Is your Toronto landlord responsible for the buzzer?
In an Ontario tenancy, the Landlord and Tenant Board says things a landlord provides must be kept in working order, and Toronto’s property standards bylaw says a multi-unit building’s entrance communication system is to be kept in good repair. Asking for the number your unit dials to be changed is a smaller, routine request. Put either one in writing and keep a copy. This is general information, not legal advice.
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Two different things get called the same thing here, and they get different responses. Know which one you are asking for before you ask.
The two requests
| The panel is broken | The stored number is wrong | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Maintenance of the building | A directory update |
| Who does it | The landlord, often through a vendor | The landlord or property management |
| What backs it | The landlord’s repair duty and Toronto property standards | An ordinary written request |
Many buzzers that seem broken are dialling the wrong number. How to tell which you have.
What the rules say
The Landlord and Tenant Board’s maintenance brochure says a landlord must keep a rental property in a good state of repair, and that all things the landlord provides must be kept in working order, listing doors, locks and lighting among the examples. LTB Brochure: Maintenance and Repairs.
In Toronto, Chapter 629 goes further for buildings with three or more units and a shared entrance. Each unit is to be connected to the principal entrance by a two-way voice communication system and door release, kept in good repair and operative, and the entrance door is to be kept closed and locked. Read Chapter 629.
How to put it in writing
- Email the landlord or the management company, not the superintendent alone.
- Say what happens when your unit code is pressed at the panel, in one sentence.
- Say what you want: the system repaired, or the stored number changed to one you give them.
- Ask for a date and an email confirmation, and keep a copy of everything.
The LTB says the first step for a maintenance problem is to ask the landlord in writing and keep a copy. What to send for a number change.
If nothing happens
In apartment buildings of three or more storeys and ten or more units, the City’s RentSafeTO program says landlords must respond to urgent service requests, including a breach of building security, within 24 hours, and to other requests within seven days. If a problem is not resolved, the City says to contact 311. RentSafeTO for tenants.
A tenant can also apply to the LTB with Form T6, the Tenant Application about Maintenance. The LTB’s own brochure says a tenant should not withhold any part of the rent while waiting.
What a landlord does not have to add
A landlord’s duty is to keep the building’s system working. A typical dialling panel stores one phone number per directory entry, so asking it to ring several phones is asking for something it does not do.
Need to ask for the change in writing? Get a ready-to-send message for your building manager, landlord or front desk. It is free, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
That part is yours, and it is small: give them one number to store, and let that number ring more than one person in the apartment. BuzzMeBro does that for $9.99 a month across up to 4 phones, and the landlord only makes a routine directory change. How that works.
From our own door
- BuzzMeBro has run on our founder’s own Toronto apartment door since August 2026.
- Switching means the building updates one stored number for your unit and nothing else. Pointing it back at the old number undoes it the same day.
Questions people ask
Is a buzzer a vital service in Ontario?
No. The LTB lists vital services as hot or cold water, fuel, electricity, gas and, during certain months, heat. An entry system is still something the landlord provides and maintains, which is the basis for a repair request.
My landlord says a mobile number is not allowed.
Ask what number formats the panel accepts rather than arguing. If the answer is that the panel line only places local calls, that is a real constraint with a straightforward answer: a number local to the building.
Can I withhold rent over a broken buzzer?
The LTB’s maintenance brochure says a tenant should not withhold any part of the rent, even if a repair has not been done, and explains the Form T6 route instead. Get legal advice for your own situation.
The building says it is my problem because I use a cell phone.
A panel that dials out treats a mobile number like any other number. If they mean the number cannot be reached as a local call, that is a different statement, and it has a specific fix.
What can I sort out without them?
What the number does once it rings. The building stores one number and you decide what is behind it, so a BuzzMeBro number that rings several phones in the apartment needs one routine request rather than a repair.
Sources
- Tribunals Ontario, Landlord and Tenant Board, LTB Brochure - Maintenance and Repairs
- City of Toronto, Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 629, Property Standards
- City of Toronto, RentSafeTO for Tenants - Service Requests, Complaints & Investigations
- Tribunals Ontario, Landlord and Tenant Board, LTB - Form T6 Instructions