This consolidation is unofficial and is for reference only.

For the official version of the regulations, consult the original documents on file with the Office of the Registrar of Regulations , or refer to the Royal Gazette

Part II .

Regulations are amended frequently.

Please check the list of Regulations by Act to see if there are any recent amendments to these regulations filed with our office that are not yet included in this consolidation.

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Standard Form of Lease Regulations

made under

Section 8 of the

Residential Tenancies Act

R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 401

N.S. Reg. 19/2025 (effective April 30, 2025)

amended to N.S. Reg. 120/2026 (effective May 6, 2026)

Table of Contents

Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.

Click here to go to the text of the regulations .

Citation

Definitions

Standard form of lease

Standard Form of Lease

Citation

1 These regulations may be cited as the Standard Form of Lease Regulations .

Definitions

2 In these regulations, “Act” means the Residential Tenancies Act .

Standard form of lease

3 A standard form of lease under subsection 8(2A) of the Act must be in the attached

form.

________________________________________________________________

Standard Form of Lease

( Residential Tenancies Act , R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 401)

Parties

1. This agreement is made in duplicate between

Landlord

name (first name, initial, last name or company name)

civic address (required)

mailing address (required)

city

postal code

phone (bus.)

phone (res.)

-and-

Tenant(

s) name(

s) name(

s) name(

s) Occupants

2. Other adults or children who will occupy premises:

name(

s) Only those tenants and occupants named are allowed to live in the premises without written

consent of the landlord.

Premises

3. The landlord will rent to the tenant and the tenant will rent from the landlord the premises at

the following location:

street/apt. no./city or town

Type of property (specify)

Tenant’s mailing address (P.O. box, if applicable)

Postal code

Tenant’s phone #

(work)

(home)

Emergency contact

4. Next of kin

name

phone # (work) (home)

Agent

5. The current agent for the landlord is

name

civic address / mailing address

phone # (work) / (home)

Property manager

6. The current property manager for the landlord is

name

civic address / mailing address

phone #

Building superintendent

7. The current superintendent for the building is

name

civic address / mailing address

phone # / emergency phone #

Electronic address for service of documents by landlord on tenant (optional)

8. The tenant(

s) agree(

s) that the following e-mail address(es) may be used to receive service

of documents from the landlord:

(insert e-mail address)

(insert e-mail address)

(insert e-mail address)

The tenant(

s) may change the e-mail address by serving written notice of the new e-mail

address to the landlord in accordance with subsection 15(1) of the Act.

If the tenant provides an e-mail address under this clause and the landlord serves any documents

on the tenant by sending them electronically, the landlord must

(

a) send the documents to the e-mail address that was most recently provided by the tenant in

accordance with this clause; and

(

b) send the documents from the e-mail address that was most recently provided by the landlord

in accordance with clause 9 of this lease.

Electronic address for service of documents by tenant on landlord (landlord must provide

an e-mail address to receive documents if the tenant has provided one)

9. The landlord agrees that the following e-mail address may be used to receive service of

documents from the tenant:

(insert e-mail address)

The landlord may change the e-mail address by serving written notice of the new e-mail address

on at least one of the tenants listed in this lease in accordance with subsection 15(2) of the Act.

If the landlord provides an e-mail address under this clause and the tenant serves any documents

on the landlord by sending them electronically, the tenant must

(

a) send the documents to the e-mail address that was most recently provided by the

landlord in accordance with this clause; and

(

b) send the document from the e-mail address that was most recently provided by

the tenant in accordance with clause 8 of this lease.

How to serve

10. All notices to quit or service of documents, except applications to the Director, must be in

writing and served in accordance with

Section 15 of the Act.

Applications to the Director must be served in accordance with subsections 13(2A), (2AA),

(2B) and (2C) of the Act.

11. Lease type (complete either 11A or 11B, but not both )

❒ Periodic lease

11A. The tenancy is to start on the _____ day of _____________, 20____ and this shall be the

anniversary date as defined in the Act.

The term is to run (check one)

□ from year to year

□ from month to month

□ from week to week

and the tenancy continues until the landlord or the tenant gives proper notice to terminate.

❒ Fixed-term lease

11B. The tenancy is for a fixed term, beginning on the _____ day of _____________, 20____

and ending on the _____ day of _____________, 20____. Any continuation of the

tenancy at the end of a fixed term requires the written consent of the landlord. At the end

of the fixed term, the tenancy is finished and the tenant must vacate.

Public housing (check if applicable)

12. □ The residential premises are administered under a public housing program as defined in

clause 2(fb) of the Residential Tenancies Act . Program eligibility requirements and rules

relating to changes in rent are contained in

Schedule _____, attached. Where a landlord

administers a public housing program, a tenant shall provide income verification in the form

required by the public housing program. Tenants in a public housing program are not

permitted to sublet the premises.

Rent

13. The tenant will pay rent of $__________ per _________ (week/month) by:

□ cash

□ pre-authorized automatic withdrawal

□ post-dated cheques

□ cheque

□ other _______________

(specify)

Rent is due on the _____ day of each month/week and is payable to ____________________.

A late payment fee, if any, shall be charged at no more than 1% per month of the monthly

rental.

Rent increases

14. The landlord shall not increase the rent under this lease for 12 months. The landlord shall

not give a notice of rent increase that provides for a different rent increase amount if the

lease is renewed for a different type of term. The landlord must give a written notice to the

tenant of an increase:

(a) 4 months before the effective date of the increase for a month-to-month or year-to-year lease;

(b) 8 weeks before the effective date of the increase for a week-to-week lease;

(c) 7 months before the anniversary date of a manufactured home space lease.

Note: The landlord may select a date to be the annual rent increase date for all

manufactured home spaces owned or managed by the landlord. If an annual rent

increase date is used, notice must be given 7 months before this date. The

landlord must serve the notice of rent increase on the tenants of the land-lease

community.

Where the landlord administers a public housing program and the amount of the tenant’s rent is

increased solely on the basis of an increase in income, the restrictions on frequency of rental

increases and notice requirements do not apply.

Rental incentive (if any)

15. In signing this lease, the landlord has granted to the tenant the following incentives, which

will remain in effect for the duration of the lease:

The tenant is not required to repay or return any rental incentive if he or she terminates the lease

before the end of the term in accordance with the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act or

sublets or assigns the residential premises to a tenant with the consent of the landlord.

Rent includes

16. The rent includes:

Appliances

Utilities

Other (specify)

□ stove

□ washer & dryer (coin operated)

□ lawn care

□ fridge

□ cable service

□ snow removal

□ washer & dryer

□ heat

□ garbage removal

□ dishwasher

□ water

□ ________________

□ furniture

□ hot water

□ ________________

□ electricity

□ ________________

□ parking: # of spaces _____

space #______; #______

□ ________________

□ facilities to separate recyclables,

organics and refuse

□ ________________

The landlord is responsible for providing these services and the deletion of a service is deemed

to be a rental increase.

The tenant is responsible for the following:

□ lawn care

□ late payment charges

□ snow removal

□ returned cheque charges not to exceed $_____

□ garbage removal

□ parking @ $________/month; # of spaces ___

□ tenant insurance

□ locked out charges/keys not to exceed $_____

□ separation of recyclables, organics and

refuse

□ assignment/sublet expenses incurred (not to exceed

$75)

17. Additional obligations

Security deposit (check applicable box)

18. □ A security deposit is not required.

□ A security deposit of $__________ (not to exceed 1/2 month’s rent) will be deposited for

the tenant by the landlord at _____________________________ (financial institution/branch) in a

trust account within 3 days of its receipt, and will be returned to the tenant with interest

within 10 days of the termination of this lease. The landlord must file a security deposit

claim form in accordance with

Section 12A of the Act within 10 days of the termination of

the lease if the deposit is not returned.

Inspection

19. An inspection of the premises and the preparation of a written inspection report signed by

the landlord and tenant no later than 7 days after the start of the tenancy and no later than 7

days after the end of the tenancy is recommended. If a report is prepared it shall form part of

the lease.

□ An inspection report is attached to the lease.

□ An inspection report is not attached.

Statutory conditions and reasonable rules

20. The landlord and tenant promise to comply with the statutory conditions set out in

Schedule

□ (check if applicable) The rules of the building are attached to this lease as

Schedule ____.

Assigning or subletting premises

21. The tenant may assign or sublet the premises, subject to the consent of the landlord. The

landlord may not arbitrarily or unreasonably withhold consent or charge for consent unless

the landlord has actually incurred expense in granting the consent.

Rental arrears

22. In a fixed-term, year-to-year or month-to-month tenancy, where the tenant has not paid the

rent on or before the 3rd day after the rent is due, on or after the 4th day after the rent is due

the landlord may give to the tenant notice to quit. The notice to quit is to be effective no

earlier than the 10th day after the date the notice to quit is given to the tenant. No later than

10 days after receiving the notice to quit, the tenant may

(

a) pay to the landlord the rent that is in arrears, and on the payment of that rent the

notice to quit is void and of no effect and this lease continues; or

(

b) apply to the Director for an order setting aside the notice to quit.

If the tenant does not pay the rental arrears or make an application to the Director by the end of

the 10th day after receiving the notice to quit, the tenancy is terminated and the tenant must

vacate the premises by the effective date of the notice.

In a week-to-week tenancy, where the tenant has not paid the rent on or before the 7th day after

the rent is due, on or after the 8th day after the rent is due the landlord may give to the tenant

notice to quit. The notice to quit is to be effective no earlier than the 7th day after the date the

notice to quit is given to the tenant.

Tenant’s notice to quit (except fixed-term)

23. A notice to quit for a tenancy other than a fixed-term must be given by the tenant in writing

in accordance with the following table:

Type of Tenancy

(check applicable box)

Notice Period

□ year-to-year

at least 3 full months before the end of any year (a year for

this purpose begins on the anniversary date) OR if the

tenant receives a notice of rent increase, at least 3 full

months before the effective date of the rent increase

□ month-to-month

at least 1 full month before the end of any month

□ week-to-week

at least 1 full week before the end of any week

□ manufactured home space

at least 1 full month before the end of the tenancy

If the notice is to be given based on a period of 1 or more months, the notice must be given

before the day of the month that rent is payable under this lease.

Landlord’s notice to quit

24. A landlord may not give a notice to quit except in accordance with

Section 10 of the

Residential Tenancies Act .

General

25. This lease is for the benefit of and is binding on the landlord and tenant and their heirs,

executors, administrators, assigns and personal representatives.

Attachments: (initials required)

______

At least 1 tenant has received a copy of the Act in the following form:

(check applicable box)

□ paper copy

□ electronic copy

□ web address for copy published online: ___________________________

(insert web address)

within 10 days of the earliest of:

(

a) the date specified in the lease as the start of the tenancy;

(

b) signing the lease;

(

c) receiving keys to the premises;

(

d) taking possession of or occupying the premises.

______

______

______

All tenants have received a copy of the signed lease within 10 days of the

date of the signing of the lease.

______

______

______

All tenants have read, signed and received the rules and attachments to this

lease.

SIGN BOTH COPIES SEPARATELY.

BEFORE YOU SIGN, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING NOTICE:

TENANTS: GIVING NOTICE

IF YOU WISH TO TERMINATE A YEAR-TO-YEAR LEASE AT THE END OF

THE LEASE TERM, the law requires that you must give at least 3 months’ written

notice on or before _____________________________________ (notice date—3 months

prior to anniversary date) .

Otherwise, the lease will automatically be renewed for another year.

IF YOU ARE IN A YEAR-TO-YEAR LEASE AND YOU RECEIVE A NOTICE OF

RENT INCREASE FROM YOUR LANDLORD, you may terminate the lease by

giving at least 3 months’ written notice before the effective date of the rent increase.

IF YOU WISH TO TERMINATE A MONTH-TO-MONTH LEASE OR A

MANUFACTURED HOME SPACE LEASE, you must give at least 1 full month’s

written notice before the expiration of any such month.

IF YOU WISH TO TERMINATE A WEEKLY TENANCY, you must give 1 full

week’s written notice before the expiration of any such week.

Date

Landlord

ALL TENANTS SIGNING THIS LEASE TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR

Date

Tenant

Date

Tenant

Date

Tenant

Schedule A: Statutory Conditions

(Section 9, Residential Tenancies Act )

Statutory conditions

(1) Notwithstanding any lease, agreement, waiver, declaration or other statement to

the contrary, where the relation of landlord and tenant exists in respect of

residential premises by virtue of this Act or otherwise, there is and is deemed to

be an agreement between the landlord and tenant that the following conditions

will apply as between the landlord and tenant as statutory conditions governing

the residential premises:

Statutory Conditions

1. Condition of Premises – The landlord shall keep the premises in a good state

of repair and fit for habitation during the tenancy and shall comply with any

statutory enactment or law respecting standards of health, safety or housing.

2. Services – Where the landlord provides a service or facility to the tenant that

is reasonably related to the tenant’s continued use and enjoyment of the

premises such as, but not so as to restrict the generality of the foregoing, heat,

water, electric power, gas, appliances, garbage collection, sewers or elevators,

the landlord shall not discontinue providing that service to the tenant without

proper notice of a rental increase or without permission from the Director.

3. Good Behaviour – A landlord or tenant shall conduct himself in such a

manner as not to interfere with the possession or occupancy of the tenant or of

the landlord and the other tenants, respectively.

4. Obligation of the Tenant – The tenant is responsible for the ordinary

cleanliness of the interior of the premises and for the repair of damage caused

by wilful or negligent act of the tenant or of any person whom the tenant

permits on the premises.

5. [repealed]

6. Abandonment and Termination – If the tenant abandons the premises or

terminates the tenancy otherwise than in the manner permitted, the landlord

shall mitigate any damages that may be caused by the abandonment or

termination to the extent that a party to a contract is required by law to

mitigate damages.

7. Notice of Entry – A landlord may enter the premises if the landlord has given

the tenant notice of entry that

(

a) is in writing;

(

b) states the purpose of entry, which must be reasonable;

(

c) states the date and time of the entry, which must be between eight

o’clock in the morning and eight o’clock in the evening, unless the

tenant agrees to a different time;

(

d) is given by the landlord to the tenant at least twenty-four hours and not

more than thirty days before the day of entry; and

(

e) is delivered

(

i) using a method set out in subsection 15(2) of the Act, or

(ii) by text sent to a telephone number provided by the tenant for the

landlord to provide notice of entry.

7A. Entry without Written Notice – A landlord shall not enter the premises

without written notice unless

(

a) there is an emergency and the entry is necessary to protect life or

property;

(

b) the tenant gives consent at the time of entry;

(

c) the tenant gives consent not more than thirty days before the entry; or

(

d) the tenant reasonably appears to have abandoned the residential

premises.

8. Entry Doors – Except by mutual consent, the landlord or the tenant shall not

during occupancy by the tenant under the tenancy alter or cause to be altered

the lock or locking system on any door that gives entry to the premises.

9. Late Payment Penalty – Where the lease contains provision for a monetary

penalty for late payment of rent, the monetary penalty shall not exceed one per

cent per month of the monthly rent.

(2) In addition to the statutory conditions set out in subsection (1), there is and is

deemed to be an agreement between the landlord and tenant that the following

statutory conditions apply as between them in respect of the lease of a manufactured

home space or a manufactured home in a land-lease community:

Statutory Conditions Respecting Lease of a Manufactured Home Space

or a Manufactured Home in a Land-lease Community

1. The landlord shall not restrict in any way the right of a tenant to sell, lease or

otherwise part with the possession of a manufactured home by the tenant.

1A. Where a tenant wishes to sell or otherwise part with possession of a

manufactured home, the tenant may apply in writing to the landlord on behalf

of the person who wishes to acquire title to or possession of the manufactured

home to become a tenant of the manufactured home space upon which the

manufactured home is located.

1B. The consent of the landlord required by Statutory Condition 1A will not

arbitrarily or unreasonably be withheld.

1C. The landlord shall not charge a commission or fee for granting consent

required by Statutory Condition 1A, other than the landlord’s reasonable

expenses actually incurred in respect to the grant of consent.

1D. The landlord shall in writing, within ten days of receipt of the request made

pursuant to Statutory Condition 1A, consent to the request or set out the

reasons why consent is being withheld, failing which the landlord is deemed

to have given consent to the request.

2. The landlord shall not receive any compensation for acting as the agent of the

tenant in any negotiations to sell, lease or otherwise part with possession of a

manufactured home space or a manufactured home situate in a land-lease

community, unless provided for in a separate written agency agreement that is

entered into by the tenant

(

a) after the tenant enters into the tenancy agreement; and

(

b) at the time that the tenant decides he wishes to offer his

manufactured home for sale or lease or otherwise part with the

possession of his manufactured home or manufactured home

space.

(1) Except as provided in this condition, the landlord shall not restrict in any

way the right of the tenant to purchase goods or services from the person

of the tenant’s choice.

(2) The landlord may set reasonable standards for manufactured home

equipment.

(3) Where a person who does not live in the land-lease community and who

is offering goods or services for sale

(

a) unduly disturbs the peace and quiet of the land-lease community;

(

b) fails to observe reasonable rules of conduct that have been

established by the landlord; or

(

c) violates the traffic rules of the land-lease community,

despite a request by the landlord to discontinue the conduct, the landlord

may restrict or prohibit the entry of that person into the land-lease

community.

4. The landlord is responsible for compliance with municipal by-laws in respect

of the common areas of the land-lease community and the services provided

by the landlord to the tenants in the land-lease community.

5. The tenant is responsible for compliance with municipal by-laws in respect of

the tenant’s manufactured home and the manufactured home space on which

it is located to the extent that the landlord is not responsible.

Legislative History

Reference Tables

Standard Form of Lease Regulations

N.S. Reg. 19/2025

Residential Tenancies Act

Note: The information in these tables does not form part

of the regulations and is compiled by the Office of the Registrar of

Regulations for reference only.

Source Law

The current consolidation of the Standard Form of Lease Regulations made under the Residential

Tenancies Act includes all of the following regulations:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

19/2025

Apr 30, 2025

date specified (date that

Section 6 of

Chapter 12 of

the Acts of 2024,

An Act to Amend

Chapter 22 of the Acts of 2021, the

Interim Residential Rental Increase Cap Act, and

Chapter 401 of the Revised

Statutes, 1989, the

Residential Tenancies Act , comes into force)

Feb 21, 2025

120/2026

May 6, 2026

date specified

May 29, 2026

The following regulations are not

yet in force and are not included in the current consolidation:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for

rules about in force dates of regulations.

Amendments by Provision

ad. = added

am. = amended

fc. = fee change

ra. = reassigned

rep. = repealed

rs. = repealed and substituted

Provision affected

How affected

Standard Form of

Lease

Item 12..............................................

am. 120/2026

Note that changes to headings are not

included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections

Note

Effective

date

Repealed and Superseded

N.S.

Regulation

Title

In force

date

Repealed

date

Note: Only regulations that are specifically repealed and

replaced appear in this table. It may not reflect the entire history of

regulations on this subject matter.