Moving Out on Your Own in Canada Checklist
Moving out on your own in Canada: rent the first apartment, learn the tenancy procedures, build credit, and get the licence and health card for your province — each with its live guide.
Renting Your First Apartment in Canada Checklist
Renting your first apartment in Canada: decide what the rent must include, build the application pack, read the lease, record the condition on move-in day, and know where to go if the tenancy goes wrong.
Applies in: across Canada
Renting your first apartment in Canada is a sequence of checks, not a single application. Each item below names the live guide it rests on. Follow the linked guide for the full steps in your province. Nothing here adds a new rule. Where a province changes the rule, the item says so and points to the guide that governs.
Work the list from the top. Decide what the rent must include before you view anything, because that decision is what lets you compare listings honestly. Build the application pack next, because a landlord will ask for it as soon as you apply. Read the lease before you sign it. Record the condition on move-in day, because the move-out comparison is made against that record.
1. Decide what the rent must include before you start viewing
Done when: you have written down what the rent must cover — utilities, parking, laundry, internet, and anything else you need — and you are comparing listings on that basis.
The renting guide's first step walks through deciding what the rent must include before you start viewing, so a lower headline rent that excludes heat and hydro is not compared with a higher rent that includes them as if they were the same price.
2. Build the application pack that replaces a Canadian credit file
Done when: you hold proof of income, references, and identification, ready to hand to a landlord.
The renting guide's second step covers building the application pack that stands in for a Canadian credit file. If you have no Canadian credit history yet, the credit-building guide on this site explains how to start one, beginning with a free look at your starting point and a secured credit card.
3. Know what the landlord may require at signing, province by province
Done when: you know what your province allows a landlord to require at signing, and you have it ready.
The renting guide's third step covers what a landlord may require at signing, province by province. Requirements differ by province, so check the rule for the province where the apartment is, not the rule for the province you came from.
4. Read the lease before you sign it, and keep a copy
Done when: you have read every clause, signed, and kept a signed copy for yourself.
The renting guide's fourth step covers reading the lease before you sign it. Do not hand over money before you have read it, and do not rely on what the landlord said in conversation — the signed lease is the document that governs.
5. Record the condition on move-in day, and set up the tenancy properly
Done when: you have photographed and noted the condition of the apartment on move-in day, and the tenancy is set up with the landlord's contact details and the rent payment method agreed.
The renting guide's fifth step covers recording the condition on move-in day and setting up the tenancy properly. The move-in record is what the condition of the apartment is compared with at move-out.
6. If the tenancy goes wrong, know the procedure for your province
Done when: you know which tribunal or board covers your province and what its process is.
The landlord-tenant procedure grid on this site covers the process in every province, with the tribunal or board, the forms, and the order of steps for each jurisdiction. If you are in Ontario, the Landlord and Tenant Board guide walks through filing an application with the Board, including the one-year limit on applications. That Board route is Ontario-only — it does not apply in any other province, and this checklist does not present it as national.
7. Get a health card in the province where you now live
Done when: you have applied for the health card in the province where the apartment is.
Health coverage is provincial. Pick the guide for your province: How to Get a New Brunswick Medicare Card, How to Get a Health Card in Prince Edward Island, How to Get an MSI Health Card in Nova Scotia, How to Get an OHIP Health Card in Ontario, How to Get a RAMQ Health Insurance Card in Quebec, How to Get an Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan Card in Alberta, How to Get a Saskatchewan Health Card in Saskatchewan, How to Get a Manitoba Health Card in Manitoba, How to Get a BC Services Card and MSP Coverage in British Columbia, How to Get a Health Card in Newfoundland and Labrador, How to Get a Health Card in Yukon, How to Get a Health Card in the Northwest Territories, and How to Get a Health Card in Nunavut. No province's guide stands in for another province's process.
8. Get a driver's licence in the province where you now live
Done when: you have applied for the driver's licence in the province where the apartment is, or confirmed that your current licence remains valid there.
Driver's licensing is provincial. Pick the guide for your province: How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in Alberta, How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in British Columbia, How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in Manitoba, How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in Saskatchewan, How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in Quebec, How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in Nova Scotia, How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in New Brunswick, and How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in Prince Edward Island, and How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in Ontario. No province's guide stands in for another province's process.
What this checklist does not cover: rent amounts and deposits
This checklist states no rent amount, fee, or deposit figure, because those figures vary by city, building, and province, and no single figure was verified for this page. The renting guide covers what the rent must include and what a landlord may require at signing, province by province — read it before you agree to any amount.
Related guides:
- How to Start Renting Your First Apartment in Canada — the full renting guide behind items 1 to 5.
- Landlord-Tenant Procedure Grid in Canada — the procedure for every province, behind item 6.
- How to Take a Landlord to the Landlord and Tenant Board in Ontario — the Ontario-only Board route, behind item 6.
- How to Start Building Credit in Canada — building a Canadian credit file from nothing, behind item 2.
- Moving Provinces Checklist: Health Card, Driver's Licence, Vehicle Registration, Voter Registration — the wider moving checklist, for readers who are also changing provinces.
Renting your first apartment in Canada, in order
- Decide what the rent must includeWork out what the rent must cover — utilities, parking, laundry, internet — before you start viewing, so you compare listings on the same basis
- Build the application packAssemble the documents that stand in for a Canadian credit file: proof of income, references, and identification
- Know what the landlord may require at signingLandlord requirements differ by province; check what your province allows a landlord to ask for before you sign
- Read the lease and keep a copyRead every clause before signing, and keep a signed copy for yourself
- Record the condition on move-in dayPhotograph and note the condition of the apartment on the day you move in, and set up the tenancy properly from the start
- Know where to go if the tenancy goes wrongThe procedure grid covers every province; the Landlord and Tenant Board route is Ontario-only
Questions people ask
I have no Canadian credit history. Can I still rent an apartment?
Yes. Landlords in Canada commonly accept proof of income, references, and identification in place of a credit file, and the renting guide's second step lists exactly what goes in that pack. Start building a file at the same time: the credit-building guide on this site begins with a free check of your starting point, then a secured credit card. The pack gets you the first apartment; the card makes the second one easier.
What should I check before I sign a lease?
Read the lease. Every clause, not just the rent and the term. The renting guide's fourth step is the whole of this check, and its third step covers what the landlord may ask for at signing — which differs by province, so a rule you learned in another province may not hold where the apartment is. Never hand over money before you have read the document, and never rely on what was said in conversation. Only the signed lease governs.
What do I do on move-in day?
Photograph everything. Every mark on the walls, every appliance, every window — then write the faults down and send the list to the landlord the same day. That record is what the apartment's condition is judged against when you move out. The renting guide's fifth step covers the move-in record and the rest of the tenancy setup: the landlord's contact details, the rent payment method, and who to call when something breaks.
My landlord will not fix something, or is trying to evict me. Where do I go?
Start with the procedure grid on this site. It names the tribunal or board for every province, with the forms and the order of steps, so you can see which body hears your kind of dispute before you file anything. In Ontario the route is the Landlord and Tenant Board, and the Board guide on this site walks through the filing — including the one-year limit on applications. That Board is Ontario-only. Every other province has its own body, named in the grid.
Do I need a health card and a driver's licence in the new province too?
If the move crosses a provincial border, yes. Health coverage and driver's licensing are both provincial, so the card and licence from the old province do not simply carry over. This checklist links a health-card guide for all 13 provinces and territories and a driver's-licence guide for nine provinces. Use the guide for the province you now live in. A guide written for one province never stands in for another's process.
Does this checklist state how much rent or a deposit should be?
No, and deliberately. A rent figure that is right in Moncton is wrong in Vancouver, and a deposit rule that holds in one province may be illegal in another. No single number was verified for this page, so none is printed. What the renting guide does cover — and what this checklist points at — is what the rent must include and what a landlord may require at signing, province by province. Read those sections before you agree to any amount.
Sources
- Government of New Brunswick, Graduated drivers' licences — the New Brunswick licensing stages behind the driver's-licence item.
- Government of Prince Edward Island, Graduated Driver's Licensing Program (GDL) — the Prince Edward Island licensing stages behind the driver's-licence item.
The remaining items rest on the linked guides on this site, each of which carries its own official sources.
No rent amount, fee, or deposit figure is stated in this checklist, because none was verified for this page. The Landlord and Tenant Board route is Ontario-only, and the driver's-licence and health-card items point at the guide matching the reader's province. Re-check the linked guide and its official source on the day you act, because the source page governs over this summary.