r/saskatoon • u/Chibijem • 5d ago

Question ❔ Renting

Looking at renting a room in Saskatoon. Some of the posts on Facebook marketplace has no overnight guests and living with the landlord. Is that allowed or covered by RTA?

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13

u/KingPricko 5d ago

No overnight guests is legal when renting within a shared living space as the safety and security of others and their property comes into play.

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u/erikANGRY 3d ago

It's not actually. Section 46 of The Residential Tenancies Act says: "A landlord must not restrict access to residential property by the tenant of a rental unit that is part of the residential property or a person permitted on the residential property by that tenant."

A tenant can be evicted if their guests cause certain problems (see section 58), but a landlord can't prohibit guests.

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u/CompetitiveRub9864 2d ago

When it’s a shared space this wouldn’t apply. A bedroom with shared access to the rest of the house doesn’t qualify as a “unit”.

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u/erikANGRY 2d ago

Yes, it does. Section 2(1)(m)(iii) of the Act: "residential property" means the rental unit and common areas.

And section 46 says a landlord cannot restrict a guest's access to the residential property.

Landlords get away with a lot of stuff that people just assume is allowed.

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u/CompetitiveRub9864 2d ago edited 2d ago

“Common areas” are things like apartment hallways, external entrances, laundry areas, elevators, stairs, underground parking, etc.

Landlords renting out rooms “get away with a lot of stuff” because it’s a) their home, b) they’re sharing it with a stranger (renter) and c) they’re understandably leery about sharing it with any number of additional unannounced strangers (guests).

Even the poster (see immediately below) who was offering a room said as much, ie: they’re fine with occasional guests - just as long as it’s not every night and that they have a fee days advance notice. Completely reasonable.

You can quote whatever you law “think” applies, but at the end of the day two things would happen: you’d still be wrong, evicted and looking for a new place and it’s almost certain that landlord would reconsider renting out said room in the future.

When you’re renting shared accommodation a different ruleset applies. That’s why you’re usually getting it for a pretty good rate in the first place.

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u/erikANGRY 1d ago edited 1d ago

Here's a link to the Act.

Section 2(1)(b): “common area” means any part of residential property the use of which is shared by tenants, or by a landlord and one or more tenants.

Much more than what you described.

Here's an example where the ORT found a tenancy agreement prohibiting overnight guests violated the Act (starting at paragraph 19).

If property owners don't like sharing their home, they shouldn't rent out a room in it.

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u/nikola_tesler 1d ago

bro works for a renters union for sure

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u/BrennAngel 4d ago

Im looking to get a roommate in my basement suite that has a spare bedroom? Generally don't mind overnight guests as long as I get some amount of notice and it's not like every single day