Getting to a rental property to do the work of being a landlord can be a rental expense. On Form T776, it goes on line 9200, Travel.
Before the receipts matter, the conditions do — this line carries the same ones as motor vehicle expenses, and they turn on your situation rather than on the trip.
What belongs here
Travel you incur to collect rents, supervise repairs, and manage your properties, including the cost of getting to the rental property.
The conditions
To claim travel expenses you have to meet the same requirements as for line 9281, motor vehicle expenses. In short: with a single rental property, the deduction is for hauling your own tools to repairs and maintenance you do yourself, on a property in the area where you live — and driving to collect rent is personal. With two or more properties at different sites away from your principal residence, collecting rents, supervising repairs, and managing the properties count too.
Read Motor vehicle expenses before claiming anything here. If those conditions don't describe you, the travel isn't deductible either.
What does not belong here
Board and lodging. Meals and accommodation on a trip are personal expenses, in the CRA's words — even on a trip that was entirely about the rental.
The running costs of your vehicle. Fuel, insurance, maintenance and the rest belong on line 9281, motor vehicle expenses, where a share is worked out from a kilometre log. Don't enter the same cost in both places.
What to keep
Keep detailed records of the rental income you earn and the expenses you incur, supported by invoices, receipts, contracts, and other supporting documents. For this line, the receipt is only half of it — the other half is the purpose:
- tickets, fares, and other travel receipts
- a note of what each trip was for: which property, and what you did there
- the kilometre log, if the trip was by car
Purpose is what a travel claim stands or falls on, and it is the one thing no receipt prints. A ferry ticket looks identical whether you went to fix a furnace or to visit family.
Don't send them in with your return — keep them in case the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) asks to see them. The CRA may not allow an expense you can't support with a document. Generally, keep your records for six years from the end of the tax year they relate to.
Official CRA sources
Source: Canada Revenue Agency (canada.ca). Not tax advice.