A significant set of changes to Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act and Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) procedures took effect on September 21, 2026. Whether you're a landlord managing a rental property or a tenant renting your home, several of these changes affect how notices, evictions, and hearings work going forward. Here's a plain-language breakdown of what's new.
N12 notices (landlord or family member moving in)
If you're a landlord serving an N12 to end a tenancy so you or a family member can move in:
- Notices served September 21, 2026 or later, giving at least 120 days' notice, no longer require you to pay the tenant compensation or offer them an alternative unit. This exemption does not apply to purchaser-initiated N12s (a new owner ending a tenancy after buying the property) — those still follow the existing compensation rules.
- If you give less than 120 days' notice, the existing compensation requirements still apply.
- You (or your family member) must move in within 60 days of the termination date on the notice. If you don't, and the tenant later files a bad-faith application (a T5), the LTB will presume bad faith — you can still argue your case at a hearing, but the burden shifts to you to explain the delay.
For tenants, this means a landlord no longer owes you compensation for a properly-timed, genuine move-in notice — but the 60-day move-in deadline is a real, enforceable check on notices that aren't genuine.
N13 notices (repairs, renovations, or demolition)
If a landlord needs a tenant out temporarily for major repairs or renovations:
- A tenant who tells the landlord in writing that they intend to move back in gains stronger protections. The landlord must give the tenant a written estimated completion date, update them if that date changes, tell them in writing once the work is done, and then give 60 days' notice before requiring them to actually reoccupy (for work completed September 21, 2026 onward).
- Tenants who exercise this right get to move back in at their pre-disruption rent — the renovation doesn't reset them to market rate.
- The deadline to file a bad-faith (T5) application is now two years after the tenant moved out, or six months after the renovation is finished — whichever is later. If a landlord skips the required completion notices or the 60-day reoccupancy notice, the LTB now presumes non-compliance.
For landlords, the paperwork trail matters more than ever here: written estimated completion dates, written updates, and written completion notices aren't optional extras — skipping them now works against you if a dispute reaches the LTB.
N4 notices (non-payment of rent)
- The notice period before a landlord can file for eviction over unpaid rent has been shortened from 14 days to 7 days, for notices served September 21, 2026 onward.
- If a tenant wants to raise maintenance issues or other rights-based concerns as a defence at the arrears hearing, they must pay the landlord half of the claimed arrears at least seven days before the hearing — paid directly to the landlord, not through the LTB, with a receipt kept as proof.
- A tenant is now considered a "persistently late" payer if rent arrives more than seven days late at least three times within six months (payments applied to older arrears don't count toward this).
For landlords, the shorter notice period moves the arrears process along faster. For tenants, it means less runway after a missed payment before the eviction clock starts — and a real cost (half the arrears, in advance) to raising a maintenance defence at the hearing.
Eviction order changes
- The LTB can only cancel an eviction order issued without a hearing if doing so "would not be unfair" — and circumstances that arose after the agreement or termination notice was signed generally can't be considered.
- Delaying an eviction now requires either the landlord's consent, or the LTB finding that a delay would not be unfair to the landlord (or other tenants) and that compelling reasons exist. For N12/N13-based evictions specifically, only the fairness test applies.
New forms
Nine LTB forms were updated to reflect these changes, along with the Rules of Procedure and several Interpretation Guidelines. The old versions of these forms remain usable only until November 30, 2026 — after that, use the current versions.
What this means in practice
If you're a landlord, the throughline across all of these changes is documentation: dated notices, written completion estimates for renovations, proof of when work finished, and a clear record of move-in timing for N12s. The rules give you real relief (no compensation on a genuine 120-day N12, a faster N4 timeline) but only if the paper trail backs up your story if it's ever questioned.
If you're a tenant, know your deadlines: you now have longer to challenge a bad-faith renovation eviction, but a shorter runway on rent arrears, and a real cost to raising a maintenance defence at an N4 hearing. If you want to move back in after a renovation, get that intent to your landlord in writing.
This is a general summary, not legal advice — every situation has its own facts, and the LTB's own forms and guidelines are the authoritative source. If you're navigating a notice, a renovation, or an arrears situation on a property I can help with, reach out and I'm happy to point you in the right direction — including to a paralegal or lawyer where that's the better fit.