What should I do if my landlord is harassing me?

Not in Ontario, where the Act bans landlord harassment outright. In the other provinces covered here, the Acts we reviewed have no general ban, but much of what harassment involves is covered by other rules: interfering with your enjoyment of your home, retaliating for a complaint, entering without proper notice, lockouts and cutting off services. British Columbia, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador also ban harassing a tenant to stop or punish a complaint or application. Harassment because of a protected ground can be a human rights matter as well.

Our advice is to keep a dated log of every incident and save every message; in British Columbia the guideline says frequent and ongoing interference can support a claim. Ask the landlord in writing to stop, then apply to your tenancy office or board; in Ontario you must apply within one year of the conduct. If it continues, you may be able to end the tenancy: British Columbia, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador let a tenant give notice for this kind of breach, and in Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia the tenancy office, board or court can end it. Call the police about any threats.

In Ontario, knowingly harassing a tenant is an offence with fines of up to $100,000 for an individual and $500,000 for a corporation. Elsewhere, the offences are narrower: harassment to stop or punish an application in British Columbia and PEI, retaliation in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, and specific acts such as illegal entry and changing the locks in New Brunswick. Manitoba makes depriving a tenant of a right under the Act an offence, and Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador make any breach of the Act an offence. We reviewed tenancy law only, not criminal law, so for threats or violence call the police.

The research we reviewed does not give a single definition of harassment; Ontario's Act uses the words harass, obstruct, coerce, threaten or interfere. Examples people report, which are SQRFT's examples and not legal definitions, are repeated calls, texts or visits after you ask them to stop, threats, insults or intimidation, entering without proper notice (see when a landlord can enter), changing the locks or locking you out (see can a landlord change the locks), cutting off heat, water or power, and pressure to move out. Cameras that capture the inside of your unit also raise privacy issues; see is a landlord allowed to have cameras. Whether conduct crosses the line depends on the facts, and the tenancy office or board decides.

Pressure alone does not end your tenancy: a landlord has to follow your province's notice rules, and you can dispute a notice; see can a landlord evict you immediately. In Ontario, harassing a tenant into moving out is an offence, and if you do move, the Board can order up to one year of the increased rent you pay plus moving and storage costs. In Manitoba, renovations done unreasonably that drive you out can lead to moving costs of up to $500 plus extra compensation. Several provinces also protect you from a notice served because you complained, including Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Often, through your tenancy office or board. In Ontario the Board can order your out-of-pocket costs and a rent abatement, and the tenancy offices in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador, and the RTDRS or court in Alberta, can order compensation or damages. PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador can also award compensation for inconvenience that you offset against future rent. In New Brunswick, an officer who ends a tenancy can order up to one month's rent for your expenses.

Sometimes, but our advice is to follow the process rather than just leaving. In British Columbia and Manitoba you can end the tenancy after giving the landlord written notice and a chance to fix the problem, and in Newfoundland and Labrador you can give 5 to 14 days' notice when the landlord interferes with your peaceful enjoyment. In Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the tenancy office, board or court can end the tenancy, so apply first. For other ways out, see how to get out of a lease agreement.

Generally not on your own. Our advice is to keep paying and apply to your tenancy office, which can make orders such as telling the landlord to comply and awarding compensation; in British Columbia, the Residential Tenancy Branch's guideline says a tenant must not deduct rent for a breach of quiet enjoyment without an order. In PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador, the tenancy office can let you offset compensation for inconvenience against future rent. See can I withhold rent from my landlord.

Apply to your province's tenancy office or board, listed in the table above. In Ontario, you can also report offences such as harassment to the Rental Housing Enforcement Unit. Call the police about threats or violence, and make a human rights complaint if you are targeted because of a protected ground. For more on each route, see how to report a landlord.

The rules can work both ways. Ontario's Act bars a tenant from harassing, obstructing, coercing, threatening or interfering with the landlord; Nova Scotia's statutory condition 3 binds tenants as well as landlords; and the offences in British Columbia and PEI cover harassing a landlord to stop or punish an application. A landlord can also apply to the tenancy office or serve a for-cause notice where the Act allows (see the last answer below), and threats are a matter for the police.

A tenant can be evicted for conduct that fits a for-cause ground in the Act, and the steps differ. Examples include a One Month Notice for cause in British Columbia (unreasonable disturbance is a listed ground), an N5 notice in Ontario, and a notice of at least 5 days in Newfoundland and Labrador for interference with peaceful enjoyment. In Alberta, an assault or threat of assault on the landlord or another tenant allows 24 hours' written notice, and the landlord must then apply for an order within 10 days after the tenancy ends. In Manitoba the landlord must first give a written warning to fix the problem, except in very serious cases, and in New Brunswick the landlord's notice states the complaint first, or asks an officer to serve a notice to quit where a warning notice is inappropriate.

We found no rule in the Acts we reviewed that bans a raised voice as such. What matters is whether the behaviour amounts to harassment or interference with your home. Ontario bars a landlord from harassing, obstructing, coercing, threatening or interfering with a tenant, and knowingly harassing a tenant is an offence. In British Columbia, quiet enjoyment includes freedom from unreasonable disturbance, but the province's guideline says temporary inconvenience is not enough while frequent, ongoing interference can be. In Alberta, the landlord must not disturb your peaceful enjoyment in any significant manner.

Yelling that comes with threats may count as harassment where your province bans it, and yelling that targets a protected ground such as sexual orientation can also fall under human rights law; Alberta's human rights commission gives landlord verbal and physical harassment because of sexual orientation as an example. SQRFT advice: write down the date, time, what was said and any witnesses, reply in writing, and contact your province's tenancy office if it keeps happening.

We found no rule in the Acts we reviewed about a landlord blocking a tenant's phone number. Some provinces do expect the landlord to be reachable: a written lease in Saskatchewan has to give the landlord's address for service, phone number and an emergency phone number, and in PEI it must list service addresses, phone numbers and an emergency repair contact. Whether blocking you is harassment or interference depends on the facts, such as whether it is part of a pattern of ignoring repair requests or avoiding notices.

SQRFT advice: put anything important, such as a repair request or a notice, in writing, send it to the landlord's address for service or email, and keep a copy with the date. Then contact your province's tenancy office if the landlord will not respond.

The entry rules we reviewed cover a landlord coming into your unit, and we did not find a separate rule about notice of building work outside it, such as work on the roof, a hallway or a neighbouring unit, so ask your province's tenancy office if you need a firm answer. Notice rules apply when someone needs to come into your unit: in the provinces covered here, entry for repairs or inspections generally takes at least 24 hours' written notice (New Brunswick requires 7 days' notice for normal repairs or redecorating), with an exception for emergencies.

Noisy work can still be a problem if it is unreasonable. Ontario treats repairs, maintenance and capital improvements as not being harassment for the harassment offence unless it is reasonable to believe the date, time or manner of the work is meant to harass or interfere. Alberta's Handbook says the courts and the dispute resolution service balance your inconvenience against the landlord's needs, such as building repairs, and British Columbia says temporary inconvenience is not enough to breach quiet enjoyment. SQRFT advice: ask the landlord in writing what work is planned and when, and keep a record of any disruption.