Some Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) applications in Ontario cannot go ahead without a written statement of fact from a specific person. The Board gives you two blank pages for this: an Affidavit (sworn) and a Declaration (signed). You will meet them most often on an eviction for own use, where the incoming occupant must confirm a good-faith need for the unit. The forms are nearly empty, so the wording is up to you. Here is when you need one, which one, and what to write.
Quick summary
| Signer | The person the law names. On an N12 case, the one moving in. On an L3, the landlord |
| When | At filing, with the application |
| Strict rule | N12-based L2: no statement filed with it means the Board refuses the L2 (RTA s. 71.1) |
| Where | The Tribunals Ontario Portal, attached to the application |
| Cost | $0. Swearing an affidavit is listed as free on the LTB fee schedule |
| Next step form | None |
Sworn or signed?
Think of the two as the same statement delivered two ways.
- Affidavit: you swear or affirm it in front of a notary or commissioner for taking affidavits. The LTB template has a jurat (the "sworn before me" block) for the commissioner.
- Declaration: no commissioner. You sign and date it. Pre-printed wording confirms the content is complete and accurate and warns that giving the Board false or misleading information is an offence (RTA s. 234).
Which do you need? Usually the declaration. RTA s. 192.1 allows the Rules to substitute an unsworn document for an affidavit, and Rule 1.5 does so. A dated, signed declaration making the same statement is accepted wherever the Act demands an affidavit, on two conditions: it confirms the statement is true, and it acknowledges that a false declaration is an offence. The Affidavit template even points you to the Declaration form as an alternative.
The four situations
1. An N12 eviction (filed on an L2)
The rule is in s. 72(1). Before the Board can evict on an N12, the landlord must file a sworn statement from the individual who will personally be living in the unit. The content depends on the type of N12:
| N12 ground | What the incoming occupant confirms |
|---|---|
| Landlord's own use (s. 48) | A good-faith need for the unit for personal use lasting a minimum of one year |
| Purchaser's own use (s. 49) | A good-faith need for the unit for personal use |
Timing is strict. Section 71.1 says the statement goes in with the application, and an application without it must be refused. The L2 instructions repeat the point. If the N12 names more than one person who intends to live there, each may complete their own.
2. An L3 (tenant gave notice, or agreed to go)
Section 77(2) requires a sworn confirmation of the tenant's notice or the agreement to end. Following the L3 instructions, set out:
- when the tenancy agreement was made;
- the termination date;
- the date or dates the tenant signed, and the names of everyone who signed;
- that the tenant did not sign the notice or agreement at the same moment as signing the lease;
- for an agreement, that nothing signed later replaced it.
3. An L4 (settlement or order breached)
Section 78(2) also requires an affidavit. The L4 has a declaration form of its own.
4. Proof you served a summons
The Requesting a Summons brochure wants a sworn affidavit from the person who physically handed the summons to the witness. More on the summons page.
On the tenant side
Tenants rarely file these, but you will often be handed one. If you are facing an N12-based L2, read the statement closely. Did the person actually moving in sign it? Does a landlord's own-use statement cover at least a year? Was it filed with the L2? A missing statement is fatal to the landlord's application, so raise it.
Writing the statement
Declaration form, top to bottom
- File Number, if the LTB has assigned one.
- The opening: "I, [name], of the City/Town/Municipality of [place], declare that:"
- Numbered paragraphs, written as "I". For a s. 48 N12, stay close to the statute. A workable sample: "I require the rental unit at [address] in good faith, for my own personal use, for a period of at least one year." A relative of the landlord should say how they are related.
- Leave the printed truth statement and s. 234 warning untouched.
- Name, signature, date.
Affidavit form, top to bottom
- File Number, then the name and home municipality of the person giving the evidence (the deponent).
- After "make an oath or affirm and say as follows:", your numbered paragraphs.
- The jurat: place, date, deponent's signature and commissioner's signature. Do not sign ahead of time. Sign only once you are with the commissioner.
Filing
Rule 4.4: upload the statement with the application. Rule 4.5 offers a fallback of 5 calendar days when that cannot be done, but the application risks administrative dismissal. For an N12 case, forget the fallback. The statute (s. 71.1) requires the statement on the filing date.
How these statements fail
- Leaving it off an N12-based L2. Refusal is mandatory (s. 71.1(2)).
- Signed by someone other than the occupant. A landlord cannot sign for a son or daughter who is moving in. Section 72(1) needs the occupant's own statement.
- Dropping the one-year period. On a landlord's own-use N12, s. 72(1)(a) requires the statement to cover at least a year.
- Using a homemade declaration. Rule 1.5 accepts a declaration instead of an affidavit only if it contains the truth confirmation and the offence acknowledgement. The LTB form has both built in. Use it.
- Signing an affidavit at home, or leaving the jurat blank. That is not a sworn document.
- Generic wording that is not true. A good-faith statement that turns out false exposes the signer to a T5 bad-faith application and to s. 234.
Recent changes
Bill 60 reshaped the N12 rules for notices served starting September 21, 2026 (LTB Operational Update, Sept 21, 2026):
- Compensation. If a landlord's own-use N12 is given from that date and its termination date is at least 120 days out and lands on the last day of a period or term, the landlord owes no compensation and need not offer another unit (s. 48.1(2)). Purchaser N12s are excluded.
- 60-day move-in. Normally the landlord or specified person must move in within 60 days after the termination date, or after the tenant leaves if that comes later. Miss that, and a T5 filed from September 21, 2026 onward begins with a rebuttable presumption of bad faith (RTA s. 57(6.1), (7); O. Reg. 240/26).
- Purchasers. Neither change touches purchaser's own-use notices.
The s. 72(1) statement requirement itself is unchanged. New versions of the L2 and N12 came out September 21, 2026; the LTB stops accepting earlier versions November 30, 2026.
Common questions
Must a lawyer or commissioner witness an N12 declaration?
No witness is needed. Rule 1.5 lets a signed, dated declaration stand in for a sworn affidavit if it confirms the statement is true and acknowledges that a false declaration is an offence.
Can I send in the N12 declaration after filing the L2?
No. The RTA (s. 71.1) ties it to the application itself. File the L2 without it and the Board has to refuse it.
Who is supposed to sign the N12 declaration?
Whoever personally needs the unit: the landlord, the purchaser, or the family member named in the N12.
What should an L3 declaration contain?
Confirmation of the tenant's notice or agreement, with the details the L3 instructions ask for: dates, signers, the termination date, and a statement that it was not signed when the lease was signed.