> The article doesn't make this clear... is sharing a house illegal, or is it only illegal to separate leases for each room?

A private bedroom but shared living/cooking space is generally called a rooming/boarding house:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boarding_house

* https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/housing-shelter/mult...

There is a separate contract with each tenant (i.e., multiple contracts), and each tenant is only responsible for paying for their private area.

This differs from a roommate situation in that there is generally one contract with the entire group.

Similarly with subletting: there is one contract with the landlord and the 'main' tenant, and then that tenant then turns around creates separate contract between them and another tenant.

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mattkrause 3 days ago | parent [-]

My impression is that boarding house usually includes some services (cleaning, maintenance, food) from the owner or an employee who lives on the premises.

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joelwilliamson 3 days ago | parent [-]

The “board” in a boarding house is food. There can be other services as well, but food is definitely required to be a boarding house.

	▲	SoftTalker 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		Yes, the situation with shared common areas and private bedrooms individually leased is more typically called "single room occupancy" (SRO) and is often prohibited by local rental codes. Where I live there is discussion about allowing it in some neighborhoods, with the requirement that the property owner is also resident in the house.