OHI | Can My Tenant? · Ontario rental question #27
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Last verified: September 15, 2026
Quick answer: Possibly. A tenant can often use a camera inside the rental unit for a legitimate security purpose, but the installation must not cause undue damage or breach lawful condominium or building rules. Cameras aimed at shared spaces, other units or places where people reasonably expect privacy create additional concerns. Audio recording has separate legal risks.
The RTA does not provide one simple rule approving every tenant camera. The analysis can involve reasonable enjoyment, privacy, property damage, condominium rules and the Criminal Code’s rules about intercepting private communications.
A camera used to document entry inside the tenant’s own unit is different from continuous surveillance of a neighbour’s door, private yard or interior. Recording sound can be more legally sensitive than recording video.
Does the tenant need permission to mount it?
A freestanding indoor camera may require no physical alteration. Drilling, wiring, changing a door, attaching equipment to common property or interfering with building systems may require consent and could create repair liability.
Can the camera point into a hallway?
Common-area recording is fact-specific. The field of view, duration, purpose, building or condo rules and impact on neighbours all matter. The narrowest view serving the security purpose is generally safer.
What about recording conversations?
Canada’s criminal law generally addresses interception of private communications differently where a recorder is a participant versus a third party. Tenants should disable unnecessary audio and obtain legal advice before relying on recordings.
What should the tenant do?
- Use the least intrusive placement and avoid neighbours’ windows or private areas.
- Choose a non-damaging installation or request written permission.
- Disable audio unless it is genuinely necessary and lawful.
- Secure recordings and avoid posting identifiable footage publicly without advice.
What should the landlord do?
- Ask what is installed, where it points and whether it alters the property.
- Address concrete damage, privacy or interference rather than imposing a blanket assumption.
- Check condominium or building rules and apply them consistently.
- Do not remove or tamper with a tenant’s equipment without lawful authority.
Example
A removable camera inside the unit points at the tenant’s entrance and records only when the door opens. That is different from a hard-wired camera continuously recording neighbours across a shared hallway with audio.
Related OHI guides and tools
Official sources
- Ontario Residential Tenancies Act, 2006
- Landlord and Tenant Board: Renting in Ontario
- Current LTB forms, instructions and filing information
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General information only: This article discusses Ontario residential tenancies and is not legal advice. Some rentals are exempt from all or part of the RTA. Outcomes depend on the facts and evidence. Rules and forms can change; verify current information with Tribunals Ontario or obtain advice from a licensed Ontario legal professional.