In an Ontario rental, the landlord is responsible for pest control in almost every case. The Residential Tenancies Act puts a legal duty on the landlord to keep the unit in a good state of repair and fit to live in, and that duty covers infestations like cockroaches, bed bugs, mice, and rats. The landlord cannot sign that duty away, even if your lease says the tenant handles pests. This page explains who pays, what a tenant can do when the landlord ignores it, and the one duty that does sit with the tenant.
This is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, contact the Landlord and Tenant Board or a legal clinic.
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Who is responsible for pest control in an Ontario rental?
The landlord. Section 20 of Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act requires a landlord to keep the rental unit and the building in a good state of repair and fit for habitation, and to comply with health, safety, and maintenance standards. An infestation of cockroaches, bed bugs, mice, or rats makes a unit unfit under that section, so treating it is the landlord's job and the landlord's cost.
This is true even if your lease says pest control is the tenant's responsibility. Section 4 of the same Act voids any term in a tenancy agreement that conflicts with the Act. A landlord cannot contract out of the section 20 maintenance duty. A clause that tries to make you pay for extermination is not enforceable.
There is one narrow exception in practice. If a tenant clearly and solely caused the infestation, a landlord can try to recover the cost, but they have to prove it at the Landlord and Tenant Board, and that is a high bar. Bed bugs and cockroaches spread through walls, shared laundry, and second-hand furniture, and pinning the source on one tenant is rarely possible. The default stays with the landlord.
Who pays for bed bugs in an Ontario rental?
The landlord. Bed bugs are treated the same as any other infestation under section 20. The landlord arranges and pays for treatment, and in a multi-unit building that usually means treating the affected unit plus the units on either side and above and below, because bed bugs travel through wall voids and outlet gaps.
A landlord who tells you "you brought them in, so you pay" is almost always wrong under Ontario law. Unless they can prove at the LTB that you alone caused it, the cost is theirs. Get any such demand in writing before you agree to anything.
Bed bug treatment is the most expensive pest job there is, which is exactly why some landlords push back. A single-room chemical treatment runs a few hundred dollars, and whole-home heat treatment runs into the thousands. None of that changes who is responsible. If you want to understand what the treatment actually involves before the conversation, read our bed bug treatment page.
Who pays for cockroaches in an Ontario rental?
The landlord, on the same section 20 grounds. German cockroaches are the most common rental infestation in Toronto, especially in apartment and condo towers, and they spread unit to unit through shared plumbing and wall voids. That spread is the reason a real fix has to be coordinated across units by the landlord, not handled one apartment at a time by individual tenants.
A tenant who buys store gel bait and treats their own kitchen is fighting a building-wide problem one room at a time, and it does not work. The roaches retreat to the untreated unit next door and come back. Our cockroach control page explains why German roaches need a building-level plan.
What can a tenant do if the landlord won't deal with the pests?
You have four steps, in order.
- Put it in writing. Tell the landlord about the infestation in writing (text and email count) and keep a copy. Date it, describe what you are seeing, and ask them to arrange treatment. A verbal complaint is easy to deny later. A written record is your evidence.
- Call Toronto 311 and report a property standards violation. The City of Toronto requires rental properties to be kept free of pests under its property standards and rodent control bylaw. A municipal standards officer can inspect and issue an order requiring the landlord to fix it. This is often the fastest lever, because a city order carries a deadline and penalties.
- Apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board. If the landlord still does not act, you can file a maintenance application (a T6) with the Landlord and Tenant Board. The Board can order the landlord to do the work, order a rent abatement for the time you lived with the infestation, and order them to pay costs.
- Keep documenting the whole time. Photos with dates, your written complaints, the landlord's replies, receipts for anything you had to buy, and any medical notes if the pests affected your health. The tenant with the paper trail wins at the Board.
Do not withhold rent as a first move. Withholding rent can put you in arrears and expose you to an eviction application, and it is not the sanctioned remedy. The T6 application and the property standards complaint are the routes the system actually backs.
Can a landlord charge the tenant for pest control?
Only in the narrow case where they can prove at the LTB that the tenant alone caused the infestation, and they have to go to the Board to do it. A landlord cannot simply add an extermination charge to your account, deduct it from your deposit, or bill you directly because the lease says so. That lease term is void under section 4 of the Act.
The lease clause that makes you pay for pests is not worth the paper it is printed on. Ontario law overrides it.
If a landlord has charged you or is threatening to, that is exactly the situation to raise with the Landlord and Tenant Board or a community legal clinic.
What is the tenant actually responsible for?
Cooperation, and this part matters. A tenant has a duty to keep the unit reasonably clean and to allow and support the treatment. In practice that means:
- Let the exterminator in. The landlord (or their pest company) can enter with 24 hours' written notice to carry out the treatment. Blocking access can shift responsibility onto you and undermine a claim at the Board.
- Do the prep. Bed bug and cockroach treatments need the unit prepared, bag laundry, clear clutter, pull furniture from walls, empty lower cabinets. If the pest company gives a prep sheet, follow it. A treatment on an unprepared unit fails, and repeat failures caused by no prep can land on the tenant.
- Don't make it worse. Keeping food sealed, taking out garbage, and not bringing in infested second-hand furniture are reasonable tenant duties.
The rule of thumb: the landlord pays for and arranges the treatment, and the tenant makes the unit ready and lets the work happen. When both sides do their part, infestations get cleared. When the landlord stalls, the tenant's tools are the written notice, the 311 complaint, and the LTB application.
Common questions
Does my lease saying "tenant pays for pest control" mean I have to pay?
No. Section 4 of the Residential Tenancies Act voids any lease term that conflicts with the Act, and the landlord's section 20 maintenance duty covers pests. The clause is unenforceable.
How fast does a landlord have to act on an infestation?
The Act says a reasonable time, and it is not defined by a fixed number of days. An active bed bug or cockroach infestation is urgent, and a delay of weeks after written notice is a strong basis for a property standards complaint and an LTB application.
Can I be evicted for reporting pests?
No. Reporting an infestation or filing a maintenance complaint is protected. A landlord who retaliates with an eviction can face a bad-faith application at the Board. Do not let the fear of eviction stop you from putting the complaint in writing.
What if the whole building has cockroaches or bed bugs?
Then it needs a building-wide, coordinated treatment arranged by the landlord, which is the only thing that works for pests that travel between units. One tenant treating one unit cannot solve it. Report it to the landlord in writing and to 311 if they stall.
I'm a landlord. Do I really have to pay even if the tenant brought them in?
In almost all cases, yes, because proving a single tenant solely caused an infestation like bed bugs or cockroaches is very hard, and the duty defaults to you. Arranging fast, professional, coordinated treatment is cheaper than an LTB fight and a spreading infestation.
Who do I call first, the city or the Board?
Toronto 311 for a property standards inspection is usually faster and puts a dated order on the landlord. The LTB application is the route for orders and rent abatement if the landlord still does not act. Many tenants use both.
Reviewed August 2026.
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