Rent to Own in Saskatchewan: What It Means for the Owner

Owners raise rent to own with me in two situations. The house has been slow to sell and someone offers to lease it with a view to buying, or a tenant already in place asks whether they could work toward owning it. Both are worth taking seriously and both deserve more scrutiny than they usually get.

I am the Broker at GoodDoors. This page is written for the person who owns the house, not for the person hoping to buy one. Most of what is published about rent to own is aimed at buyers, and an owner reading it comes away with an incomplete picture of what they are actually signing.

Last updated: August 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. A rent to own arrangement is two contracts at once and both deserve a lawyer's eyes before signing.

Quick answer

A rent to own deal is a tenancy plus a separate option to purchase. The tenancy half is governed by The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 exactly like any other tenancy in Saskatchewan, and you cannot contract out of that Act. The option half is a contract question, enforced in court rather than at the Office of Residential Tenancies. Most of these arrangements end with the tenant-buyer not closing, which is the scenario the paperwork has to be built around.

What it actually is: two agreements

The tenancy agreement. Someone lives in your property and pays rent. That is a residential tenancy, and nothing about the word "purchase" changes it. The option agreement. A separate contract giving the tenant the right, but not the obligation, to buy the property at an agreed price within an agreed window. In exchange the tenant usually pays an up-front option fee, and often a portion of each month's rent is credited toward the eventual purchase price.

The three numbers that define the deal are the option fee, the monthly rent credit, and the purchase price. Fixing that price today, for a sale that may happen in two or three years, is the part owners under-think.

The Act applies, and you cannot write around it

This is the point I most often have to make twice.

Section 5 of The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 lists what the Act does not apply to: business premises rented under a single agreement, short stays in hotels and cottages, crisis shelters, certain health and care facilities, farm accommodation for the person farming, YMCA, YWCA and Salvation Army accommodation, and life or 20-year-plus occupancy grants. A rent to own arrangement is not on that list.

Section 6 closes the door: "Every agreement or understanding, verbal or written, express or implied, that this Act or any provision of this Act does not apply, or that any benefit or remedy provided by this Act is not available, is void."

What that means in practice:

The security deposit rules still apply. One month's rent maximum, no more than half of it required at the date the tenancy is entered into, held in trust.
Notice periods still apply. If the tenant-buyer stops paying, you are serving the same notices, in the same timeframes, as with any other tenant, and applying to the ORT for possession if they do not leave.
Rent increase rules still apply if the tenancy is periodic.
Entry rules still apply. Owning the property and expecting to sell it to the occupant does not give you a right to walk in.

An option agreement that describes the occupant as a "purchaser" rather than a tenant does not change any of this. It just makes the paperwork harder to rely on later.

The scenario the deal has to be designed around

Most rent to own arrangements end without a purchase. Financing is the usual reason, and it is worth being clear-eyed about it: the people drawn to rent to own are largely people who cannot qualify for a mortgage today. Two or three years of on-time rent helps, and it does not fix a debt-to-income problem, a credit event, or a down payment that never accumulated.

So the question to design around is not what happens if they buy. It is what happens when they do not.

Where does the option fee go? Normally the owner keeps it. That is the price of holding the property off the market, and it should be documented as exactly that. Where do the rent credits go? This is the fight. The tenant has been paying above-market rent on the understanding that a slice was going toward a purchase. When the purchase does not happen, they will say that money was theirs. Your agreement must say what it was: a premium paid for the option, not a deposit held on their behalf. If it reads like a deposit, expect to argue about it. What condition is the property in? Occupants who believe they are buying tend to make changes. Some of it improves the place. Some of it is unpermitted work you now own. Set out in writing who may alter what. What if the market moved? You fixed a price years ago. If values rose, you sell below market to someone exercising the option. If values fell, they walk and you have a house worth less than the number you turned down offers over.

The honest comparison

For most owners in Regina and Saskatoon, a straightforward tenancy plus a sale later is the better structure. It is simpler, the rules are known, the ORT resolves disputes, and you keep the ability to sell at the market price on the day you sell.

Rent to own earns its complexity in a narrow set of cases: a property that genuinely is not selling, a buyer with a specific and time-limited financing obstacle, and both sides willing to pay for proper legal drafting.

If the appeal is the higher monthly payment, price the property properly and rent it normally instead. If the appeal is a guaranteed exit, an option is not a guarantee, it is the tenant's choice.

If you go ahead

Have a lawyer draft both agreements. Not a template, and not one document trying to do both jobs.
Tell your lender. An option to purchase over your title is a mortgage-relevant fact.
Tell your insurer. Occupancy and intent both matter to coverage.
Keep the tenancy administration exactly as rigorous as a normal tenancy: condition report, deposit held properly, notices served on the right form.
Get the tenant-buyer pre-qualified before you sign, not in year three. If no lender will say what it would take, you have your answer.
Expect the ORT to handle the tenancy and a court to handle the option. They are different forums and the option is not a tenancy dispute.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

How does rent to own work in Saskatchewan?

Two agreements run at once. A residential tenancy, governed by The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, under which someone lives in the property and pays rent. And a separate option to purchase, giving them the right but not the obligation to buy at an agreed price within an agreed window, usually in exchange for an up-front option fee and a monthly rent credit.

Does The Residential Tenancies Act apply to a rent to own agreement?

Yes, to the tenancy half. Section 5 of the Act lists the accommodation it does not cover and rent to own is not among them. Section 6 makes void any agreement, written or verbal, that the Act does not apply or that its remedies are unavailable. Deposit limits, notice periods and entry rules all continue to apply regardless of what the option agreement says.

What happens to the rent credits if the tenant does not buy?

That depends entirely on how the agreement was drafted, which is why it needs a lawyer. Typically the credits and the option fee are consideration for the option itself and the owner keeps them. If the document reads as though the money was being held on the tenant's behalf, expect to argue the point, and expect the ambiguity to be read against the party who drafted it.

Is rent to own a good idea for an owner?

Usually not, compared with renting the property normally and selling when you choose to. It fixes your sale price years in advance, most arrangements end without a purchase, and the paperwork is more complex and more expensive to get right. It earns its place in a narrow set of cases: a property that genuinely will not sell, and a buyer with a specific, time-limited financing obstacle.

Who resolves a dispute in a rent to own arrangement?

It splits. Anything about the tenancy, which is rent, deposits, notices, possession, goes to the Office of Residential Tenancies like any other tenancy matter. Anything about the option to purchase is a contract dispute and belongs in court. One arrangement, two forums, which is part of what makes these deals expensive when they fail.