Insights Hub
Commercial Lease Insights
What Ontario businesses should know about commercial lease clauses, rent structures, repairs, renewal options, assignment, default and disputes.
Commercial leases are negotiated documents, not standard-form consumer contracts — which means the terms can vary enormously from one lease to the next, and small differences in wording can carry a real cost over a multi-year term.
This hub covers the clauses that matter most in an Ontario commercial lease: how rent and operating costs are structured, who's responsible for repairs, how renewal options actually work, and what happens when something goes wrong.
Popular in Commercial Leases
More guides in this hub
Commercial Lease Renewals and Options to Renew in Ontario
How renewal options are typically structured, when they need to be exercised, and what to negotiate ahead of time.
Commercial Lease Disputes in Ontario: Rent, Repairs, Default and Termination
The most common sources of commercial lease disputes, and how they're typically addressed.
Related Tools
Practical tools for this topic
Contract review checklist
A structured pass through the clauses that most often cause problems later.
Agreement comparison checklist
A side-by-side way to compare two drafts or two competing offers.
Evidence checklist for a contract dispute
What to gather and preserve as soon as a disagreement becomes likely.
FAQ
Commercial Leases: frequently asked questions
What's the difference between gross rent and net rent?
Gross rent generally bundles most operating costs into a single payment, while net rent (sometimes triple net) has the tenant pay base rent plus a share of costs like property tax, insurance and common area maintenance separately.
Are commercial tenants protected by the Residential Tenancies Act?
No. Commercial leases in Ontario fall outside the Residential Tenancies Act, which means the parties have much more freedom to negotiate terms — and much less built-in statutory protection.
What is an option to renew, and is it automatic?
A renewal option gives a tenant the right, but not an automatic entitlement, to extend the lease on specified terms. It usually has to be exercised in writing within a set window before the lease ends.
Can a landlord refuse to let a tenant assign or sublease?
It depends on the lease. Many commercial leases allow assignment or subleasing only with the landlord's consent, which is often required to not be unreasonably withheld — though the exact standard depends on the wording used.
Understand your agreement. Know your next step.
Ontario-wide, plain-English contract law information — built to help you make sense of your situation before you decide what to do next.