Landlord’s Asking for a New One-Year Lease

February 3, 2026

After a tenant completes a one-year residential lease, can a landlord legally require them to sign another fixed-term agreement or vacate the property?

Short answer (in Ontario): No — the tenant does not have to sign another one-year lease, and the landlord generally cannot require them to move out just because the fixed term ended.

Here’s how it works under Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act:

✅ What happens when the one-year lease ends

When a tenant signs a one-year residential lease, at the end of that year:

  • The tenancy automatically continues on a month-to-month basis, and
  • All the same terms and conditions stay in force (rent, rules, responsibilities, etc.),
  • No new lease is required.

This happens by operation of law. Nothing needs to be signed.

❌ What the landlord cannot do

A landlord cannot:

  • Force the tenant to sign a new one-year lease, or
  • Say “sign another year or move out,” unless they have a lawful ground for termination (for example: N12 for own use, N13 for demolition/renovation, etc., with proper notice and compensation where required).

Simply reaching the end of the fixed term is not a legal reason to evict.

✅ What is allowed

  • The landlord may offer a new fixed-term lease (for stability),
  • The tenant is free to accept or decline, and
  • If the tenant declines, the tenancy just continues month-to-month.

That’s it.

No penalty. No eviction just for saying no.

Practical example

Tenant signs:
👉 May 1, 2025 – April 30, 2026 (one-year lease)

On May 1, 2026:

  • Tenant automatically becomes month-to-month.
  • Landlord cannot require a new one-year lease.
  • Landlord cannot require vacancy just because the year ended.

One important exception (for completeness)

If the unit is in a building first occupied after Nov 15, 2018, rent control rules are different — but security of tenure still applies. Even there, the landlord still can’t evict just because the lease term ended.

Bottom line

In Ontario:

👉 Fixed-term lease ends = tenancy continues month-to-month.
👉 Tenant does NOT have to sign another one-year lease.
👉 Landlord cannot force them out for refusing.

 

Real estate treated as a professional advisory service — not just a transaction.

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