Immigrating to Canada, people have all rented houses before. When new immigrants arrive in a new city to live, the first priority is to find a place to stay. Perhaps you will start by staying at a friend's house, an apartment, or a hotel. However, all of this can only be temporary, and you will still need to have a long-term residence. Therefore, if you are coming to Ottawa, the first thing you must do on the first morning is to remember to go to the newspaper vending box on the street. The local Ottawa Citizen Newspaper has very detailed rental information. If you plan to rent an apartment, the local RentNews in Ottawa is a good choice.
Then, you can look for a lot of specialized rental information from the classifieds section of the newspaper. If it is a couple or three people, it is better to rent an apartment alone, as this is more convenient. However, some apartments require you to have a job or a friend with a job to act as a guarantor, so be sure to ask clearly when looking for a house.
Apartments are generally unfurnished, so you need to buy everything you need yourself, which means the financial pressure will be relatively high, and you need to be mentally prepared.
Generally speaking, when houses in Ottawa are rented out, they will come with a refrigerator and an electric stove, which is a government regulation. The heating in winter is also electric, so the monthly electricity bill will be a significant figure. Therefore, when asking about the rent, remember to ask clearly whether it includes electricity.
If you are renting an apartment, you need to sign a one-year contract at once and pay one month's rent in advance as a deposit. The first month's rent is paid on the first day you move in, and you do not need to pay rent for the last month of the contract period; you can use the deposit to pay the rent directly. However, since new immigrants have just arrived, many do not yet know where it is most suitable to live after three or four months, so it is recommended to look for an Apartment Sublet. In fact, this is when the original tenant needs to move, but the contract period has not expired, so they sublet it to you to continue the lease, which could be for three or four months, or longer. This way, you do not have to sign a one-year contract at once, and in such cases, you might even be able to get some free small furniture or daily necessities from the original tenant.
If you are single, you can look for apartment or house room rentals (Room with/without Board) in the newspaper. This usually involves sharing a kitchen and bathroom with the landlord, and some foreigners may not like Chinese people cooking, so be sure to ask about this clearly when looking for a house.
If you find a house, there will be a corresponding formal rental contract. This is actually the basis for your life in Ottawa, and you will use it many times in the future, so be sure to keep it safe. If you are renting a room and there is no contract, also remember to ask the landlord for a rent receipt, as this is one of your proofs for tax filing, and it must also be kept safe.