Do Alberta Landlords Need a Licence or Registration?

The Residential Tenancies Act, its regulations, the RTA Handbook and the government's Information for Tenants contain no landlord registry, no landlord licence and no registration fee. That is the result of a search of those documents for the words "licence" and "registration". So for the province, the answer is no: an owner who rents out a home does not have to sign up with a provincial registry first.

That is not the whole picture. The sources do not rule out city or town rules, and municipal websites were not searched for this guide. Before you list a unit, check with your municipality whether it has any rental business licence or similar requirement.

The one licence rule found is about who does the work. The government's Information for Tenants says it is illegal for someone to negotiate or approve a lease, or to collect or hold rent, unless they own the property, are an employee of the owner, or are a property manager licensed by the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA).

In practice, that affects you if you hand part of the job to someone else:

• A friend or relative who is not your employee should not negotiate or approve leases or collect or hold rent for you.
• A management company doing those jobs must be a licensed property manager.
• If you do the work yourself as the owner, this rule does not apply to you.

Check a manager's licence status with RECA before you sign. The source does not set out the licence classes or fees, so confirm those directly.

No registry does not mean no paperwork. The Act sets duties that start almost immediately:

• Notice of landlord: within 7 days after the tenant takes possession, serve a notice naming you and giving a postal address and a physical location in Canada. In a building with common areas it may be posted in a common area.
• Signed copy of a written agreement: within 21 days after the tenant returns it. If you do not, the tenant may withhold rent until it is served.
• Security deposit: no more than one month's rent, and placed in an interest-bearing trust account in Alberta within 2 banking days after you receive it.
• Inspection reports: a move-in and a move-out inspection, each with a written report.
• Larger print statement: a written agreement must carry the Act's required statement, covered in our Alberta forms and wording guide.

Breaking the notice of landlord rule is an offence under the Act, with a fine of up to $5,000.

Some arrangements fall outside the Act altogether, which changes which rules apply to you. The exclusions in section 2 include mobile home sites, rooms in the landlord's own living quarters where the landlord actually lives, and hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts and similar places if a person stays there for less than 6 consecutive months. Student housing rented by an educational institution without exclusive possession of a self-contained unit is also excluded.

Mobile home sites have their own Act. If your situation looks like one of these, read the exclusion itself in the Act before assuming either way. This guide does not cover short-term rental or secondary suite rules, which can depend on your municipality.

• Assuming a general business licence is not needed. The provincial sources are silent on city rules. Ask the municipality.
• Letting a helper handle leases or rent. If that person is neither your employee nor a licensed property manager, you risk breaching the licensing rule.
• Missing the 7 day and 21 day paperwork. These are the duties that tenants and the government do check.
• Treating the deposit as your own money. It belongs in a trust account.

1. Ask your city or town whether any rental business licence or similar rule applies to your property.
2. Decide whether you will manage it yourself. If not, confirm any manager's RECA licence.
3. Set the deposit at no more than one month's rent and open the trust account.
4. Prepare the notice of landlord and, if the lease is written, the signed copy for the tenant.

For the wider picture, see how to become a landlord in Alberta and how to become a landlord. This guide explains the rules in general terms; for a specific case, ask the tribunal or a licensed legal professional.