To fill out OREA Form 401, the Agreement to Lease for a residential tenancy in Ontario, you work through the form top to bottom: identify the parties and property exactly, set the rent and term, enter a rent deposit equal to one month’s rent, allocate utilities and list inclusions and exclusions, attach any conditions on the schedules, and set an irrevocable period before signing. Every term you agree to here carries into the final lease, so accuracy matters more than speed.
Getting the Form
Form 401 is not a public download. The Ontario Real Estate Association develops it for its members and licensees, and reproduction without OREA’s written consent is prohibited.1OREA. Schedule C – Agreement to Lease – Residential Form 401 If you are working with a licensed agent or broker, they will supply the form and walk you through the fields. Without an agent, you will not have access to the official OREA version, though the Ontario Standard Form of Lease covers the same ground for the actual tenancy agreement and is freely available from the provincial government.
Parties and Property Details
The top of the form identifies the tenant, the landlord, and the rental unit. Names should match government-issued identification or corporate registration exactly. If the landlord owns through a numbered corporation or a partnership, the legal entity name goes in the landlord field, not the individual’s personal name, unless that individual is the registered owner on title.
Describe the property specifically enough that no one could confuse it with a different unit. A street address alone may not be enough in a multi-unit building; include the unit number, floor, and any other designation the building uses. Adding the legal description from the land title (lot and plan numbers) improves precision, though the municipal address is what most parties rely on day to day. An error here can raise later questions about which unit the agreement actually covers.
Rent, Term, and the Rent Deposit
State the monthly rent in Canadian dollars. If the landlord expects separate payments for parking or storage, enter those as distinct line items rather than folding them into base rent. Keeping them separate matters later if the landlord wants to adjust only one component.
The term of lease sets the start and end dates. Most Ontario residential leases run for one year, after which the tenancy automatically converts to month-to-month under the Residential Tenancies Act. Shorter or longer fixed terms are permitted; one year is simply the market default. Aligning the start date with the first of a month simplifies rent proration and utility transfers.
What the Deposit Field Can and Cannot Contain
The only security deposit an Ontario landlord can legally collect is a rent deposit, and it must be applied to the tenant’s last month of rent.2CanLII. Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, SO 2006, c 17 Damage deposits are illegal. A landlord asking for first and last plus a separate “security” or “damage” deposit is violating the Act.
The rent deposit cannot exceed one month’s rent, or one rental period if rent is paid on a schedule other than monthly. The amount you enter in the deposit field should equal exactly that. The landlord must also pay the tenant interest on the deposit every year at a rate equal to the provincial rent increase guideline, which is 2.1 percent for 2026.3Government of Ontario. Residential Rent Increases Key deposits are allowed only if fully refundable when the tenant returns the key.
The form typically requires the deposit to be delivered to the listing brokerage in trust within 24 hours of acceptance. The exact deadline is written into the form itself, and your agent will confirm it.
Utilities, Inclusions, and Exclusions
The services and costs section assigns responsibility for electricity, natural gas, water, and other utilities. Check each box or write in the allocation clearly. In many Ontario municipalities, water accounts must remain in the owner’s name,4Municipality of Lakeshore. Landlord Tenant Information so if the tenant is paying for water, the agreement should specify how reimbursement works: monthly invoice forwarding, or a flat amount included in rent. Cable, internet, and telephone are almost always the tenant’s responsibility and should be noted as such.
The inclusions and exclusions fields catalog what stays with the property and what does not. List every major appliance the landlord is providing — refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, washer, dryer — and note brand names or model numbers where possible. If a basement storage area, garage bay, or shed is off-limits to the tenant, record it as an exclusion. Parking deserves its own line: state whether a space is included, whether it is assigned or unassigned, and whether it costs extra.
Clauses That Are Void Even if You Write Them In
Some terms will not bind either party, no matter what the form says. The most commonly misunderstood is a no-pet clause. Section 14 of the Residential Tenancies Act states that any provision prohibiting animals in or about the residential complex is void.5AAB Legal. Leases With No Pets Clauses: Restricting Tenants From Owning Pets A landlord can still apply to evict a tenant whose animal is causing damage, allergic reactions, or safety problems, but a blanket ban has no legal force. Condominium corporations may have their own enforceable pet restrictions in their declaration, but that is the condo’s rule, not the landlord’s lease term.
Other void terms include acceleration clauses (demanding the entire remaining rent on a breach), penalties for late rent beyond the actual rent owed, and any provision that tries to contract out of the Act. Writing these in does not make them enforceable; it just seeds later disputes.
Conditions and Schedules
Form 401 allows additional terms through attached schedules. Schedule A is commonly used for extra terms that do not fit in the main form, Schedule B often sets timelines for delivering documents or deposits, and Schedule C provides additional blank pages for longer conditions.1OREA. Schedule C – Agreement to Lease – Residential Form 401 Each schedule page must be initialled by all parties and should reference the main agreement by date and party names so it is clearly tied to the correct deal.
Common conditions include making the agreement contingent on employment or credit verification, a satisfactory property inspection, or the tenant securing rental insurance by a specific date. If the condition is not fulfilled by the stated deadline, the agreement typically becomes void. Be precise. A vague condition like “subject to satisfactory references” with no expiry leaves both parties in limbo.
The Irrevocable Period and Signing
The irrevocable period is the window during which the party making the offer cannot withdraw it. If a tenant submits Form 401 with an irrevocable period set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on a particular date, the landlord has until that moment to accept as written, reject, or counter. Once the period lapses without acceptance, the offer dies.6RunSensible. OREA Form 401 – Agreement to Lease – Residential Too short pressures the landlord unnecessarily; too long ties the tenant’s hands if a better unit surfaces. One to two business days is a common starting point.
Electronic signatures through platforms like DocuSign are widely used and legally recognized. Initials and signatures are time-stamped, creating a clear record of when each party committed. After the landlord signs, complete the Confirmation of Acceptance section. This records that the signed agreement was actually delivered back to the tenant or the tenant’s representative, and the delivery timestamp is when the contract officially becomes binding. Skip this step and there can be a dispute about whether the deal was ever finalized.
After Form 401: the Ontario Standard Form of Lease
Form 401 is not the lease. For most residential tenancies in Ontario, the law requires the parties to use the Ontario Standard Form of Lease prescribed by Ontario Regulation 9/18.7Government of Ontario. O. Reg. 9/18 – Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 The standard lease is free from the Government of Ontario Central Forms Repository and incorporates mandatory terms that protect both parties under the Act.8Government of Ontario. Residential Tenancy Agreement (Standard Form of Lease)
The landlord must provide the standard lease within 21 days of entering into the tenancy agreement. If the landlord fails to do so and the tenant makes a written request, the landlord has a further 21 days to comply. If the landlord still does not provide it, the tenant may withhold one month’s rent.9Government of Ontario. Ontario Code 2006 – Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 The terms you negotiated in Form 401 should transfer cleanly into the standard lease; any additional terms from the schedules can go in the additional terms section, and any that conflict with the Act’s mandatory provisions are automatically void.
A short check before you sign: the deposit is exactly one month’s rent, no damage deposit is hiding elsewhere on the form, appliances and parking are itemized, conditions have real deadlines, and the irrevocable period is short enough to keep the deal moving. Get those right on Form 401 and the transition to the standard lease is straightforward.