News and Reports

In June 2024, Humane Canada launched a campaign around pet inclusive housing after hearing stories of how difficult it was to find rental accommodations with animals, which contributed to humane societies, SPCAs and other shelters being overwhelmed with surrenders.

The campaign included a national parliamentary petition, sponsored by then-Beaches-East York MP turned Housing, Communities and Infrastructure Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, and a survey asking renters with companion animals in Ontario to share their experiences. Ontario is the only province that has a “no pets void” provision in their tenancy legislation, which states that “a provision in a tenancy agreement prohibiting the presence of animals in or about the residential complex is void”,[1] yet there were reports of Ontario tenants having issues despite this clause. The survey was launched to gain a better understanding of the actual landscape facing Ontario tenants with animals.

The survey results support anecdotal reports that people with animals do indeed experience more barriers in finding rental housing in Ontario, despite the Residential Tenancies Act provision.