Winnipeg Landlord Licence and Rental Registration: What You Actually Need

The Short Answer

Winnipeg does not have a general landlord licensing or registration requirement for standard long-term residential tenancies. If you rent out a house or apartment on a conventional lease, there is no municipal licence to obtain.

This is a frequent point of confusion, and it comes up often enough that it deserves a clear explanation.

Where the Confusion Comes From

Winnipeg does require a short-term rental licence for properties rented out for periods of less than 30 consecutive nights — think Airbnb-style listings. The city's short-term rental bylaw introduced a licensing process that many landlords have mistakenly assumed applies to all rental properties.

It does not. A standard residential tenancy governed by Manitoba's Residential Tenancies Act — whether month-to-month or a fixed-term lease — is not subject to the short-term rental licensing regime.

What Manitoba Law Does Require

While there is no municipal registration, the Residential Tenancies Act imposes its own compliance requirements on every landlord:

• Use the prescribed Form 1 (or Form 1.1 for tenancies with tenant services) as your written tenancy agreement
• Comply with deposit caps — the security deposit cannot exceed half of one month's rent, and a pet damage deposit cannot exceed one month's rent
• Give written receipts for cash rent or tenant-services payments, and written acknowledgements for security, pet-damage, and tenant-services security deposits
• Follow the termination process — the correct form, the correct notice period, and proper service

The RTB is the regulatory body, not the City of Winnipeg.

What About Other Manitoba Cities?

Brandon and Thompson are the other main centres with RTB offices. Neither city has a general landlord licensing requirement for long-term residential tenancies either. Provincial law governs the landlord-tenant relationship across all of Manitoba.

The Practical Takeaway

If you are a long-term residential landlord in Winnipeg, your compliance obligations come from the Residential Tenancies Act and the Residential Tenancies Regulation — not from a city licensing office. Focus on getting the lease, the deposits, and the termination process right.

Our Ending a Tenancy in Manitoba guide covers the full statutory process, including the prescribed forms and notice requirements that apply province-wide.

See more Manitoba guides →