RentSafeTO Fees & Fines

There are fees associated with the RentSafeTO: Apartment Building Standards program, including registration/renewal fees and building audit fees. In addition, apartment building owners who do not comply with the program’s requirements may be subject to enforcement action, including fines.

Apartment buildings registered with the City must pay certain fees. Current fees can be found in the Fees and Charges Bylaw (Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 441, Fees and Charges, Appendix C, Schedule 12). All fees are subject to an annual increase each year in accordance with the City’s User Fee Policy.

  • Annual registration/renewal fee: For 2020, the registration and renewal fee was $11.24 per residential unit. This fee includes the cost of City-initiated building evaluations.
  • Building audit fees: fees are charged when the City conducts a building audit. For 2020, the audit administrative fee was $1,907.74 and the audit inspection fee was $115.31 per hour, per officer. If re-inspections are necessary, the applicable fee(s) will also be applied.

Fees are waived for social housing providers, which include:

  • Toronto Community Housing Corporation
  • Non-profit housing provider of assisted or social housing under a program administered by the City of Toronto and
  • Dedicated supportive housing provided funded by the Province of Ontario.

There are general fines that City can issue if an apartment building owner does not follow the requirements outlined in the Apartment Buildings Bylaw, or any other applicable bylaw. These include:

  • A set fine ticket between $100 and $1,000 depending on the nature of the offence and
  • A court summons, which includes a date to appear in court before a Justice of the Peace, where, if convicted, fines can be up to $100,000.

The Apartment Building Bylaw has offences for which convicted building owners can be fined. This includes:

  • Continuing fines for each day that the offence continues to a maximum of $10,000 per day and
  • The potential for escalating fines for second and subsequent convictions for the same offence.

These fines are applicable to both private landlords and non-profit social housing providers.

If a building owner does not comply with a City-issued Order to correct a bylaw contravention, the City has the authority to do the remedial work at the expense of the property owner. The cost of this work is added to the property tax bill.