How to ask a landlord or condo for accommodation

Housing is where an assistance dog's paperwork matters most, and where the rules are least like the ones for shops and restaurants. In a store, the question is whether your dog meets a definition. In housing, the question is whether the person who runs the building has a duty to accommodate your disability-related need for the animal. In every province they do, for a trained service dog and for an emotional support animal where a disability-related need for it is established, whether or not anything is written on a lease.

That duty has a shape. It is triggered by a request. It is met, or breached, by a process. And it is limited by undue hardship, which is a high bar. This page is about making the request in a way that works.

Two things first. No province requires you to register an animal to make this request, and the request does not turn on a card — it turns on a letter from your health care provider and a clear, written ask. What a ServDog registration does is make that ask easier to write and easier to answer questions about: the dog is registered, its training is on record, and what it does is in a dated log you can attach. A landlord or board deciding about a dog it has never met is deciding about an unknown; a registration turns the unknown into a named, photographed, documented animal, and that is the conversation you want to be having.

Which rules cover you

Human rights legislation, everywhere. Every province's human rights code covers housing and treats disability as a protected ground. Alberta's commission states the rule for the three kinds of provider at once: "Housing providers (including landlords and condominiums) and goods and services providers cannot discriminate against individuals with a disability who have a qualified service dog or guide dog. They must accommodate these individuals to the point of undue hardship." New Brunswick's: "Housing providers have a duty to accommodate the needs of tenants with disabilities to the point of undue hardship." BC's human rights office puts it as a tenant would hear it: "Your landlord is required to accommodate your daughter's disability unless they can show that providing this accommodation would cause them undue hardship," and adds the sentence every no-pets building needs to read — "Just because a rule is applied to everyone in the same way does not make it non-discriminatory."

Plus a statute, in some provinces. Several provinces add a specific housing rule on top of the human rights duty. These statutory rules are about qualified or certified service dog teams (and, in Ontario's Blind Persons' Rights Act, guide dog teams); they do not reach an animal outside the definition, which is what the human rights duty is for.

• Alberta: the Service Dogs Act, s.3(2), bars denying a person with a disability accompanied by a qualified service dog occupancy of a self-contained dwelling unit, or discriminating in any term or condition of that occupancy. For a dog outside that scheme, the human rights duty applies regardless of certification — the Alberta page explains both routes.
• British Columbia: the Guide Dog and Service Dog Act bars denying a certified team a rental unit, or imposing a tenancy term that discriminates because the team intends to keep the dog there. The province's tenancy guidance: "Certified guide and service dogs are not considered pets and are allowed to live in rental units." For teams that are not certified, the province says people who rely on a dog "that is certified with other authorities, or is not certified, have an equal right to access and use of public services and places and rental or strata housing, and are protected under the BC Human Rights Code."
• Nova Scotia: the Service Dog Act, s.12(1) — "No person shall deny to a service dog team, retired service dog team or dog-in-training team residential premises advertised or otherwise represented as available for occupancy by a tenant on the basis that the human member of the team intends to keep the dog member of the team at the residential premises." Section 12(2) bars discriminatory tenancy terms; a single unadvertised room in the landlord's own home is exempt under s.12(3).
• Newfoundland and Labrador: the Service Animal Act, s.5(2) — "A prohibition in a lease against the keeping of dogs or animals does not apply to a service animal owned or used by a person with a disability."
• Ontario: the Residential Tenancies Act, s.14 — "A provision in a tenancy agreement prohibiting the presence of animals in or about the residential complex is void." This one is not a disability rule at all; it applies to every tenant and every animal. But it only helps once you are a tenant. Community Legal Education Ontario is clear: "A landlord is allowed to ask if you have pets when you move in. They are also allowed to deny your rental application because you have pets." At the application stage, and in a condominium, it is the Human Rights Code that does the work.

Emotional support animals. The statutes above are about trained service dogs; the human rights duty is not. Saskatchewan's commission sets out the test for a support animal in rental housing: the tenant "(1) has a disability, (2) requires the support animal because of their disability and (3) would be at significant risk of an adverse health consequence in the absence of the animal," and "will be able to establish these requirements with a letter or prescription from an appropriate professional such as a physician or psychologist." New Brunswick: the use of "a companion, emotional support or therapeutic animal may still be protected under the Act if the animal is part of a person's treatment for a disability." More on ESA letters and where they work.

What the duty actually requires of them

Ontario's commission describes two halves: "The duty to accommodate has both a substantive and a procedural component. The procedure to assess an accommodation (the process) is as important as the substantive content of the accommodation." The consequence is one landlords rarely appreciate — "a failure in the procedural duty to accommodate can lead to a finding of a breach of the Code even if there was no substantive accommodation that could have been provided short of undue hardship."

In other words: a provider who ignores your letter, refuses without asking any questions, or says "no pets, no exceptions" and stops there has already breached the duty, before anyone looks at whether the dog could have been accommodated. The Alberta Human Rights Tribunal reasoned along the same lines in Hart v Condominium Corporation No. 831 0969, 2025 AHRC 52, a case involving an uncertified, informally trained dog in a no-animal condominium: the board's failure to follow up on the owner's request and understand it was a breach of its procedural duty, and damages of $15,000 were ordered. We have not been able to read the decision itself and cite it by its holding, as reported by the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta.

Undue hardship is a high bar. Alberta: "To be undue, the hardship must be 'substantial in nature.' For example, this may include intolerable financial costs or serious disruption to business." Saskatchewan: "Unless the expense or disruption impacts the landlord's operation in a fundamental way (to the point of undue hardship) the expense or inconvenience must be accepted." Ontario frames it as "undue hardship in terms of cost or the health and safety of the tenants' living environment." A neighbour's preference is not undue hardship — Ontario's commission lists "customer and third-party preferences" among the things that "are not valid considerations in assessing whether an accommodation would cause undue hardship." A building rule is not undue hardship; New Brunswick's guideline says of leases that "It is not possible to contract out of human rights legislation," and that a no-animals agreement "is unenforceable in relation to service animals."

What the duty requires of you

The duty is triggered by you, and the commissions are equally clear that you have obligations in the process.

Ontario's commission says the person seeking accommodation should make their needs known "preferably in writing," "Answer questions or provide information about relevant restrictions or limitations," and "Co-operate with any experts whose assistance is required." Alberta: "The person should provide enough information or documentation for the landlord, housing provider, or condominium corporation to understand what type of accommodation they need," and "During the accommodation process, the person making the request must cooperate and participate in accommodation efforts." Alberta adds a line worth taking seriously: "When you are seeking accommodation, you have a duty to accept a reasonable accommodation even if it is not one you suggest or prefer."

The request is a conversation you start, in writing, and keep answering.

What they may ask for, and what they may not

They may ask for confirmation of a disability-related need. Ontario's commission says a provider is entitled to know that the person has a disability, "The limitations or needs associated with the disability," and the type of accommodation needed. Ontario's Condominium Authority says a corporation "may also request to see a note from a doctor or nurse which identifies the person's need for a service animal." New Brunswick: documentation "may include a doctor's note indicating that the person requires the animal for medical reasons, or a certificate indicating that the animal is a certified service animal."

They may not ask for your diagnosis. Ontario: a provider is not entitled to "a person's confidential medical information, such as the cause of the disability, diagnosis, symptoms or treatment, unless these clearly relate to the accommodation being sought, or the person's needs are complex, challenging or unclear and more information is needed," and "Organizations are not expected to diagnose illness or 'second-guess' the health status of a person with a disability." Saskatchewan: "The tenant need not disclose the details of his or her disability, nor provide a detailed medical history." New Brunswick: "A person with a service animal is not required to disclose a diagnosis of his or her medical condition. Medical documentation only needs to indicate that the person has a disability and benefits from the use of a service animal."

They may not charge you extra for it. Saskatchewan: "No other measures such as extra damage or security deposits may be taken where the 'no pets' rule is lifted." BC allows a pet damage deposit of "no more than half of one month's rent" for pets, but "Landlords can't require a pet damage deposit for tenants with guide or service dogs." Ontario permits no pet or damage deposit for anyone — Community Legal Education Ontario lists "pet deposits, damage deposits" among the things a landlord cannot ask for — and the Landlord and Tenant Board's guide says a rent deposit "cannot be more than one month's rent" and "cannot be used for anything else, such as repairing damage to the rental unit." Alberta caps the security deposit at one month's rent and, on the pages we read, says nothing either way about pet-specific fees. You remain responsible for damage your dog actually causes — Saskatchewan: "In the event that a support animal causes significant damage to a rental unit, the tenant may be held financially liable."

Condominiums and stratas

A condominium or strata is not your landlord, and its rules are not a lease, but the duty is the same. Ontario's Condominium Authority: "The Ontario Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination based on disability, which means that a condo cannot prevent a resident from keeping a service animal," even though "The declaration and/or rules may prohibit the keeping of any pets." BC's strata guidance lists what pet bylaws may do — ban pets, limit their number or size, require registration — and then: "Strata owners, occupants, tenants and visitors are able to have their certified guide dog or service dog on strata premises, regardless of strata bylaws or tenancy agreements banning or limiting pets." For animals outside the certification scheme, BC says the Human Rights Code duty "may include allowing strata owners and residents to have therapy or companion animals." Hart, above, was a condominium case.

Address the request to the board or property manager in writing, and expect the process to be slower than with an individual landlord because a board meets on a schedule.

How to write the request

Alberta's commission lists what to include: "Why you need accommodation," "Supporting evidence or documents: for example, a written statement from a doctor/health care provider," "Medical information explaining your functional limitations and necessary accommodation," "Suggestions for appropriate accommodation measures," and "How long you will need accommodation." Applied to an assistance dog, a request has five parts:

1. What you are asking for. That your dog live with you in the unit, notwithstanding a no-pets rule or bylaw. Name the rule.
2. Why. That you have a disability, and that the dog is trained to assist with it or is part of your treatment — in the terms your health care provider uses. Not the diagnosis. Say whether the need is ongoing; Alberta's list includes how long you will need the accommodation.
3. The letter. Attach a letter from your health care provider that confirms a disability and the disability-related need for the animal. It need not name a condition, and you should ask the provider not to. Where your province issues a government card (Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia), attach that too.
4. The dog. Breed, size, vaccination status, and — if you have it — a training record. None of this is legally required and neither commission lists it — it is our suggestion — but a board deciding whether to accommodate a dog it has never met may ask, and answering before it asks fits the cooperation the commissions describe.
5. An invitation to talk. Say that you will answer reasonable questions and are open to reasonable conditions — a leash in common areas, waste disposal — and ask for a written response.

Date it, keep a copy, and send it in a form that leaves a record. An email is better than a conversation; a letter delivered by hand with a photo of it is better than a note under a door.

Timelines. We found no province that sets a number of days. Alberta's guidance speaks of "a reasonable amount of time to reply to your request." Follow up in writing if you hear nothing within a couple of weeks; the follow-up is itself part of the record.

If they refuse

A refusal is not the end of the process, and in most cases it is not even the end of the conversation — most human rights bodies offer mediation early. Every commission has a deadline for a complaint, usually one year, and they are listed on our page about what to do after a refusal, along with the routes in BC, Alberta and Nova Scotia that do not go through the human rights system at all. Nova Scotia's program specifically invites reports against "landlords who unlawfully deny public access or tenancy rights to certified service dog teams."

What a complaint turns on is the record: your request, its date, their reply or their silence, and the letter you attached. A request that was made carefully is most of a complaint already written.

What we do

We hold the folder, and the folder is the request. Your health care provider's letter, your provincial card if you hold one, your dog's vaccination records and Taskbook, and the request itself with its date — in one place, so that when a board asks for "more information" you export what it wants rather than searching your email. The Taskbook answers the question landlords ask most and no statute requires: what does the dog actually do, and how long has it been doing it? The registration answers the one before it: is this a real, identified animal with someone responsible for it.

Nothing we issue changes a housing provider's duty, and we do not write or sell health care provider letters — that letter comes from a clinician who knows you. What we offer is everything that goes in the envelope with it.

Last reviewed: 8 September 2026. Human rights commission guidance is updated periodically; confirm the current text at the pages above before relying on a quotation. This is general information, not legal advice.