Saskatchewan Residential Tenancies Act, 2006: What Landlords Need to Know

Every landlord obligation in Saskatchewan — notice periods, eviction grounds, deposit rules, maintenance duties — traces back to one statute. If you manage residential rental property in this province, you are operating under The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (SS 2006, c R-22.0001) whether you have read it or not.

What the Act Covers

The Act and its companion Residential Tenancies Regulations, 2007 govern virtually all residential tenancy agreements in Saskatchewan. Apartments, houses, basement suites, secondary suites, rooming arrangements, and mobile home sites all fall under its jurisdiction.

Oral agreements are covered too. If you rented out a property on a handshake, the Act's standard conditions attach automatically — you cannot contract out of them.

What Falls Outside the Act

Not every rental arrangement is covered. The Act explicitly excludes:

• Living accommodation included with business premises that are occupied for business purposes and rented under a single agreement
• Hotels, motels, resorts, lodges, tourist camps, cottages, cabins, trailers, tourist homes, bed and breakfasts, farm vacation homes, and hostels where a person resides for less than six consecutive months
• Crisis shelters and emergency housing
• Agricultural land where the tenant is actively farming
• Life tenancies or leases of 20+ years
• Licensed care homes and certain institutional housing

If your rental falls into one of these categories, the ORT has no jurisdiction and the Act's termination procedures do not apply.

The Key Sections for Termination

The sections landlords encounter most often when ending a tenancy:

Section 55 — lists the statutory ways a tenancy can end, including notice, written agreement, abandonment, frustration, or an ORT order. Subsection 55(2) says a fixed-term tenancy ends on its specified date unless the parties enter into a new tenancy agreement. There is no general "landlord's right to terminate."

Section 57 — rent and utility arrears. The immediate notice ground, triggered when rent is unpaid for 15 days or more after it is due; unpaid utilities have a separate 15-day period after written demand.

Section 58 — cause-based termination. Covers repeated late rent, damage, illegal activity, disturbance, breach of a material lease term, and unauthorized subletting. One calendar month's notice.

Section 59 — end-of-employment housing. One month's notice when the tenancy was tied to a job that has ended.

Section 60 — landlord's use of property. Owner/family occupancy requires two months' notice (Form 8b); purchaser occupancy requires one month's notice (Form 8c); demolition, renovation, and conversion require two months (Form 8d). These notices apply to periodic tenancies. Housing-program purposes use one month (Form 8e).

Section 82 — service of documents. Sets out service methods for tenants, former tenants, and landlords, along with deemed-receipt rules.

Section 85 — abandoned property. Sets out what landlords must do with items a tenant leaves behind.

The Office of Residential Tenancies

The Act continued the Office of the Rentalsman as the Office of Residential Tenancies (ORT). Hearing Officers adjudicate cases up to $30,000. The ORT handles possession applications, monetary claims, security deposit disputes, and complaints about unlawful landlord conduct.

Since March 2022, nearly all ORT business runs through the online portal — applications, evidence submission, hearing scheduling, and form downloads. The standard $50 application fee is non-refundable; the Fee Waiver Act may apply.

The Regulations

The Regulations fill in procedural details the Act leaves to subordinate legislation. The most relevant for landlords:

• Section 8.2 — the fixed-term lease expiry process, including the Form 15 two-month notice of intention requirement
• Prescribed forms — Form 7, 7a, 8, 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d, 8e, 15, 9a, and the Certificate of Service
• Standard conditions — terms that attach to every tenancy agreement by operation of law

Staying Current

The Act was assented to in 2006 and brought into force in 2007, but it has been amended multiple times since. The ORT's Rules of Procedure were updated in 2026. Always verify you are working from the current consolidation — the Saskatchewan Publications Centre and the Government of Saskatchewan website carry the up-to-date versions.

The Saskatchewan Ending a Tenancy guide is structured around the Act's termination framework, with each chapter mapping to the specific statutory sections and prescribed forms you need for your situation.

See more Saskatchewan guides →