Moving Into Your First Apartment

Know your rights before you sign

This is the part nobody explains, and the part that costs people money.

In Ontario, a landlord can ask for first and last month's rent. That's it.

Damage deposits and security deposits are not legal in Ontario residential tenancies. If a landlord asks for one, they're asking for something the law doesn't allow. The same applies to key deposits beyond the actual replacement cost of the key.

Other things worth knowing:

• Most private residential tenancies use the province's standard lease form
• A landlord can't require post-dated cheques or automatic payments as a condition of renting
• Rent increases are regulated in timing and amount for most units, with some exemptions for newer buildings
• You're entitled to a receipt for rent paid, on request

If something feels wrong, check before you sign. The Landlord and Tenant Board publishes plain-language guidance, and it's free to read.

Photograph everything on day one

Before you move a single item in, walk the whole unit with your phone and photograph it.

Every mark, every scuff, the state of the appliances, the carpet, the walls. Open the cupboards. Get the bathroom.

It takes ten minutes and it's the only protection you have when you move out and someone disagrees about what was already there. Email the photos to yourself so they're timestamped somewhere you won't lose them.

Get tenant insurance

It's inexpensive — often a few dollars a week — and people skip it because it feels optional at a moment when money is tight.

Two reasons not to:

It covers your belongings. Your landlord's insurance covers the building, not your laptop.

It covers your liability. If you flood the unit below you, or a guest is injured in your apartment, that's potentially a very large number. This is the part people don't think about, and it's the more important half.

Many leases now require it anyway.

What you actually need

Furniture lists for first apartments are written by furniture retailers. Here's the honest version.

Week one, genuinely

• Somewhere to sleep. A bed, or a mattress on the floor for now.
• Bedding and towels
• Toilet paper, soap, a shower curtain
• A few plates, bowls, mugs, cutlery
• One pot, one pan, a knife, a cutting board, a can opener
• Dish soap, a sponge, a tea towel
• Cleaning basics and a bin
• A lamp, because overhead lighting is usually bleak
• A basic tool kit — screwdriver, hammer, Allen keys
• A power bar or two

Buy over the first few months

Somewhere to sit. A table. A desk. Storage. A proper bed frame. Anything decorative.

You'll make better choices once you've lived there. You don't yet know where the light falls, which corner you actually sit in, or whether a sofa fits up the stairs.

The things people forget

• A shower curtain and liner
• A bath mat
• A plunger, before you need one
• A first aid kit
• A fire extinguisher for the kitchen
• Spare light bulbs
• A laundry basket and detergent
• Scissors and tape

Measure the route, not the room

First apartments are frequently walk-ups with tight turns, narrow doorways and awkward stairwells.

Before buying anything large, measure: the doorway, the stairwell turn, the width of any hallway, and the door of the room itself.

The sofa that fits the living room perfectly may not physically be able to reach it. This is the most common furniture mistake people make at this stage, and it's entirely preventable with a tape measure.

Set up the practical things

Utilities. Find out what's included in your rent — heat, water and hydro vary enormously. Set up whatever isn't, effective your move-in date.

Internet. Order it early; installation can run weeks out.

Address changes. Driver's licence within 6 days in Ontario, health card within 30, plus your bank, employer, school and anyone who sends you mail.

Rent payment. Set up whatever method you've agreed, and keep records of every payment.

Moving day, for a small move

You probably have less than a truck's worth, no vehicle, and a couple of friends.

• Reusable totes stack and carry far better than mismatched boxes, particularly up stairs
• Label the destination even in a one-bedroom — it makes unloading faster
• Feed your helpers. Pizza remains the standard currency.
• Check whether the building requires an elevator booking. Many apartment buildings do, with 48–72 hours' notice.
• Ask about parking. Where can a vehicle sit while you unload, and for how long?

The first week

Set up the bed first, before anything else. Whatever else is unfinished, you sleep properly.

Find your basics locally — the nearest grocery store, pharmacy, laundromat if you need one.

Locate the breaker panel and find out what to do if the power goes.

Know how to contact your landlord for repairs, and put it in writing when you do. A text or email creates a record; a phone call doesn't.

Meet a neighbour. In a building, this is genuinely useful — they know how things work.

A short list of first-apartment mistakes

Paying a damage deposit. Not legal in Ontario. Know this before you're asked.

Skipping the move-in photos. You'll want them in a year.

Skipping tenant insurance. Cheap, and the liability coverage is the real reason.

Buying furniture before measuring. Especially sofas, especially in walk-ups.

Buying everything in week one. You don't know what you need yet, and the money is better kept.

The thing worth remembering

A first apartment doesn't need to be finished. It needs to be functional, and then it needs you to live in it for a while.

The version of your home that's actually good is the one you build over a year — not the one you assemble in a weekend from a shopping list somebody else wrote.

More on moves at different life stages in moving at every stage of life. If your building has a service elevator, condo and apartment elevator booking covers what to arrange.

Moving in Barrie or Simcoe County? Binny's Tote Rental delivers reusable totes that stack and carry up a stairwell far better than cardboard — and collects them once you're in, so there's nothing to break down in a small apartment.

This article is general information about renting in Ontario and is not legal advice. Tenancy rules can change and some unit types are exempt from certain provisions — check current guidance from the Landlord and Tenant Board for your situation.