If you own a rental home in Guelph and you have been putting off a big renovation until a tenant moves out, October matters. The City of Guelph's Rental Renovation Licence program started licensing and enforcement this month, in October 2026. It does not affect every repair, and it does not affect every landlord. But if your renovation is big enough that a tenant has to move out, and you plan to use an N13 notice to make that happen, there is now a city licence step in the middle of the process, with tight timelines. Getting the order wrong can cost you weeks.
I help Guelph landlords with tenant placement and pricing, and I own rental property myself, so I read this bylaw the way a landlord would: what do I have to do, in what order, and what should I plan for before I talk to a tenant at all.
When the licence applies, and when it does not
The licence is required when two things are both true: a landlord issues an N13 eviction notice for repairs or renovations, not for demolition or conversion, and the tenant must move out of the unit while the work is completed. The City describes the bylaw as a way to make sure landlords show that the work really requires the unit to be vacant, and to help tenants understand their rights and supports through the process.
It does not apply to work you can do while a tenant stays in place. It also has exemptions listed by the City, including student and staff housing on a college or university campus when it is owned, operated, or managed by the school, housing operated by the City, hotels, motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, tourist homes, licensed lodging houses, licensed short term rentals, licensed residential care facilities, group homes, and housing regulated under other provincial laws such as long term care homes and retirement homes. If you are a typical Guelph landlord with a house, a duplex unit, or a small apartment building in Exhibition Park, St. Patrick's Ward, Onward Willow, Downtown, or Old University, assume the bylaw is about you until you confirm otherwise for your address.
Those neighbourhoods are worth naming because they hold a lot of Guelph's older rental housing, the century homes and postwar houses where kitchens, bathrooms, wiring, and plumbing eventually need the kind of work that cannot be done around a family living there. In the south end, in Westminster Woods, Kortright Hills, and Clairfields, homes are newer and the renovation question comes up less often for vacant possession. In Grange Road and the east end, and along the Gordon Street corridor south of the University of Guelph, landlords face a different version of the same choice: time a major update between student tenancies in late April and August, or use the formal N13 path during a tenancy.
The order of steps matters more than the steps themselves
First, get your building permit and your Qualified Person's report before you issue the N13. The City's landlord steps say, before issuing an N13 notice, secure a building permit for the major renovations and complete a Qualified Person's report confirming the work is extensive enough, or poses enough health and safety concern, that vacant possession is required. A qualified person is an engineer in good standing with Professional Engineers Ontario or an architect in good standing with the Ontario Association of Architects. That report is not a contractor quote. Budget time to find the right professional, especially in fall when everyone is trying to line up winter work.
Second, give the tenant the Tenant and Landlord Information Package at or before the time you issue the N13. Do not leave it for the next day.
Third, apply for the Rental Renovation Licence within seven days of issuing the N13, with fees and a full package: landlord contact and ownership information, the rental unit address and number of units at that address, the estimated date the unit will be ready again, proof of ownership or contractual interest, identification documents as applicable, a copy of the N13, the building permit, and the Qualified Person's report, plus a certified statement of when and how the N13 and the information package were delivered. If more than one unit in the same building gets an N13, each unit needs its own separate licence and its own application.
Fourth, post the City issued licence application notice on the rental unit door within seven calendar days of applying, and give the tenant all documents once the process is complete. Licences are valid for 12 months once issued.
Fifth, tell the City about changes within seven calendar days, including contact changes or renovation timeline changes, and produce the licence for inspection if the City asks. When the work is done, notify the licensing team that the unit is ready for move in.
In plain language, you cannot decide on a Friday that a tenant should be out for a renovation, issue paperwork on Monday, and figure out the permit later. In Guelph now, the permit and the professional report come first.
What tenants can do, because landlords should plan for it respectfully
A tenant who gets an N13 for renovations does not have to move out immediately. The N13 is the first step in a process, and it does not automatically end the tenancy on its own.
Under Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act, a tenant has the right of first refusal, the right to move back once work is complete at the same rent they paid before, plus any standard annual guideline increases. To use that right, the tenant needs to tell the landlord in writing that they intend to return, the City guidance says within 120 days of getting the N13, and provide a temporary mailing address after they move out.
Compensation is also part of the Act, and the City page sets it out clearly. If a tenant plans to return, compensation is the lesser of one month's rent or the renovation period for a building with fewer than five units, and the lesser of three months' rent or the renovation period for a building with five or more units. If a tenant does not plan to return, it is one month's rent or another acceptable rental unit for fewer than five units, and three months' rent or another acceptable unit for five or more units. This is general information only, not legal advice. For a specific home, talk to your own lawyer or paralegal before you issue anything.
Knowing this up front changes the math for a lot of Guelph landlords, and it should. A renovation that requires vacant possession is now a project with professional fees, permit time, licence timelines, compensation, and a possible returning tenant at the previous rent. Sometimes that is still the right call, especially for health, safety, or major systems work. Sometimes doing the work in stages while a good tenant stays, or waiting for a natural vacancy between tenancies, is the kinder and cheaper path. Run both versions of the numbers before you choose.
Why timing and pricing matter more in this fall's Guelph market
Guelph's rental market is a little less tight than it was a year ago, which affects how a vacant month feels. CMHC data for Guelph puts the overall apartment vacancy rate at 3.1 percent in October 2025, up from 1.9 percent a year earlier. By bedroom count in that same survey, one bedroom vacancy was 3.4 percent, two bedroom was 2.7 percent, and three bedroom and larger was 7.9 percent. The average rent actually paid for a two bedroom apartment in Guelph in that CMHC table was $1,802 a month.
Asking rents for newer and condo product sit higher than that paid average. HomeH, compiling leases closed on the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board system through September 2026, put the median closed condo lease in Guelph at $2,273 a month over the previous 12 months, across 281 leases. Zumper, updated October 17, 2026, put the median rent in Downtown Guelph at $2,044 a month, with downtown apartments averaging about $2,025 and houses about $2,602. Those are different measures of different stock, so do not use any one of them as the price for your home. Use them as a reminder that a renovated unit does not automatically command a top of market rent, and that a month or two empty for renovations has to be weighed against what tenants in your specific neighbourhood are actually paying.
That neighbourhood point is the one I come back to with every landlord. Listings and leases right now are concentrated in areas like Pineridge and Westminster Woods, Grange Road, Downtown, and St. Patrick's Ward, each with different tenants: families and professionals in the south end, students and young professionals near the university and downtown, and long term renters in the Ward and Onward Willow who value walkability and GO access. A renovation plan that works for a student house in Old University, within a 10 to 15 minute walk of campus, will not be the same plan as for a family home in Riverside Park or a downtown upper unit.
A practical checklist before you talk about renovations
Walk the home and separate must do health and safety work from nice to do updates. Ask a contractor and, if vacant possession might be needed, an engineer or architect early about whether the work truly requires an empty unit. Check your building permit timeline with the City before you set any date with a tenant. Price the full project, including compensation, carrying costs while vacant, and the rent a returning tenant would pay. Consider the alternatives out loud: phased work, work between tenancies, or a negotiated plan that works for both sides. And keep every delivery dated and documented, because the licence process asks for exactly that.
If you are a Guelph landlord thinking about a major renovation, a legal suite, or whether to renovate, sell, or hold a home in Exhibition Park, the Ward, Old University, Grange Road, or the south end, I would be glad to talk through the numbers for your street, with no pressure. Getting the building, the neighbourhood, and the paperwork in the right order is exactly the work I can help with.
Shelley Lorenz is a Guelph realtor with Royal LePage Royal City Realty, helping buyers, sellers, landlords, and faith communities across Guelph and the surrounding area. Reach her at 519-766-6530 or shelleylorenz@royallepage.ca.