Can I be evicted without a lease?

An Alberta landlord must give you a copy of the signed written lease within 21 days, and you may withhold rent until it is served. A tenancy with no fixed end date is periodic, and the landlord can end it only for the reasons in the government's regulation, such as the landlord or a relative moving in, with 3 tenancy months' written notice. If a fixed-term lease ends and you stay while the landlord keeps accepting rent with no new agreement, the tenancy becomes periodic.

Notices for your conduct are shorter: at least 14 clear days for unpaid rent or another substantial breach, and 24 hours for assault, threats or significant damage. If you stay, the landlord needs an order from the RTDRS or the court, and only a civil enforcement bailiff can remove you.

In British Columbia the landlord must prepare the agreement in writing, but the standard terms of the Act apply whether or not it is written, so a tenancy that was never put in writing has the same protections. For a month-to-month tenancy, the landlord's notices are 3 months for the landlord's own use (RTB-32L), 10 days for unpaid rent (RTB-30, with 5 days to pay or dispute) and one month for cause (RTB-33, with 10 days to dispute).

If you stay, the landlord needs an order of possession from the Branch, and only a court bailiff, through the B.C. Supreme Court, can enforce it.

In Manitoba an oral or implied tenancy agreement is valid; a written agreement is required only where the landlord asks for a guarantor or the tenancy includes tenant services. The Act does say a landlord must maintain the services and facilities promised, whether or not they are in a written agreement. For a periodic tenancy, a landlord or family member moving in needs 3, 4 or 5 months' notice depending on the vacancy rate, a notice for unpaid rent can be given once rent is 3 days late, and a cause notice usually follows a written warning.

If you stay, the landlord needs an order of possession and then a writ of possession, and only Sheriff's Officers can remove you.

Saskatchewan's Act covers oral agreements. The landlord must give you a copy of a written agreement within 20 days, or the required information in writing if your agreement is oral, and until they do, your duty to pay rent is suspended. The government's tenancy agreements page also has information on joint tenancies and co-tenancies.

The usual notices still apply: at least 2 months for the landlord, a close family member or a friend moving in, one month for cause (with 15 days to dispute it in writing), and an immediate notice once rent is 15 days or more overdue. If you stay, the landlord needs an order of possession from the Office of Residential Tenancies, carried out by the sheriff.

Ontario has a standard lease form. If your landlord does not give you one within 21 days of your written request, you may withhold up to one month's rent, and keep it if the landlord still has not given it within 30 days after the first rent you withheld; you can also end the tenancy with 60 days' written notice. If nothing was ever put in writing, the Act still covers the agreement, and the landlord must give you written notice of their legal name and address for notices within 21 days after the tenancy begins; until they do, your duty to pay rent is suspended.

A month-to-month tenancy can be ended only with the right notice, such as an N4 for unpaid rent (7 days), an N5 for interference or damage (20 days for a first notice) or an N12 for the landlord or a family member moving in (at least 60 days). If you stay, the landlord has to apply to the Board, and only the Court Enforcement Office (Sheriff) can enforce an eviction order.

New Brunswick landlords must use the Standard Form of Lease. If you were not given a copy, you may pay your rent to a residential tenancies officer instead of the landlord until the landlord complies. If a lease has expired and the landlord keeps accepting rent with no new lease, a new tenancy is created, and its length follows how you pay rent, such as month to month.

To end a monthly tenancy so the landlord or a family member can move in, the landlord gives at least 1 month's notice before the end of a month (3 months if you have been there 5 years or more). A Notice to Vacate for unpaid rent gives at least 15 days. Only a residential tenancies officer or a judge of the Court of King's Bench can evict you, and the sheriff carries out the order.

A Nova Scotia landlord must give you a signed copy of the lease and a copy of the Residential Tenancies Act. If you do not have them, you can apply to the Director for permission to pay your rent in trust to the Director until you do. If a fixed-term lease ends and you stay with the owner's consent, it becomes month to month.

Nova Scotia has no general no-fault notice: for the landlord's own use, the landlord needs an order from the Director. Notices are allowed for unpaid rent (Form D, effective no earlier than the 10th day after it is given) and for breaking the good behaviour or cleanliness conditions (Form E, 15 days). If you stay past an order, it can be made a Small Claims Court order and enforced by the sheriff.

PEI's current Act requires a written tenancy agreement, and the landlord must give you a copy within 10 days. Older Rental Office pages written under the previous law say agreements could be verbal; they no longer reflect the current Act. An oral or implied agreement is still a tenancy agreement under the Act, and you can apply to the Director for an order requiring the landlord to provide the written agreement.

Either way, the landlord cannot take back the unit unless you leave or the Director orders you to vacate and the order is sent to the sheriff. Notices include at least 4 months for the landlord moving in, 20 days for unpaid rent (Form 4A) and one month for cause.

Newfoundland and Labrador's Act covers verbal rental agreements. Within 10 days, the landlord must give you a copy of a written agreement, or a written notice of a verbal one; until they do, you can hold back rent, and the rent becomes payable once the landlord complies.

This is the one province on this page where a landlord can end a month-to-month tenancy without giving a reason, with at least 3 months' notice before the end of a rental period (4 weeks for a weekly tenancy). For unpaid rent, the landlord can give 10 days' notice once rent is 5 days overdue. If you stay, the landlord applies to the Residential Tenancies Office for an Order of Possession, which is sent to the sheriff.