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I am a student and I have rented a room with all utilities and internet included in a 4 bedrooms house in Canada. My rent is going to expire at the end of April. Before the COVID outbreak, my landlord wanted us to move out as he wanted to do a renovation. So he sent us a paper-based evacuation notice. However, due to COVID, he changed his mind and he said that we can stay longer. So we all decided to stay in the house. He just texted us this through phone.

Yesterday he sent a message to one of my roommates and said the internet belongs to and x-roommate who is moved out and it is going to expire at the end of April and each of us has to provide our own internet.

My question is that when I was renting the house he promised that all utilities are included in the rent and now he is asking us to pay for the internet. Is this legal or illegal? How can I deal with this issue?

Edited: in his text, he said that he is not selling the house for at least a year and we can keep renting the house. I assume it is with the same agreement.

To be honest I am a bit worried that he takes advantage of us in the current situation and increases or asks us to pay all utilities. What would be the wise thing to do? How should I ask him to sign a new contract? In my agreement, it isclearly mentioned that the internet is included.

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  • There isn't really enough information for us to determine whether the landlord can modify the condition of the lease. You never specified the terms and conditions in your agreement.
    – aaronqli
    Apr 3, 2020 at 6:16
  • Can you ask a more specific question? "What should I do?" is asking for legal advice, which we can't provide. "How should I ask him to sign a new contract?", well, it sounds like you are already negotiating one.
    – Paul Johnson
    Apr 3, 2020 at 8:03
  • Landlord-tenant law is set at the provincial level in Canada, not the national level, so you have to say what province and possibty municipality this is (Vancouver has some pretty sharp restrictions on landlords).
    – user6726
    Apr 3, 2020 at 16:25

1 Answer 1

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“Utilities” does not include internet unless specified

The normal meaning of “utilities” is water, gas, electricity, sewer and heating. Telephony and interned are not included by default.

If it is specified, you must agree to the change

Contracts can only be varied by mutual agreement.

This might be a new contract

Your status is unclear. Assuming you were validly served with a notice to vacate then the original lease might have ended and you might now be negotiating a new one. It is by no means certain that once a notice has been issued it can unilaterally be withdrawn.

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  • It is specified in my agreement.
    – programmer
    Apr 3, 2020 at 2:38

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