A room is not a suite
A secondary suite is a self-contained dwelling unit — its own living space, sleeping space, bathroom and kitchen, separate from the main home. That is what triggers the development permit, building permit, safety code and registration requirements.
Someone renting a bedroom and sharing your kitchen and bathroom is a different arrangement entirely. It does not create a second dwelling unit, so it does not put you into the suite process. That is why boarding a student or taking in a roommate is the low-friction version of the same idea.
When it quietly becomes a suite
The line gets crossed by renovation, usually with good intentions. Add a kitchen downstairs, close off a separate entrance, and give the space its own bathroom, and what you have built is a self-contained dwelling unit whether or not you call it one. At that point the permit and safety requirements apply, and they apply to the finished result regardless of how it was described along the way.
Nobody sets out to build an illegal suite. They add a kitchenette to a room they were already renting, one improvement at a time.
If that is where you are heading, do it deliberately: what a legal suite requires →.
What to sort out either way
- Tell your insurer. Taking in a paying occupant changes the risk your policy was written for, whichever form it takes.
- Know which rules apply. Alberta's Residential Tenancies Act does not govern every arrangement — shared-accommodation situations where the occupant shares a kitchen or bathroom with the owner generally fall outside it, which changes how the arrangement can be ended. Confirm where yours sits before you rely on either set of rules.
- Put it in writing anyway. Rent, notice, guests, parking, cleaning. Informality is what makes these arrangements end badly.
- Talk to an accountant. The income is taxable and how you claim against it can matter later.