You may own the property, but if you’re a landlord in Canada, you can only legally enter your tenant’s home under a limited number of circumstances. To protect yourself against liability claims, it’s important you make yourself aware of, and make sure you adhere to, tenancy laws local to your province.

Many landlords are not sure of their legal rights and responsibilities when it comes to eviction, and when they are sure of their rights and responsibilities, they aren’t sure of the actual logistics of evicting a tenant so that's it’s 100 percent legal.

The first rule of landlording is: Always use proper documentation. Whether you’re renting out a basement suite, a separate apartment, or just a room in your house, remember that it is your property that you are temporarily entrusting to another individual. It is your right as the owner of that property to ensure it is protected, and it is your responsibility to keep documentation of any and all agreements or transactions which occur between you and your tenant. This is true at any stage of the landlord-tenant relationship: pre-tenancy, during tenancy, and as your tenant is leaving.