Ontario's new landlord and tenant rules — what changed at the LTB in 2026.

Ontario's rental rules have changed more in the last three months than in the last several years. If you own a rental unit, rent one, or are buying or selling a property with a tenant in it, some of the rules you knew stopped applying this summer.

The changes come from two provincial laws. The Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023 (Bill 97) and the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 (Bill 60, passed in November 2025) both amended the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. The Landlord and Tenant Board brought those changes into its processes in two waves: July 1, 2026 and September 21, 2026.

Below is every change, who it affects, and the date it started, written for landlords and tenants alike. We've also included what didn't change, which matters just as much, and a section for anyone buying or selling a tenanted home.

The changes at a glance

Wave one — July 1, 2026

Fifteen days to request a review

If either side thinks an LTB order contains a serious error, the first step has always been a request to review. The deadline to file one was cut from 30 days to 15 days after the order is issued, unless the Board extends it. The LTB also narrowed when a final order can be reviewed at all. Both landlords and tenants should read an order the day it arrives, not the week after.

Repayment plans must use the LTB's form

When a landlord and tenant settle arrears with a repayment plan under section 206 of the Act, they must now use the LTB Payment Agreement form. A home-made agreement is no longer enough. The approved form is what lets the Board turn the plan into an order, and it is what lets a landlord come back to the Board quickly if the plan is broken.

Tenants can install an air conditioner

A tenant may now install a window or portable air conditioner even if the lease says they can't, or the landlord objects, as long as all of these conditions are met:

• The tenant tells the landlord in writing before installing it, including the periods they plan to use it.
• If electricity is included in the rent, the tenant gives the landlord whatever information is available on the unit's energy efficiency and how much they expect to use it.
• It is installed safely and securely, and installed and maintained in line with municipal property standards and other laws.
• It doesn't damage the unit or the building.
• The tenant tells the landlord in writing when it is removed or no longer in use.

Where electricity is included in the rent, and the lease doesn't rule it out, the landlord may charge a seasonal rent increase. It can't be more than the actual cost of the electricity the air conditioner uses (or a reasonable estimate), can only apply in the months it is used, and the rent has to drop back when it isn't. These rules don't apply in mobile home parks or land lease communities.

Tighter timing on AGI orders

Landlords who win an application for an above-guideline increase must now serve the order on tenants within 7 days (previously 14) and file a certificate of service with the Board within 5 days of serving it.

Higher fines

The maximum fines for offences under the Act, such as an illegal lockout, withholding vital services or a bad-faith eviction, were doubled to $100,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations. These are the fines a court can impose after a prosecution. They are separate from the fines, costs and compensation the LTB itself can order.

Wave two — September 21, 2026

This is the larger set of changes, and most of it concerns evictions. For each one, the key question is which date matters. Some changes depend on when a notice was served, some on when an application was filed, and some on when the hearing is held.

N4: seven days, not fourteen

For an N4 Notice to End Tenancy Early for Non-Payment of Rent given on or after September 21, 2026, the termination date only has to be 7 days after the notice, down from 14 for monthly and yearly tenancies. Nothing else about the N4 changed. The tenancy still doesn't end if the tenant pays everything owing before the termination date, and the landlord still needs an LTB order to evict. Landlords must use the new September 2026 version of the form.

Half the arrears before a tenant can raise other issues

At a hearing for unpaid rent, tenants have always been able to raise other problems, like repairs, harassment or a service that was cut off. For L1, L9 and L10 applications filed on or after September 21, 2026, a tenant who wants to raise those issues must do two things at least seven days before the hearing:

• Give the landlord and the LTB a written description of every issue they plan to raise. This was already required.
• Pay the landlord half of the arrears claimed. The payment goes directly to the landlord, not to the Board in trust, and the tenant should keep a receipt or other proof.

The practical effect is that serious maintenance complaints need to be raised and documented well before rent goes unpaid, not saved for the hearing.

"Persistent late payment" finally has a definition

Landlords can apply to end a tenancy when rent is persistently paid late, but the Act never said what "persistently" meant. It now does. Rent is persistently late when it arrives more than 7 days after the due date, at least 3 times within 6 months. A payment doesn't count as late if the landlord applied it to something else the tenant owed, such as older arrears.

N12: the 120-day rule

An N12 ends a tenancy because the landlord, a family member, or a caregiver needs the unit. Until now the landlord always had to pay the tenant one month's rent (or offer another acceptable unit). For an N12 served on or after September 21, 2026, that compensation is no longer required if the landlord gives at least 120 days' notice. With less notice than that, the old compensation rule still applies.

Two limits worth knowing. First, the 120-day exemption does not apply to an N12 given because a purchaser is moving in (more on that below). Second, the notice period is only one part of it. The landlord still needs a genuine good-faith intention to live there, and still needs an LTB order if the tenant doesn't leave.

N12: move in within 60 days

For an N12 served on or after September 21, 2026, the landlord or family member must move in within 60 days of the termination date on the notice. If they don't, and the former tenant files a T5 application, the LTB will presume the notice was given in bad faith. The landlord can rebut that presumption at the hearing, but the burden is now on them. This one also doesn't apply to purchaser's-own-use N12s.

N13: a clearer right to return after renovations

A tenant who moves out because of an N13 for extensive repairs or renovations has a right of first refusal to move back in, at no more than the rent they would have paid had they never left. If the tenant tells the landlord in writing that they want to return, the landlord now has to:

• tell the tenant the estimated completion date without delay, and update it if it changes;
• tell the tenant in writing when the work is done and the unit is ready; and
• give the tenant 60 days' notice to move back in, where the work is completed on or after September 21, 2026.

If the landlord skips those steps, the LTB will presume the right of first refusal was breached. The deadline for a tenant to file a T5 (bad-faith notice) application is now the later of two years after moving out or six months after the renovations are finished.

Less room to cancel or delay an eviction

Two changes affect what happens at the end of the process:

• Setting aside an eviction order issued without a hearing. Where the order was based on an agreement between the parties or the tenant's own notice to end the tenancy, the LTB can cancel it only if it is satisfied that doing so would not be unfair. It can't consider changes in the tenant's circumstances that happened after the agreement or notice.
• Delaying an eviction after a hearing. For hearings on or after September 21, 2026, the Board can delay an eviction without the landlord's agreement only if the delay would not be unfair to the landlord or other tenants and there are compelling reasons. For N12 and N13 evictions, only the "not unfair" test applies.

New forms and the November 30 deadline

The LTB issued updated versions of the notices and applications affected by these changes. The new versions are in use now, and older versions will not be accepted after November 30, 2026. The updated forms are:

• Notices: N4, N5, N6, N8, N12 and N13.
• Landlord applications: L1, L2, L9 and L10.
• Tenant applications: T5.

Anyone who keeps blank forms on file, or has them in property-management software, should replace them now. Always download forms fresh from the LTB forms page. The LTB also updated its Rules of Procedure, several Interpretation Guidelines (7, 8, 10, 11 and 12) and its Practice Direction on Evidence.

What did not change

Much of the coverage of Bill 60 made it sound bigger than it is. These rules are the same as before:

• Rent control. The rent increase guideline is 2.1% for 2026 and 1.9% for 2027. Increases still need 90 days' written notice and at least 12 months between increases.
• The post-2018 exemption. Units first occupied for residential purposes after November 15, 2018 are still exempt from the guideline.
• Leases rolling month-to-month. When a fixed-term lease ends, the tenancy still continues month-to-month on the same terms. The government had floated consulting on ending this, but dropped the idea before the bill passed.
• No eviction without an order. A notice alone never ends a tenancy against a tenant's wishes. Only an LTB order, enforced by the Sheriff, does.
• The standard lease. Most private residential tenancies still require Ontario's Standard Form of Lease.

What landlords should do now

• Replace your forms with the September 2026 versions before November 30.
• Plan own-use moves early. If you or a family member want a unit back, 120 days' notice (ending on the last day of a rental period or the lease term) saves a month's rent, and you need to be ready to move in within 60 days of the termination date.
• Keep a rent ledger showing the date each payment arrived and what it was applied to. The persistent-late definition turns on exact dates.
• Use the LTB Payment Agreement form for any repayment plan.
• Document N13 communications — completion estimates, updates, the ready notice and the 60-day notice to reoccupy — in writing.
• Deal with A/C requests properly. A tenant who meets the conditions can't be refused. If electricity is included, work out the seasonal charge from actual or reasonably estimated cost.

What tenants should know now

• Raise repair problems in writing, early. Keep copies. If you end up at an arrears hearing, you'll need advance written notice of the issues and half the arrears paid to the landlord to raise them.
• An N4 gives you 7 days, but paying everything owing before the termination date still cancels it.
• Check your N12. If it gives less than 120 days, you are still owed one month's compensation. If the landlord doesn't move in within 60 days of the termination date, the law now presumes bad faith.
• After an N13, tell the landlord in writing that you want to return. That letter is what triggers the landlord's duties to update you and give you 60 days to move back in.
• Read any LTB order immediately. You have 15 days, not 30, to request a review.
• You can install a window or portable A/C if you follow the notice and safety conditions, even if your lease says otherwise.

Buying or selling a tenanted property

This is where these rules come up most often in our work. A tenant with a valid lease generally stays when a property sells. The sale doesn't end the tenancy. What the buyer can do depends on the property and on their plans:

• The purchaser's-own-use N12 is unchanged. Where a residential complex has three or fewer units and the buyer (or their family) intends to live there, the seller can give an N12 once there's a firm agreement of purchase and sale. It still needs at least 60 days' notice ending on the last day of a rental period, and the tenant is still owed one month's compensation. The new 120-day exemption and 60-day move-in rule don't apply to this notice.
• Vacant possession has to be planned into the timeline. A closing date that doesn't allow for proper notice, and for the possibility of an LTB hearing if the tenant doesn't leave, puts both sides at risk.
• Buying with the tenant in place means inheriting the lease, the rent, the deposit and the tenancy's history. The rent ledger, the lease and any open LTB files belong in due diligence.
• Negotiated departures ("cash for keys") are still legal when voluntary and properly documented on the LTB's N11 agreement form. A tenant can never be pressured into signing one.

Whether a unit is sold tenanted or vacant changes both the buyer pool and the price. It's worth deciding that before listing, with the tenancy paperwork in hand, not after an offer arrives. The same goes for properties with a garden suite or basement apartment. And if you're weighing the full cost of a sale, our guide to the cost of selling in Toronto covers the rest.

Common questions

Julian Pilarski — Sales Representative, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage. Top 1% in Canada, with a focus on West Toronto's most distinctive homes.