Can a landlord require tenant insurance?

Mainly because the landlord's own insurance does not cover the tenant. Newfoundland and Labrador's Residential Tenancies Office puts it plainly: the landlord insures the rental unit and the landlord's property, not the tenant's things. Liability cover can help if a tenant is found responsible for damage to the building or a neighbour's unit, which is why Manitoba says requiring it may be reasonable when a tenant has a waterbed, a large aquarium or a portable washer. It also means a tenant who suffers a loss has their own cover to turn to.

Yes, in most provinces it is an ordinary lease term. Alberta lists insurance requirements as one of the normal items a lease should cover, BC gives it as an example of an additional term, Newfoundland and Labrador calls it generally not unreasonable, and Ontario's standard lease has a section for it. Manitoba is the main exception, because a landlord there generally cannot insist on liability insurance.

Yes, where insurance is a valid requirement. Ontario's standard lease says that if the tenant must carry liability insurance, the tenant must provide proof when the landlord asks, and New Brunswick says a landlord may ask for proof of insurance as a condition of renting. Other provinces' official sources do not deal with proof directly, but if your lease requires insurance, a confirmation document from your insurer is the simplest way to show you meet it.

First check whether it is already in your lease or, in Nova Scotia, the landlord's rules. If it is, get a policy that matches the term and give the landlord proof. If it is not in what you agreed to, ask the landlord where the requirement comes from: in BC, additional terms are binding when the tenant agrees to them, and in Manitoba a landlord generally cannot insist on liability insurance. Even when it is optional, tenant insurance is worth having, as explained in is tenant insurance mandatory.

No law in any province covered here requires it, but a lease can in some provinces. Nova Scotia landlords can require insurance for personal belongings and personal damage through their rules, and Newfoundland and Labrador says requiring insurance for a tenant's personal property is generally reasonable. Ontario's standard lease is different: it can require liability insurance, but leaves contents insurance up to the tenant. Even where it is optional, without contents cover the cost of replacing your belongings after a loss would usually fall on you.

Many do, and in most provinces it is allowed. If you include it, write the term clearly, because BC warns that an unclear or unfair additional term might not be enforceable. In Ontario, use section 11 of the standard lease, which covers liability insurance; in Manitoba, only expect liability insurance where there is a particular risk such as a waterbed or a large aquarium; and in Saskatchewan and PEI, where there is no official rule, check with the tenancy office first. Insuring the building and your own property stays your responsibility.

That depends on your policy and your insurer, not on tenancy law, so do not count on it either way. If your lease requires insurance, cancelling it can put you in breach of the lease, and Ontario's standard lease requires liability insurance at all times, with proof whenever the landlord asks. No tenancy law lists missing insurance as its own reason to end a tenancy, but in several provinces a breach of a material term can lead to the tenancy ending after written notice.

When and how you can cancel is set by your policy and insurer, so check the policy wording or ask the insurer. The tenancy question is whether your lease requires insurance: if it does, cancelling without replacing it can leave you in breach. When you move out, end the policy after the tenancy is over, and set up cover for your new address from your move-in date.

Yes, you can switch insurers or change your cover, as long as the new policy still meets any requirement in your lease. Start the new policy before the old one ends so there is no gap, since a requirement like Ontario's is for cover at all times. Then give your landlord proof of the new policy.

Your policy is a contract between you and your insurer, so how claims work depends on its wording. If the landlord says you caused damage, the landlord can ask you to pay or apply to your province's tenancy office or tribunal, and you can report it to your insurer to see whether your liability cover applies. The landlord's own insurance is for the building and the landlord's property, as Newfoundland and Labrador's tenancy office notes.

Only through the lease. No province's tenancy law makes tenant insurance compulsory, so a landlord's requirement works as a term of your tenancy agreement or, in Nova Scotia, the landlord's rules. In BC additional terms are binding when the tenant agrees to them, in Ontario the requirement comes from section 11 of the standard lease, and in Manitoba a landlord generally cannot insist on liability insurance. Read the lease before you sign, because that is the time to question the term.