How long can a tenant have a guest stay?

Yes. No province covered here limits how long a visitor can stay, and several protect visits in writing: British Columbia says a landlord cannot stop you from having guests under reasonable circumstances, Ontario's standard lease says a landlord cannot stop guests or require notice or permission, and Manitoba, Saskatchewan and PEI protect access by people you invite. In Alberta, the lease can set rules about guests, so read yours. You are responsible for your visitors' behaviour and any damage they cause.

Not in the unit itself in British Columbia, where the landlord cannot restrict guests but can set reasonable rules for guests' use of common areas. In Ontario, a lease term that does not allow guests, roommates or additional occupants is void, and the landlord cannot require notice or permission. Manitoba and PEI bar a landlord from unreasonably restricting access by people you invite, and Saskatchewan bars restricting it at all. In Alberta, the lease can set rules about guests, so check what yours says.

Not in British Columbia or PEI, where guest fees are banned whether or not the guest stays overnight, and not in Ontario, where the standard lease rules out extra fees or a rent increase because of guests. None of the other provinces covered here has a rule that allows a guest fee. In Manitoba a landlord cannot take a payment the Act does not permit, in Nova Scotia any money beyond rent counts toward the half-month security deposit cap, and in Alberta any fee in the lease must reflect the landlord's actual cost.

No province covered here sets a limit on overnight stays. British Columbia and PEI say a landlord cannot charge a guest fee whether or not the guest stays overnight, and British Columbia also bars any extra charge for overnight guests. Ontario's standard lease does not separate day and overnight guests: the landlord cannot stop them, require notice or charge for them. What matters is whether the person is visiting or has moved in; see how to sublet an apartment if someone is staying on and paying you.

No province covered here sets a number of days, and the rules checked for this page do not define the point; Saskatchewan's law, for example, does not say when a long-staying guest becomes an occupant. What matters is whether the person has moved in. Alberta lets a landlord serve someone not on the lease who is living in the unit with a notice to vacate of at least 14 days (48 hours if the tenant has abandoned the unit), and Nova Scotia's standard lease requires the landlord's written consent for anyone not named to live there. If the person is paying you to live there, the sublet rules may apply instead; see how to sublet an apartment.

Your partner can stay over as a guest, but moving in is different, so check your lease first and ask the landlord in writing if it names who may live in the unit. Nova Scotia's standard lease allows only named tenants and occupants to live there without the landlord's written consent, and Alberta's government says the lease should name the people allowed to live in the unit. Ontario's standard lease says a landlord cannot stop you from having a roommate if municipal occupancy standards are met, and PEI's Rental Office says a landlord cannot charge more rent because a new roommate moves in. Get any consent in writing.

Not in Ontario, where the standard lease says the landlord cannot raise the rent because of guests, or in PEI, where the Rental Office says a landlord cannot charge more rent when a new roommate moves in. Saskatchewan is different: if the lease sets rent that varies with the number of occupants, the rent can go up for an added occupant, and that does not count as a rent increase. In Manitoba, a tenant services charge, such as for meals, can rise when an additional person becomes a permanent occupant. Otherwise the normal rent increase rules apply; see how much can a landlord increase rent.

In some provinces, yes. An unreasonable number of occupants is a ground to end the tenancy in Saskatchewan and PEI, and in British Columbia the landlord can serve a notice to end the tenancy, which you can dispute. In Manitoba, you must not let so many people live there on a continuing basis that health, safety or housing standards are breached, and in Alberta the landlord can serve an unauthorized occupant with a notice to vacate of at least 14 days (48 hours if the tenant has abandoned the unit). A landlord still has to follow the proper process; see how to evict a tenant.

Yes. Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador all hold the tenant responsible for damage or disturbance caused by people the tenant lets in. In Saskatchewan, serious disturbance by a person you let in is a ground to end the tenancy. Damage your guests cause can also be deducted from your deposit; see when can a landlord keep a security deposit.

Only within the law. In Ontario, a term that does not allow guests, roommates or additional occupants is void, and in British Columbia a landlord cannot restrict guests in the unit, only their use of common areas. In Alberta, the government says the lease can set rules about guests and should name the people allowed to live there, and in Nova Scotia the standard lease limits who may live in the unit without written consent. A lease cannot add a guest fee in British Columbia or PEI.

No. Ontario's standard lease says someone who rents your whole unit, for example as a short-term rental, is not a guest, so the sublet rules apply. In other provinces, check the sublet rules before letting anyone pay to stay in your unit, because a sublet generally needs the landlord's consent. Local rules on short-term rentals may also apply, so check with your city or town. See how to sublet an apartment.

We found no rule in the tenancy Acts we reviewed, or in official guidance, on whether a landlord can give a trespass notice to a tenant's guest, so we cannot say yes or no. Trespass is dealt with in laws outside the tenancy Acts, and the sources we reviewed do not say how those laws apply to a tenant's guest; ask your province's tenancy office or the police.

The tenancy rules do protect a tenant's right to have guests in several provinces: British Columbia says a landlord cannot stop you from having guests under reasonable circumstances, Ontario's standard lease says a landlord cannot stop guests or require notice or permission, and Manitoba, Saskatchewan and PEI say a landlord must not unreasonably restrict access by people you invite. A landlord with a problem guest has a route through the tenant: in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and PEI the tenant answers for disturbance caused by people they let in, and in Saskatchewan significant interference or unreasonable disturbance by a person you let in is a ground to end the tenancy.