A meaningful share of Harbourfront units are investor-owned, which means a meaningful share of sales here involve a tenant still living in the unit. It's completely doable. It's also more regulated than most sellers expect, so it's worth understanding the actual rules before you list, not partway through the process. This is general information, not legal advice, and every situation should be reviewed with your lawyer.
Selling doesn't end the tenancy
This is the single biggest misconception. A sale on its own does not terminate a tenant's lease under Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act. The tenancy survives the change in ownership. If your tenant is on a fixed-term lease, the buyer inherits it as-is, unless the tenant voluntarily agrees to leave early.
Showings require real notice
You can market and show a tenanted unit, but only with at least 24 hours' written notice, and entry is restricted to between 8am and 8pm. A text message without your tenant's prior written agreement to that method, or a note left at the door, doesn't meet the legal standard. This is worth planning around before your listing goes live, since scrambling for last-minute showings on short notice isn't just inconvenient, it's not compliant.
If the buyer wants to move in themselves
If your buyer, or their immediate family, genuinely intends to occupy the unit, they can serve an N12 notice, but it requires at least 60 days and must line up with the end of a rental period. The landlord is also required to compensate the tenant, generally one month's rent, or offer another acceptable unit. Misusing this notice, meaning the buyer never actually moves in, is treated as a bad-faith eviction and can carry Landlord and Tenant Board fines into the tens of thousands of dollars. This isn't a formality to route around. It has to be genuine.
What this means for your buyer pool
A tenanted unit narrows your buyer pool somewhat. Owner-occupier buyers who want to move in right away will need to either wait out the lease or go through the N12 process, which adds time and complexity most aren't looking for. Investor buyers, by contrast, are often perfectly happy to inherit a paying tenant, especially a good one. Knowing which type of buyer you're actually marketing to changes the whole strategy.
A good tenant can be a selling point
If your tenant pays reliably and keeps the unit in good shape, that's genuinely useful information for an investor buyer, current rent, payment history, and lease terms all help them evaluate the unit as an income property rather than working against you.
If you're weighing whether to sell tenanted or wait for vacancy, that decision changes based on your specific lease timeline and buyer pool. Worth a real conversation before you commit to either path.