no cost without your agreement or an order, BC bars extra charges for a service already in the rent, and in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador removing an included service counts as a rent increase. If the lease made you responsible for hot water from the start, the lease governs.

Not on its own if your rent already includes water. In Alberta, a landlord cannot require you to pay utilities mid-tenancy if the agreement includes them, or is silent and the landlord has always paid them; it needs your agreement or a lawful rent increase instead. Saskatchewan requires your agreement or an ORT order, Ontario requires your written consent, notice and a rent reduction (and only in buildings of six or fewer units), and in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador dropping an included service is treated as a rent increase.

No. In the Acts we reviewed, we found no right for a landlord to cut off water it supplies because rent is late. Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board says a landlord cannot withhold a vital service even if rent is overdue, and Nova Scotia's renting guide says landlords cannot disconnect utilities included in the lease. The landlord's route for unpaid rent is an eviction notice or an application to the tenancy office; see what to do if a tenant doesn't pay rent.

If water is included in your rent and the supplier cuts it off because the landlord did not pay, Ontario treats that as the landlord withholding a vital service. In Manitoba, a utility must tell the director before stopping service to a building over the landlord's unpaid bill, the director can order it not to, and the Branch can redirect rent to pay the bills. In the other provinces covered here, the landlord's duty to keep water running still applies, so contact your tenancy office.

Only as the lease allows. In Manitoba a shared bill is allowed if you knew about it at the start, and either side can ask the Branch whether your share is reasonable. In Ontario a landlord that supplies water can start charging a share only in a building of six or fewer units, with written consent, notice and a rent reduction. In BC, a tenant whose name is on a bill shared with other tenants can claim the others' unpaid share from the landlord, and a term making you put utilities in your name for space you do not live in is likely unconscionable.

If the lease makes you pay utilities to the landlord, the landlord can treat unpaid amounts as unpaid rent and give an eviction notice in BC (30 days after a written demand), Saskatchewan (15 days after a written demand) and PEI (one month after a written demand). In Newfoundland and Labrador, a utility amount paid to the landlord counts as rent. In Ontario the landlord can apply to the Board for unpaid utility costs, and in New Brunswick it can claim them from the deposit.

In Alberta, if the agreement is silent but the landlord has always paid utilities out of the rent, it cannot start charging you mid-tenancy. In BC, Saskatchewan and PEI the written agreement must say which services are included in the rent (Saskatchewan's must also say who pays utilities), and the standard leases in Ontario and Nova Scotia have sections for this. If yours is unclear, ask the landlord to confirm in writing; your province's tenancy office can decide a dispute.

The Acts we reviewed set no rule on water meters, sub-meters or smart meters, so we found nothing that makes a landlord install one or that stops a tenant or landlord from refusing one. The lease decides who pays for water and how the bill is worked out. What the Acts do cover is the charge itself: if your rent already includes water, a landlord cannot start billing you for it partway through just by adding a meter. In Alberta that needs your agreement or a rent increase under the normal rules, in Saskatchewan your agreement or an Office of Residential Tenancies order, and in BC a landlord cannot make you pay extra for a service the rent already includes. In Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, taking away a service the rent included can count as a rent increase.

SQRFT's advice: if a landlord proposes a meter, ask for the plan in writing, including how the bill will be worked out and what happens to your rent, and do not sign until you understand it. In Alberta, the Utilities Consumer Advocate takes sub-meter complaints.

We found no rule in the Acts we reviewed that caps a tenant's water use, so start with the lease. If it makes the tenant pay for water, the landlord bills as the lease sets out, and in BC, Saskatchewan and PEI unpaid amounts can be treated as unpaid rent if the lease makes the tenant pay the landlord and a written demand goes unpaid (for more than 30 days in BC, 15 days or more in Saskatchewan, more than one month in PEI). In Ontario, where the lease makes the tenant pay a utility, the landlord can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board while the tenant lives there or within one year after the tenant moves out. If rent includes water, the landlord cannot simply start charging, but in Alberta it can raise the rent under the normal rules or you can both agree to a change.

A landlord cannot shut off the water to curb heavy use, because water the landlord supplies is protected from shut-off in every province covered here. If the extra use comes from damage the tenant caused, that is a damage question, not a water-bill question; see what is considered normal wear and tear. SQRFT's advice: check for a leak first, raise the concern in writing, and consider a lease amendment that both sides sign.

No. We found no right in the provinces covered here to hold back rent over a repair or service problem, and a tenant who does can face a notice for unpaid rent: Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board says a tenant could be evicted, PEI's Rental Office says the same, and in Newfoundland and Labrador non-payment exposes the tenant to a termination notice. Manitoba's one exception is when a health, building or maintenance authority orders you to leave. On pressure itself, PEI's Rental Accommodation Regulations require hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to kitchen and bathroom fixtures, and we did not find a pressure standard for the other provinces. In every province covered here the landlord also has a general duty to keep the unit in repair, so ask your tenancy office whether low pressure counts.

SQRFT advice, not law: report it to the landlord in writing, keep paying rent, and if nothing changes apply to your tenancy office or tribunal, which can order a repair or reduce the rent in most provinces covered here (in Alberta the RTDRS can reduce rent or award compensation but cannot order repairs).