Collect Canadian Rent on Time — Without Chasing It
Chasing rent is the single most miserable part of being a small landlord. The trick is to remove your manual involvement entirely: PAD on the 1st, automatic late-fee on the 4th, and a 3-message communication sequence that resolves 92% of late payments before legal action.
Set up pre-authorized debit (PAD) — not e-transfers
PAD = the tenant signs a one-time CPA-form authorization, you pull the rent on the 1st of every month automatically. Stripe, Plaid, or a property-management platform can run it. E-transfers are the worst — manual, no auto-retry, no failure logs.
Late-fee caps by province
BC: capped at $25 per occurrence
AB: no statutory cap (reasonable amounts only)
ON: late fee non-enforceable unless the standard form specifies otherwise
QC: no late fees allowed
Always disclose the late-fee policy in the lease.
The 3-message sequence
Day 1 (no payment received) — friendly nudge with replay link
Day 3 — formal reminder citing the late fee and the lease clause
Day 5 — final notice citing the next legal step (N4 in ON, 10-day in BC, etc.)
Tired of spreadsheets for rent, leases, and tax season?
Central Rentals handles T776 exports, provincial notices, Stripe rent collection, and tenant screening in one place. Free for 30 days.
Start free trialCommon questions
QWhat's the deadline to file rental income to the CRA?
Rental income is reported on the T776 form filed with your personal T1 return. The deadline is April 30 of the year after you earned the income (June 15 if you're self-employed, but any balance owing is still due April 30).
QDo I need to charge GST/HST on rent?
Long-term residential rent is GST/HST-exempt. Short-term rentals (under 30 days) are taxable once you exceed the $30,000 small-supplier threshold across all your business activities.
QCan I deduct mortgage payments?
You can deduct the interest portion (and most carrying costs) of your mortgage on a rental property, but NOT the principal repayment. Central Rentals splits this automatically inside your T776 export.