Features

ScreeningMarketingLeasesAutomationManagementSponsored ListingsSee all features

Use case

LandlordsProperty ManagersBrokerages

Features

Browse ListingsVerified ListingsAutomationBitcoin PaymentsSee all features

Rent Reports

VancouverTorontoMontrealAlbertaWinnipeg

Learn

AboutRenter ResourcesLandlord ResourcesFAQ
Book a demoContact support
City guide

Living in Toronto, ON

The biggest city in Canada, with streetcars in the old city, rental towers in the inner suburbs and a lake along the whole south edge. Here is what renting in Toronto is actually like, which neighbourhoods suit which budgets, and how Ontario tenancy rules protect you.
Check availability
Subway and streetcar Four seasons Very diverse Expensive
Downtown Toronto at dusk across the water, with the CN Tower lit red and the Rogers Centre dome glowing blue
1090 rentals available in Toronto
Check availability

What's it like to live in Toronto?

Toronto is the largest city in Canada, close to 2.8 million people in a city that took its current shape in 1998, when the old City of Toronto merged with East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and York. Which part you land in shapes most of daily life. The old city, between the Humber and the Beaches, is where the streetcars run and most errands are a walk. The inner suburbs around it trade that for more space, wide arterial roads and more driving.Just under half of households rent, and almost half of all homes are apartments in buildings of five or more storeys. Downtown and along the waterfront most of those are condos finished in the last twenty years and rented out by their owners. In the inner suburbs they are the purpose built rental towers of the 1960s and 1970s. Across the old city the cheaper stock is flats in houses: upper floors, basements and the back of a Victorian semi.One rule matters more here than almost anywhere else in Ontario. A unit first lived in after November 15, 2018 is exempt from the provincial rent increase guideline, and many of the condos and new rental buildings finished since then fall into that group. Ask when the unit was first occupied before you sign, because it decides whether next year's increase is capped.Transit is the backbone. The TTC runs the Yonge-University and Bloor-Danforth subways, which cross at Bloor-Yonge and St George, the short Sheppard line, and the Finch West and Eglinton light rail lines that opened in late 2025 and early 2026. Streetcars cover the old city's main streets and buses do the rest. GO trains run from Union Station to the suburbs, and the UP Express reaches Pearson Airport in under half an hour.It is also among the most diverse cities anywhere. In 2021, 47% of residents were immigrants and 42% had a mother tongue other than English or French, which shows in every main street's groceries and restaurants. The trade-off is cost: good units go quickly, especially before September, so have your documents ready and know the Ontario rules before you sign.

Best suited for

  • Renters without a car
  • Students and new graduates
  • Newcomers to Canada
  • Young professionals
  • –Renters on a tight budget
  • –Drivers commuting across the city

Quick facts

  • Population2,794,000
  • Renter households48%
  • Median age40
  • Rental vacancy2.8%

Getting around

How walkable, cyclable and well served by transit the city is day to day.

74/100

WalkabilityExcellent in the old city, thin along the suburban arterials

78/100

Transit accessTwo subways cross the centre, with streetcars downtown and buses everywhere

60/100

CyclingProtected lanes on some downtown streets, few in the suburbs
Union to Pearson Airport28 min by UP Express
Union to Finch30 min by subway
Bloor-Yonge to Kennedy23 min by subway
Union to Bloor-Yonge8 min by subway
Union to York University37 min by subway
Mount Dennis to Kennedy on Line 549 min by transit
Line 1 Yonge-University
Line 2 Bloor-Danforth
Line 4 Sheppard
Line 5 Eglinton
Line 6 Finch West
501 Queen
504 King
GO Transit
UP Express

Toronto on the map

Toronto's boundary, from Etobicoke Creek to the Rouge River and from Lake Ontario to Steeles Avenue.

Schools and post-secondary

Toronto has four publicly funded school boards, English and French, public and Catholic, plus independent schools and several university and college campuses.
SchoolTypeArea
University of Toronto
Post-secondaryDowntown, St. George campus
Toronto Metropolitan University
Post-secondaryDowntown
York University
Post-secondaryNorth York
OCAD University
Post-secondaryDowntown
George Brown College
Post-secondaryDowntown and the waterfront
Humber Polytechnic
Post-secondaryEtobicoke
Seneca Polytechnic
Post-secondaryNorth York
Centennial College
Post-secondaryScarborough
Toronto District School Board
Public · K–12Citywide
Toronto Catholic District School Board
Catholic · K–12Citywide
Conseil scolaire Viamonde
French public · K–12Citywide
Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir
French Catholic · K–12Citywide

Neighbourhoods in Toronto

Rent, transit and daily life change a great deal from one Toronto neighbourhood to the next: condo towers downtown and along the lake, flats in Victorian houses across the old city, and rental towers and bungalows in the inner suburbs. Neighbourhoods with a guide open it, and the rest open their rental listings.

Rent with confidence in Toronto

What Ontario tenancy rules protect, and how liv.rent keeps the process safe from first message to signed lease.

Deposits are limited

A landlord in Ontario can ask for a rent deposit of up to one month of rent, and it can only be used for your last month. Damage and pet deposits are not allowed, and the landlord owes you interest on the rent deposit every year.

Rent increases are limited

Most rents can go up once every 12 months, by no more than the provincial guideline, with 90 days of written notice. Units first lived in after November 15, 2018 are exempt from the guideline, though the landlord still has to give that notice.

Every listing is verified

Landlords complete ID verification before they can post, and you can sign the lease and pay rent through liv.rent, so there is no e-transfer to a stranger.
Rental scams are common in Toronto, most often a listing that asks for a deposit by e-transfer before anyone has seen the unit. Never send money before a viewing, and never pay outside a platform that keeps a record. Most new Ontario tenancies must use the standard lease, so ask for it. The tenancy points above are general information about renting in Ontario, not legal or financial advice. For guidance on your own tenancy, contact the Landlord and Tenant Board.How liv.rent verification works

Toronto rental questions

Is Toronto a good place to live?

For jobs, transit, culture and sheer variety it is hard to match in Canada, and its neighbourhoods range from walkable Victorian streets to quiet suburbs. The consistent drawbacks are cost and the competition for good units, plus winters that are colder and snowier than on the West Coast.

How much is rent in Toronto?

CMHC's October 2025 survey put the average rent for an occupied purpose built apartment at $1,916 across the City of Toronto, on a vacancy rate of 2.8%. Read that as a floor rather than a target: the figure covers every occupied unit including long tenancies held down by rent control, so anything listed today asks above it. It also leaves out condos rented by their owners and flats in houses, which make up much of what is listed. By zone it ranges from $1,630 in south Etobicoke to $2,163 in the centre of the old city.

Which Toronto neighbourhoods are most affordable to rent in?

On CMHC's October 2025 averages, the lowest rents are in south Etobicoke, the old city east of the Don, northwest North York, East York and northern Scarborough, from $1,630 to $1,717. Those areas hold a lot of older rent controlled buildings, which pulls their averages down, so new listings there still ask more. As a rule, the further you are from downtown and the subway, the more space a budget buys.

Do I need a car in Toronto?

Not in the old city or anywhere close to a subway station. The TTC's subway, streetcar and bus network covers most trips, GO trains reach the suburbs, and parking is often an extra monthly cost rather than part of the rent. Away from the subway and the new light rail lines, in much of the inner suburbs, many households do drive.

How much deposit can a landlord ask for in Toronto?

Up to one month of rent as a rent deposit, which has to be used for your last month and earns you interest every year. Ontario does not allow damage or pet deposits. The only other deposit a landlord can take is a refundable one for keys or fobs.

Is my Toronto apartment covered by rent control?

Most are, but not all. If the unit was first lived in after November 15, 2018, it is exempt from the provincial guideline, so the landlord can raise the rent by any amount as long as they give 90 days of written notice. That covers many of the condos and new rental buildings finished since then, so ask before you sign.

When is the best time to look for a rental in Toronto?

Listings and competition both build through the summer and peak ahead of the September school year at U of T, TMU and York. December and January are quietest, with fewer units but noticeably less competition for each one.

Can I rent in Toronto before arriving in Canada?

Yes, though it takes care. Verify the landlord and the unit before sending money, ask for the Ontario standard lease, and prefer a platform that keeps a record of the agreement and the payment over a private e-transfer.
Ready to look? Browse Toronto rentalsStudios from $921 to 4+ beds from $2,895
Check availability

Explore the area

Nearby cities

Search Toronto rentals

More Toronto reading

Methodology

Places, parks, schools and transit routes on this page come from OpenStreetMap. Walk times are approximate. Population, age and how many households rent come from Statistics Canada's 2021 Census. Neighbourhood figures are the City of Toronto's own profiles of the same census. Rent and vacancy come from CMHC's Rental Market Survey for October 2025, for the City of Toronto. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Toronto.Listing counts and prices come from liv.rent, so they show what's on the platform rather than the whole city.OpenStreetMap, Statistics Canada, CMHC, Open Government Licence – Toronto. Last updated October 2026.