Where every number comes from

Real Toronto data

• CMHC Rental Market Survey, Toronto, Table 1.1.9 (October 2025)

  Average rent of vacant private apartments by survey zone and bedroom type. Zone averages, not live asking rents; suppressed values stay unknown.

  CMHC data; adapted, not endorsed by CMHC
• City of Toronto Neighbourhood Profiles, 2021 Census (158-model)

  Share of tenant households spending 30%+ on shelter; median rented shelter cost.

  Open Government Licence – Toronto
• City of Toronto Neighbourhoods (158) + CMHC survey-zone polygons

  Matching each neighbourhood to a CMHC zone (provisional: 2026 polygons, 2021 zone definitions).

  Open Government Licence – Toronto; CMHC

Renting rules and tips taught in the game

General information, not legal advice. Each item lists who checked it; items checked by the AI assistant still need a teammate to confirm.

• A big red flag: the rent is much lower than similar places nearby.

  Competition Bureau Canada: Rental scam: no room for error · personal · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Scammers often claim to be abroad and unable to show you inside the place.

  Competition Bureau Canada: Rental scam: no room for error · personal · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Being asked to leave a deposit without any formal rental agreement or lease in place is a warning sign.

  Competition Bureau Canada: Rental scam: no room for error · personal · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Watch out for being sent to a website that asks for personal or financial information.

  Competition Bureau Canada: Rental scam: no room for error · personal · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Suspected rental fraud can be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501) or to police.

  Competition Bureau Canada: Rental scam: no room for error · federal · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• When viewing, look for mould and water damage: stains on walls, musty smells or rotting wood.

  CMHC: Visiting the rental property · personal · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Check for working smoke detectors. In Toronto, landlords must install smoke alarms and keep them working.

  City of Toronto: Smoke alarms · landlord · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Check the locks on windows and doors, and ask the landlord to change them at their expense before you move in.

  CMHC: Visiting the rental property · landlord · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Pests are something to raise with the landlord, in writing, before they become your problem.

  City of Toronto: RentSafeTO for tenants: service requests · landlord · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Ask whether heat, electricity, water and internet are included, and whether parking, storage or laundry cost extra.

  CMHC: Visiting the rental property · personal · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Landlords may ask for rental history, credit references and/or a credit check, and about your income alongside them.

  Ontario Human Rights Commission: Human rights for tenants · province · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• A lack of rental or credit history should not count against you, and a rent-to-income cut-off is not allowed outside subsidized housing.

  Ontario Human Rights Commission: Human rights for tenants · province · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• A rent deposit is limited to one month's rent for monthly tenants, and can only be used as rent for the last month.

  Landlord and Tenant Board: A Guide to the Residential Tenancies Act · province · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Most Ontario leases signed since April 30, 2018 must use the standard lease, and the landlord must give you a copy within 21 days of signing.

  Government of Ontario: Guide to Ontario's standard lease · province · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Terms that ban pets, or ban guests, roommates or other occupants, are void and can't be enforced.

  Government of Ontario: Guide to Ontario's standard lease · province · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Terms requiring deposits, fees or penalties the law doesn't allow, such as damage or pet deposits, are void. A rent deposit can't be used as a damage deposit.

  Government of Ontario: Guide to Ontario's standard lease · province · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• A term making the tenant pay for repairs the landlord is responsible for is void. Landlords must keep the property in a good state of repair.

  Government of Ontario: Guide to Ontario's standard lease · province · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• For most reasons, a landlord must give 24 hours' written notice before entering, with the reason and a time between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

  Landlord and Tenant Board: A Guide to the Residential Tenancies Act · province · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• A lease can require tenant liability insurance; contents insurance for your own belongings is up to you.

  Government of Ontario: Guide to Ontario's standard lease · personal · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Document the unit's condition on moving day, ideally together with the landlord. Photograph any problems and keep a back-up.

  CMHC: Inspections · personal · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Talk to your landlord first, make repair requests in writing and keep a copy. Landlords must respond to urgent requests within 24 hours and non-urgent ones within seven days. If it isn't resolved, contact 311.

  City of Toronto: RentSafeTO for tenants: service requests · city · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• A City bylaw requires landlords to keep rental units at least 21°C from October 1 to May 15 where the owner pays for heat. Tell your landlord first; if it isn't fixed, call 311.

  City of Toronto: Indoor temperatures in apartment units · city · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Tell your landlord as soon as a smoke alarm stops working. If they don't fix it, call 311 for a referral to Toronto Fire Services.

  City of Toronto: Smoke alarms · city · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Rent can generally go up once every 12 months with at least 90 days' written notice, by no more than the guideline (2.1% for 2026). Units first occupied after November 15, 2018 are exempt from rent control.

  Government of Ontario: Residential rent increases · province · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• If a landlord isn't meeting their maintenance obligations, a tenant can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board.

  Landlord and Tenant Board: A Guide to the Residential Tenancies Act · province · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• The TTC is a City of Toronto agency, and its Board-approved service standards guide how often routes run and what counts as an on-time departure.

  TTC report: Overview of TTC Service Standards (September 4, 2025) · city · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• To end a monthly tenancy you must give at least 60 days' written notice (Form N9), ending on the last day of a rental month.

  Landlord and Tenant Board: How a Tenant Can End Their Tenancy · province · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• Your rent deposit covers your last month's rent, and the landlord must pay you interest on it every year. It can't be kept as a damage deposit.

  Landlord and Tenant Board: A Guide to the Residential Tenancies Act · province · checked 2026-10-17 · AI (Claude); needs teammate check

• You cannot be refused an apartment because of grounds including family status, receipt of public assistance, place of origin, citizenship, religious beliefs, disability, age, sex or sexual orientation. Human rights complaints go to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario; the Human Rights Legal Support Centre can help.

  Ontario Human Rights Commission: Human rights for tenants · province · checked 2026-10-17 · Claude (AI), quotes checked against the page 2026-10-17; team to verify

Fares

• TTC: Back to school on the TTC (September 4, 2026)

  $3.30 adult PRESTO/debit/credit; $128.15 post-secondary monthly pass with TTC Post-Secondary Student Photo ID; 47-paid-trip monthly cap with the same payment method.

  Checked 2026-10-17
• TTC: Monthly fare capping

  Fare-capping page reachable (HTTP 200).

  Checked 2026-10-17
• TTC: Fares and passes

  Two-hour transfer; 47-fare cap; capping began August 31, 2026.

  Checked 2026-10-16

Civic levers

• TTC service standards (municipal)

  City of Toronto: Agencies (TTC listed as a Service Agency): TTC manages and operates the City's subways, streetcars, buses and Wheel-Trans; service agencies are governed by a Board with delegated decision-making authority from City Council (page modified 2025-12-04).

  TTC report: Overview of TTC Service Standards (Strategic Planning Committee, September 4, 2025): Board-approved service standards are applied at every level of TTC service planning; example standards for peak frequency, vehicle crowding and on-time departures; review to report back in Q4 2026.

• RentSafeTO and the indoor temperature bylaw (municipal)

  City of Toronto: RentSafeTO for tenants: service requests: Requests in writing, keep a copy; 24-hour urgent and seven-day non-urgent response; 311 if unresolved (page modified 2026-02-24).

  City of Toronto: Indoor temperatures in apartment units: 21°C minimum October 1 to May 15 where the owner pays for heat; 311 if unresolved (page modified 2026-09-01).

• Ontario rent increase guideline (provincial)

  Government of Ontario: Residential rent increases: 2026 guideline 2.1%; maximum most tenants' rent can rise without Landlord and Tenant Board approval; post-November 15, 2018 units exempt (page updated 2026-06-23).

• Affordable rental delivery (shared, not yet sourced: stage disabled)

  City of Toronto housing plan (background file): URL reachable (HTTP 200); content not yet reviewed for this lever.

• Legal questions in negotiation

  Government of Ontario: Renting in Ontario: your rights: linked, never paraphrased by the landlord.

• Election

  City of Toronto Elections (municipal election Monday, October 26, 2026)

What's fictional, and what AI does

• People, incomes, offers, rents, utilities, commute minutes, landlords and job paths are illustrative.
• Gemini may write the landlord's lines and job paths for custom professions. Code validates both and decides every number.
• A preset profession sets its own illustrative income and commute days (handwritten, not AI). A custom profession is story only. Neither changes offers, evidence or score.