Property Management Fees in Ontario: What You're Actually Paying For

By Solutions Property Management — Tue Apr 21 2026

A breakdown of the four fees every Ontario landlord should understand — and the two that shouldn't exist.

Property management fee structures range from clean and simple to intentionally opaque. Here's the plain version.

**The four legitimate fees**

1. **Management fee.** Usually 7-10% of collected rent. Covers rent collection, tenant communication, maintenance coordination, monthly reporting. Should be percentage-based so incentives line up — no rent collected, no fee.

2. **Leasing fee / tenant placement.** Usually 50-100% of one month's rent. Covers advertising, showings, screening, lease preparation. Only charged when a new tenant is placed.

3. **Renewal fee.** Sometimes charged (usually $150-$300) when an existing tenant renews. Covers paperwork and rent-review analysis. Reasonable if disclosed.

4. **Project management fee on major repairs.** If a manager oversees a $30,000 renovation, a 10% oversight fee is standard. Should only apply above a defined threshold ($1,000-$2,500 typically).

**The two you should push back on**

• **Setup / onboarding fees** above a couple hundred dollars. Onboarding a new property is basic operational overhead for a manager.
• **Markups on maintenance.** A manager charging you the invoice plus 15% is double-dipping if they're already earning a percentage of rent. The trades should invoice at their rate, full stop.

**The one question that clarifies everything**

Ask: "If my unit sits vacant for two months, what do you charge me?" A well-aligned manager charges nothing during vacancy (no rent = no percentage). A poorly-aligned one has a flat monthly minimum that means they get paid whether or not you do. Neither is wrong per se — just know which one you're signing up for.

Read the whole agreement. The margin on this business isn't in the headline percentage; it's in the fine print.