Is tenant insurance mandatory?

In most provinces, yes, as a term of the lease. Ontario's standard lease lets the parties agree that the tenant must carry liability insurance and show proof when asked, and Alberta lists insurance requirements as a normal lease item. BC gives tenant's insurance requirements as an example of an additional term, New Brunswick says a landlord may ask for proof of insurance as a condition of renting, Nova Scotia lets landlords include it in their rules, and Newfoundland and Labrador calls it generally reasonable. Manitoba is different: a landlord generally cannot insist on liability insurance, except in cases such as a waterbed or a large aquarium. Saskatchewan and PEI have no official rule either way.

Most tenant policies combine two kinds of cover. Contents cover pays to repair or replace your own belongings after a covered loss. Liability cover protects you if you are found responsible for injuring someone or damaging someone else's property, including the building you rent in. Exactly what is covered, and what is left out, depends on the policy, so read it before you buy.

Because the landlord's insurance does not cover you. As Newfoundland and Labrador's tenancy office puts it, the landlord insures the rental unit and the landlord's own property, so if your belongings are stolen or damaged, or you cause damage to the unit or someone else's home, the cost can fall on you. Manitoba's tenancy office recommends that tenants buy it for their own protection, and Alberta's checklist for new tenants asks whether you have arranged it. Your lease may also require it.

There is no single price, and no tenancy office publishes one. What you pay depends on things like where you live, how much your belongings are worth, how much liability cover you choose and your deductible, so get quotes for your own situation and compare a few insurers. If your lease requires insurance, check what kind it asks for first: in Ontario, for example, the standard lease can require liability insurance, while contents insurance is left to the tenant.

None of the provincial tenancy laws lists missing insurance as its own reason to evict. But if your lease validly requires insurance and you do not get it, the landlord can treat it like any other breach of the lease, and in several provinces a breach of a material term can lead to the tenancy ending after a written warning. In Manitoba, a landlord generally cannot insist on liability insurance in the first place. The simple fix is to buy a policy and give the landlord proof; Ontario's standard lease says a tenant must provide proof when asked.

It depends on the lease, and what matters most is having it in place when the tenancy starts. In New Brunswick, a landlord may ask for proof of insurance as a condition of renting, and Ontario's standard lease, where insurance is required, says the tenant must have liability insurance at all times. Alberta's checklist for new tenants includes arranging tenant insurance. Ask the landlord what the lease requires, then set the policy to start on your move-in date.

Home insurance is bought by an owner and covers the building itself as well as the owner's belongings and liability. Tenant insurance is for renters: it covers your belongings and your liability, but not the building, because the landlord insures that. Newfoundland and Labrador's tenancy office describes the split directly: the landlord insures the rental unit and the landlord's property, and the tenant can be asked to insure their own.

Yes. Tenant insurance and renters insurance are two names for the same kind of policy, which covers a renter's belongings and liability. Canadian leases and tenancy offices usually call it tenant insurance, as Ontario's standard lease and the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador lease guidance do. Contents insurance is the part that covers your belongings, which is why Ontario's standard lease treats it separately from liability insurance.

You buy it from an insurance company or broker, the same way as in other provinces. First check your lease and the landlord's rules: Nova Scotia landlords can require insurance for your personal belongings and personal damage through their rules, and the standard lease has a tenant insurance box among the tenant's responsibilities. Get quotes for your address, choose contents and liability amounts that meet any requirement, and keep proof of the policy to give your landlord.

It is a good idea, even where it is optional. Manitoba's tenancy office says tenants should buy tenant insurance to cover their belongings, and in Ontario the standard lease leaves contents insurance up to the tenant even when liability insurance is required. Without it, the cost of replacing your belongings after a loss would usually fall on you, since the landlord's insurance is for the building and the landlord's own property.

Usually the address of the rental, your move-in date, a rough value of your belongings and the amount of liability cover you want. If your lease requires insurance, have that clause in front of you so you buy the right cover. Ask the insurer for proof you can give the landlord: Ontario's standard lease says the tenant must provide proof when asked, and New Brunswick landlords may ask for it as a condition of renting.