Do you get your deposit back when renting?

After you move out, within the province's deadline: 7 business days in Saskatchewan, 10 days in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, 14 days in Manitoba, and 15 days in British Columbia and PEI. In BC the 15 days start from the later of the tenancy ending and the landlord getting your forwarding address in writing. In New Brunswick the province pays it within 7 days of your written request, and in Ontario the rent deposit pays your last month instead of coming back as a cheque.

Yes, as long as you paid your rent and other charges, left the unit reasonably clean, returned the keys and caused no damage beyond normal wear and tear. If the landlord claims part of it, it has to follow the province's process, and you can dispute the claim with the tenancy office. Whatever is not properly claimed comes back to you with any interest owed.

You should, if you owe no rent and leave the place in the condition you found it, apart from normal wear and tear. Holding a deposit does not give a landlord the right to keep it, and in the provinces covered here that take a security deposit, the landlord must either return it or claim it formally within days of the tenancy ending. Move-in and move-out reports and dated photos make it much harder to argue about the unit's condition later.

Usually not, because the deposit is security for what you might owe at the end of the tenancy. There are a few exceptions. In Ontario the rent deposit is applied to your last month's rent. In Manitoba the deposit and interest can be put toward the last month's rent if the other side agrees in writing. In Alberta, a tenant ending a tenancy early under the domestic violence rules can ask the landlord to apply the deposit to the rent for the notice period. Elsewhere, get the landlord's agreement in writing before treating the deposit as rent.

You get back whatever is left after the landlord's lawful claims. If you leave a fixed-term lease early without a legal ground, you can owe rent until the unit is re-rented or the term ends, whichever comes first, and the landlord can claim that loss against the deposit using the province's process. In most provinces the landlord has to try to re-rent. Alberta allows a re-rental fee only if the lease says so, and Manitoba allows a $75 administration fee when a tenant abandons a fixed-term lease without notice. See how to get out of a lease agreement for the legal ways to leave early.

It depends on whether you have already made a tenancy agreement. Once you have signed, changing your mind does not cancel the lease: you would need to end it the legal way, and the landlord can claim rent it loses against the deposit. If you paid money to hold a place before signing anything, the rules differ by province. See can a landlord keep a holding deposit.

Yes, the deposit rules still apply when a tenancy ends by eviction. The landlord can claim unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear and tear and, where allowed, cleaning, but it still has to follow the province's deadline and process, and the rest comes back to you with any interest owed. Give your forwarding address in writing as you leave. See how to evict a tenant for how evictions work in each province.

Apply to the province's Tenant and Landlord Relations Office (TLRO), not the landlord, since the TLRO holds the deposit. Applying online is fastest, each tenant named on the Certificate of Deposit applies for their own share, and the balance is paid within 7 days of your written request. If the landlord files a Security Deposit Claim within 7 days after the tenancy ends, you are told and can dispute it, and a residential tenancies officer decides. If you and the landlord agree on a split, a Security Deposit Refund Agreement form is the quickest route.

Generally yes. A parent, friend or support agency can pay it, and Saskatchewan's Act, for example, defines a security deposit as money paid by or on behalf of a tenant. The deposit still secures your tenancy, so any claim against it is about what you owe, and the return rules speak of returning it to the tenant. Agree in writing ahead of time how a refund will reach the person who paid, and get a receipt that shows the amount and the rental unit.

Start with your province's tenancy office, which can order the deposit returned: the RTDRS in Alberta, the Residential Tenancy Branch in BC, the Residential Tenancies Branch in Manitoba, the Office of Residential Tenancies in Saskatchewan, the Landlord and Tenant Board in Ontario, the Tenant and Landlord Relations Office in New Brunswick, the Director of Residential Tenancies in Nova Scotia, the Rental Office in PEI and the Residential Tenancies Office in Newfoundland and Labrador. In Alberta, not returning a deposit on time is also an offence, starting with a written complaint to Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction within three years. In Ontario, the Rental Housing Enforcement Unit enforces the rules on money collected or kept illegally. See how to report a landlord for more.

In some provinces. For 2026 the rate is 0.5% a year in Manitoba and 2.75% in PEI, and Ontario landlords owe 2.1% on the rent deposit for interest due in 2026. Alberta, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador are at 0% for 2026, Nova Scotia is 0% on deposits paid since January 1, 2013, Saskatchewan pays interest only on tenancies longer than five years, and New Brunswick pays no interest to tenants. Our security deposit interest calculator works out the amount.