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Ontario cuts non-payment notices to 7 days as new landlord rules take effect

From 21 September 2026, Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board applies a further wave of Residential Tenancies Act changes that shorten non-payment notices, ease some personal-use eviction costs when landlords give longer notice, and define when late rent counts as persistent. The rules apply across Ontario, so they cover Toronto rentals in the same way as rentals elsewhere in the province.

Cheryl ChenBy Cheryl Chen, Cities & Livability Correspondent

Published .

  • Data as of
  • Official sources
Downtown Toronto towers and the CN Tower seen across Lake Ontario from Centre Island under a partly cloudy sky.
Downtown Toronto seen across Lake Ontario from Centre Island in August 2024. Photo by TheWxResearcher via Wikimedia Commons, released under CC0 1.0. Cropped from the original.

A rental home in Toronto is governed by the same provincial law as one in Ottawa, Hamilton or any other Ontario city. What changed in late September is how quickly a landlord can start the non-payment process, when compensation is owed after a notice to end a tenancy for the landlord's own use, and how the Board reads a pattern of late rent. Owners who live outside Canada and let Ontario homes, including Toronto condominiums, are bound by the new deadlines from the same date as local landlords.

What took effect on 21 September 2026

The Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) published an operational update on 21 September 2026. It states that further amendments from the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act (Bill 60) and the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023 (Bill 97) took effect that day, after an earlier wave on 1 July 2026 (LTB operational update, 21 September 2026, read 2026-10-02).

Two Orders in Council name the commencement dates. Order in Council 1114/2026 brings sections 3, 5 to 8, 10 and 12 of Schedule 12 of the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 into force on 21 September 2026 (Order in Council 1114/2026, read 2026-10-02). Order in Council 617/2026 brings Schedule 7, sections 3 and 5 of the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023 into force on the same day, after other Schedule 7 sections took effect on 1 July 2026 (Order in Council 617/2026, read 2026-10-02).

Non-payment notices and late rent

For an N4 notice to end a tenancy early for non-payment of rent, the notice period is shortened from 14 days to 7 days when the notice is given on or after 21 September 2026. The LTB says an updated N4 form is available on its portal and website.

As of the same date, a tenant is treated as having persistently paid rent late when rent arrives more than seven days after the due date at least three times within a six-month period. A payment is not treated as late for that count when the landlord applied it to another amount the tenant owed, such as arrears. The LTB notes that persistent late payment can also be found in other circumstances. The definition is set out in Ontario Regulation 241/26, which amends the general regulation under the Residential Tenancies Act, O. Reg. 516/06 (O. Reg. 241/26, read 2026-10-02).

If a landlord filed a rent-arrears application on or after 21 September 2026, a tenant who wants to raise other issues at that hearing (for example maintenance) must pay the landlord half of the rent arrears claimed in the application at least seven days before the hearing. Payment goes to the landlord directly. It cannot be paid to the LTB in trust.

Delaying or cancelling eviction orders

From 21 September 2026, if a landlord does not agree to delay an eviction, the Board may delay it only if the delay would not be unfair to the landlord or other tenants and there are compelling reasons. For N12 and N13 notices, the Board only has to be satisfied that a delay would not be unfair. The Board may also cancel an eviction order made without a hearing on a tenant's agreement or notice to end the tenancy only if cancelling it would not be unfair, and it cannot take into account changes in the tenant's circumstances after that agreement or notice.

Personal use, renovations, and the right to move back

For an N12 notice for the landlord's own use, served on or after 21 September 2026, a landlord who gives at least 120 days' notice is no longer required to pay compensation to the tenant or to offer another acceptable unit. If the notice is shorter than 120 days, the existing compensation rules still apply. The LTB states that this change does not apply to N12 notices for a purchaser's own use.

From the same date, the landlord or another specified person (such as an immediate family member or their caregiver) must normally take occupancy within 60 days of the date set out in an N12 notice for landlord's own use. If that does not happen and the tenant files a T5 application alleging bad faith, the Board starts from a presumption that the N12 was given in bad faith. The landlord can try to rebut that presumption at the hearing. Again, the LTB says this occupancy rule does not apply to purchaser's-use notices.

When a landlord ends a tenancy with an N13 notice for renovations or repairs, the tenant has the right to move back once the work is done, at a rent no higher than the landlord could have charged if the tenancy had continued without interruption. If the tenant gives written notice on or after 21 September 2026 that they intend to move back, the landlord must tell the tenant in writing, without delay, the estimated completion date, any change to that estimate, and when the unit is ready to occupy. If the work is completed on or after 21 September 2026, the landlord must also give the tenant 60 days to reoccupy after completion.

The deadline for a tenant to file a T5 application about a landlord's failure to honour that right of first refusal is now two years after the tenant moves out, or six months after the renovations are finished, whichever date is later. If the landlord did not provide the required readiness information or the 60-day window, the LTB says it is presumed that the landlord failed to give the right of first refusal, subject to rebuttal at the hearing.

Forms

The LTB lists updated N5, N6, N8, N12, N13, L1, L2, L9, L10, and T5 forms as of 21 September 2026. Previous versions of those forms will no longer be accepted as of 30 November 2026.

What already changed on 1 July 2026

An earlier LTB update, dated 30 June 2026, describes changes that took effect on 1 July 2026. The deadline to request a review of an LTB order shortened from 30 days to 15 days. Maximum fines for offences under section 236 of the Residential Tenancies Act rose to C$100,000 for individuals and C$500,000 for corporations. Those maxima apply to prosecutions, not to administrative fines, costs, or compensation the LTB itself may order (LTB operational update, 30 June 2026, read 2026-10-02).

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Limits

These changes apply to private residential tenancies in Ontario. They are summarised here from the Landlord and Tenant Board's notices and the Orders in Council and regulation listed below, and they do not apply elsewhere in Canada. The 120-day and 60-day rules for N12 notices cover a landlord's own use and not a purchaser's own use. Check the current LTB forms and guidance before serving any notice.

Sources

Sources read 2 October 2026.