KEILTY in Ottawa
Ottawa is a two-hour drive from our Kingston office and we run it as a full market, with Ottawa-based trades, cleaners and showing staff rather than a manager driving up for each call. Rent collection, monthly statements, the owner portal and Landlord and Tenant Board work are the same across every KEILTY city; the vendors are local.
KEILTY manages condos, rental homes, small multi-family and apartment buildings across Ottawa and its suburbs, run from our Kingston office with Ottawa-based trades and showing staff. The owners we have onboarded recently in Barrhaven, Nepean and central Ottawa share a pattern: a condo or townhome closing within weeks, or a unit that has been empty for a month, and no time to run showings themselves.
By neighbourhood
Nepean. Older split-levels and bungalows near Merivale, Baseline and Algonquin College rent to long-tenured families and staff; expect solid demand and a few more maintenance calls on 1960s and 1970s systems.
Barrhaven. Newer townhomes and condo towns dominate, and many of them are owned by people who have just closed or moved on. Condo corporation rules and status certificates come into the leasing paperwork here.
Kanata. The tech park and the DND Carling campus keep a steady flow of relocating professionals, so lease terms and move-in dates are often set around a job start.
Orléans. A largely francophone, family-oriented east end; bilingual listings and showings matter, and detached homes with finished basements lease well to households that want space.
Stittsville. Fast-growing subdivisions of new townhomes; first-time owners here often want a manager to handle the builder deficiency list and the first tenancy end to end.
Four things Ottawa owners should know in 2026
What CMHC says about Ottawa rents
In its 2025 Rental Market Report, CMHC put the Ottawa purpose-built apartment vacancy rate at 3.0 per cent as of October 2025, with an average two-bedroom rent of $1,926, up 3.4 per cent on the year. CMHC's 2026-06-09 mid-year update notes Ottawa asking rents have been easing since the second quarter of 2025. Pricing a vacant unit at the market, not above it, is what fills it.
Source: CMHC Rental Market Report
Ottawa's Rental Housing Property Management By-law
By-law 2020-255 has applied to Ottawa landlords since 2021-08-31. It requires a written information package for tenants at lease signing, a documented service-request process with responses within 24 hours for urgent issues and 7 days for everything else, standing pest treatment plans, and a capital maintenance plan for buildings of three or more storeys or ten or more units. Council also approved a Rental Renovation Licence By-law on 2026-07-15 that takes effect 2027-01-01 and adds a building permit, a tenant guide and a City licence application before any renovation eviction.
Source: City of Ottawa landlord guide
Short-term rentals and the Vacant Unit Tax
Under Short-Term Rental By-law 2021-104 a host permit is required, a short-term rental is any stay under 30 consecutive nights, and permits are limited to the operator's principal residence, so a condo you do not live in cannot legally run as a nightly rental. Ottawa's Vacant Unit Tax has been in effect since 2023-01-01: a unit unoccupied more than 184 days in a calendar year is taxed at 1 per cent of assessed value in the first year, rising each year to a maximum of 5 per cent, and every residential owner must file an annual declaration or pay a $250 late fee. A tenanted unit is exempt.
Source: City of Ottawa Vacant Unit Tax
What changed for Ontario landlords in 2026
Bill 60 and Bill 97 amendments landed in two waves. From 2026-07-01 the window to request a review of a Landlord and Tenant Board order dropped from 30 to 15 days, the LTB Payment Agreement form became mandatory for repayment plans, and maximum fines rose to $100,000 for individuals. From 2026-09-21 an N4 for non-payment can carry a termination date as early as the 7th day, persistent late payment is defined as rent paid more than 7 days late on at least three occasions in six months, and a tenant must pay 50 per cent of claimed arrears at least 7 days before a hearing to raise other issues at it. Filings that were valid in June are not necessarily valid today.
Source: Tribunals Ontario operational update
