If you have spent any time on Toronto rental threads lately, you have seen the posts. Roaches in a Scarborough kitchen. A bedbug warning on a downtown street. Mice in a basement unit that the landlord swears is "just an old building thing." It is miserable to live with, and the first question everyone asks is the same one: whose problem is this?
In Ontario, the short answer is that it is the landlord's problem to fix. The longer answer is that how fast it gets fixed depends a lot on how you report it. Here is how it actually works.
The landlord pays for pest control
Ontario has no law written just for bedbugs, but the Residential Tenancies Act covers it anyway. Section 20 says a landlord has to keep the whole building, including every unit, in a good state of repair and fit to live in, and meet health, safety, housing and maintenance standards. Pest control falls squarely inside that duty. In practice that means the landlord hires the exterminator and pays for the treatment, not the tenant.
The tenant's side of the deal is smaller but it matters. Report the problem as soon as you see it. Keep the place reasonably clean. Do the prep work the pest company asks for, like laundering bedding or pulling furniture away from the walls. And let the crew in when they come, which the landlord has to arrange with proper written notice, generally 24 hours ahead and between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
One thing worth knowing: a landlord cannot pass the treatment bill to you just because they think you brought the bugs in, unless they can actually prove it. That is a hard case for them to make, and it is not a reason to delay treatment.
Step one: put it in writing
Tell your landlord in writing, the day you notice it. A text or email works. Say what you found, where, and when, and attach photos. Keep a copy of everything.
This sounds like paperwork for paperwork's sake, but it is the single most useful thing you can do. If the landlord drags their feet, that dated message is what turns "I told them weeks ago" into something a bylaw officer or an adjudicator can act on. It also helps the landlord, honestly. Early treatment is cheaper and easier than a full building infestation, and a good landlord would rather hear about one unit today than ten units next month.
If the landlord stalls, call 311
In Toronto, if your written request goes nowhere, call 311 and ask for a property standards inspection. A bylaw officer will come out, and if the place violates Toronto's property standards bylaw, they can order the owner to fix it. Larger apartment buildings fall under RentSafeTO, which sets response standards for things like pest complaints. Other Ontario cities have their own property standards bylaws, so the same move works outside Toronto too: call your city's bylaw line and ask for an inspection.
If that still does not move things, the Landlord and Tenant Board is the next step. A T6 application asks the Board to order the landlord to do the repairs, and it can also bring a rent abatement for the time you lived with the problem, or compensation for belongings you had to throw out. A T2 application covers similar ground when the landlord has interfered with your reasonable enjoyment of the place. Be honest with yourself about timing here: Board hearings take a while, which is why the written notice and the 311 inspection come first.
One myth to drop right now: you cannot withhold rent in Ontario to force a repair. It feels like leverage, but it hands the landlord a case against you instead. The legal pressure comes from the paper trail, the city inspection, and the Board application, in that order.
Before you sign a lease, check for pests
A lot of pest misery is preventable at the viewing stage. Ask the landlord or current tenant directly whether the unit or building has had pest treatments. Look for droppings near the kitchen, live bugs around beds and baseboards, and staining on mattress seams. Talk to a neighbour in the building if you can. A fresh coat of paint hides a lot, but it does not hide an active infestation from someone who actually looks.
For landlords reading this, the same logic runs in reverse. A fast, no-blame response is the cheapest pest policy there is. Tenants who are not afraid of being blamed report sooner, and a problem caught in one unit stays a one-unit problem. Treat neighbouring units too, keep records of every complaint and treatment, and use a licensed pro. Your building will thank you.
Pests are gross, stressful, and genuinely disruptive, but they are also one of the clearest-cut issues in Ontario rental law. The landlord fixes it. Your job is to report it in writing, keep the receipts, and escalate through 311 and the Board if you have to. That paper trail protects you, and it protects a good landlord too, because it proves the problem was handled properly from day one.