Ontario Tenant Air Conditioner Rules 2026: Landlord Notice, Seasonal Charges and Doubled Fines

A property manager's practical check is simple: look at how the unit is supported, whether the window can still close and lock, and whether condensation drains away from the wall. The conditions put the no-damage obligation on the tenant, so a landlord who sees a problem should raise it in writing early.

4. How the seasonal rent charge works

A landlord may raise the rent for an air conditioner only when two things are true: electricity is included in the rent, and the tenancy agreement does not itself prohibit rent increases for air conditioner use. The increase cannot exceed the actual cost of the electricity needed to run the unit. When that cost is hard to measure in a building with shared metering, the landlord may use a reasonable estimate built from the tenant's efficiency and usage information.

[Cite: Tribunals Ontario, "Rules for Air Conditioners in Rental Units (Effective July 1, 2026)"]

The charge applies only to the months the unit is actually used. The standard 90-day written notice for a rent increase does not apply to this seasonal amount, and the landlord has to lower the rent by the same amount when the tenant removes the unit or stops using it.

5. Units installed before July 1, 2026

Tenants who installed a window or portable unit before the rules took effect are not left out. The conditions apply to those installations too, except the two front-end ones: the advance written notice and the energy-information requirement.

[Cite: Tribunals Ontario, "Rules for Air Conditioners in Rental Units (Effective July 1, 2026)"]

The landlord's seasonal charge right, by contrast, is described as applying to air conditioners installed on or after July 1, 2026. A landlord with a building full of older installed units should not assume a new charge can be applied to all of them; confirm the position with the Board's guidance.

6. Where disputes go

A tenant who thinks the seasonal charge is too high can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board using Form T1. A tenant whose landlord refuses to accept an installation that meets the conditions can apply using Form T2 (Application About Tenant Rights). A landlord whose tenant does not pay the agreed charge follows the ordinary process for collecting arrears.

[Cite: Tribunals Ontario, "Rules for Air Conditioners in Rental Units (Effective July 1, 2026)"]

Keeping the written notice, the efficiency information and the landlord's calculation in one file makes any of those three applications far simpler to answer.

7. The doubled maximum fines

On the same date, the maximum fine for offences under the Act went from $50,000 to $100,000 for an individual and from $250,000 to $500,000 for a corporation. The Tribunals Ontario update describes these as increases to the penalties for offences under section 236 of the Act. The province's own description of the 2023 law calls them the highest in Canada, and gives bad-faith evictions as an example of the conduct they target.

[Cite: Tribunals Ontario, "LTB Operational Update: Legislative Changes at the LTB" (June 30, 2026); Government of Ontario, "Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants"]

These are ceilings, not standard penalties. They are aimed at serious violations, and the fines are decided by a court after a prosecution, not by the Landlord and Tenant Board. Nothing in the sources reviewed ties the higher ceiling to a landlord's refusal of an air conditioner specifically.

8. What property managers should do now

Add an air conditioner notice template to the tenant package so requests arrive in writing with the efficiency details already requested. Review any lease clause that bans air conditioners, since it will not hold against a tenant who meets the section 36.1 conditions.

Decide in advance how seasonal charges will be calculated in buildings where electricity is included, and keep the working. An estimate that cannot be explained is the likeliest thing to be challenged on a T1 application.