Ontario rent can legally go past the yearly guideline when a tenant agrees to it in writing, and the Landlord and Tenant Board form for that is the N10 Agreement to Increase the Rent Above the Guideline. Both landlord and tenant sign. What the tenant gets in return is capital work, or a service that is new or additional. The most the rent can go up is the guideline plus 3%, which is 4.9% for increases that take effect in 2027. Once signed, the tenant keeps a five-day window to cancel, and six days must pass before any new rent applies. A signed N10 stands in for an N1.

Key facts
Who signs The landlord and the tenant of a unit covered by rent control
When Capital work (finished or promised), or a new or additional service (already added or promised)
Timing rules No 90-day notice. Earliest start: 6 days after signing. Tenant can cancel within 5 days. The 12-month rule still applies
Filed? No. Both sides sign and keep it; the LTB does not receive it
Fee None. If a tenant later challenges it with a T4, that costs $53
What follows Usually nothing. If the promise is broken, the tenant can file a T4

An above-guideline agreement is permitted by RTA s. 121 in two situations. The landlord:

  • has made, or promises to make, a specified capital expenditure; or
  • has added, or promises to add, a new or additional service.

For the agreement to count, it has to be written on the form the Board approved, and it has to spell out three things: the effective date, the new rent, and the tenant's right to cancel.

There is a ceiling in s. 121(3): the guideline, plus 3% of the previous lawful rent, and no more. The 2027 guideline is 1.9%, so an N10 increase taking effect in 2027 can be no more than 4.9%.

The agreement stands in for a notice, so the 90-day notice in s. 116 does not apply (s. 121(6)). Had you already served an N1 naming a date that falls on or after the N10's effective date, s. 121(7) voids it when the N10 kicks in.

When an N10 makes sense

It is for real, specific value the tenant gets. In the N10 instructions the illustration is new kitchen cupboards. Fresh appliances would qualify too, as would a service that is genuinely new to this tenant.

It is the wrong tool:

  • For parking or a prescribed service simply added to the tenancy. Section 123 of the RTA covers those, allowing the increase "as prescribed", at any time, and outside the 12-month rule.
  • For a unit outside rent control. Section 121 is not available for s. 6.1 units, those first occupied after November 15, 2018, or the social and other housing listed in s. 7. The guideline does not limit their rent in the first place.
  • For building-wide capital work tenants will not agree to pay for. That route is an LTB application for an above-guideline increase, the L5, with an N1 going to every tenant.
  • As a price for renewing. A tenancy continues without the tenant signing anything. The N10 is only for a true bargain: rent in return for work or a service.

The time rules

  • Twelve months. Under RTA s. 119 (and item 2 on the form), a year has to go by after the last increase, or after move-in, before the increase can start.
  • Five days to cancel. The tenant may cancel by giving the landlord written notice within five days of signing (s. 121(4)).
  • Six days to start. Section 121(5) bars the agreement from taking effect until six days after it is signed. Neither period can be shortened by the LTB (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56).
  • Two years to challenge. Section 122(2) gives a tenant whose promised work or service never came two years, counted from when the increase started, to apply.

Example: both parties sign on Monday, March 1, 2027. The tenant can cancel in writing up to Saturday, March 6. The increase can take effect no earlier than Sunday, March 7, and only if the tenant's last increase was 12 months or more before the effective date.

Completing the N10

Version 01/04/2022 is current. It is two pages.

  1. Tenants. Each tenant's name and, if it is not the unit, a mailing address.
  2. Landlords. Each landlord's name and mailing address.
  3. The unit. Full address of the rental unit, with unit number and postal code.
  4. The new rent (headed Your New Rent). Three entries: - the start date, written dd/mm/yyyy: not sooner than six days after everyone has signed, nor within 12 months of the previous increase; - the full amount of the new rent; - the rent period (month, week or other).

Work from the current lawful rent. For an increase starting in 2027 on a lawful rent of $1,800.00, the most you can add is 4.9% (1.9% guideline plus 3%), or $88.20, for a maximum new rent of $1,888.20. 5. What the tenant is getting. The section heading is Details of the Work or New or Additional Service. Specifics matter. According to the instructions, cover: - what the work or service is; - the item, including the brand or model number where that makes sense; - installation details; and - the completion date of the work (past or planned), or the date the service starts.

Extra sheets are fine. 6. Important Information (page 2). Do not change it. Its printed text covers the tenant's two-year window to apply if the work is not done, the 12-month rule, the 6-day rule, and the five-day cancellation right. 7. Signatures. Each tenant and each landlord prints a first and last name and a phone number, signs, and dates it. In signing, the landlord commits to doing the work or providing the service. 8. Office Use Only. Leave it empty.

Signing and keeping it

Nobody serves an N10; the parties sign it. Hand the tenant a signed copy immediately, because the five-day clock starts at signing. The landlord should keep the original, a note of the date each person signed, and evidence that the work happened or the service began, such as photos, invoices and delivery slips. No written cancellation within five days? Then the increase begins on the date in the agreement.

Mistakes that undo an N10

  1. Going over guideline plus 3%. The excess is not lawful rent, because s. 121(3) forbids it. The relevant guideline is the one for the year the increase begins.
  2. Starting the increase within six days of signing. The agreement cannot take effect that soon (s. 121(5)).
  3. Forgetting the 12-month rule. Nothing in an N10 displaces s. 119.
  4. Vague wording such as "upgrades" or "improvements". If no specified capital expenditure or service is identified, s. 121(1) is not satisfied, which hands the tenant a T4 argument.
  5. Never delivering the work or service. On a T4 under s. 122, the LTB can declare some or all of the above-guideline portion invalid from the day it began and order a rebate.
  6. Refusing a cancellation made within the five days, or pressing the tenant to keep the deal. Cancelling is a statutory right under s. 121(4).
  7. An N10 for an exempt unit. Without s. 121 applying, the document does no work at all.

If you are the tenant

You do not have to sign an N10 to keep your home; it must be a real exchange for work or a service. Before signing, check the new rent against the cap (guideline plus 3% of your current lawful rent) and make sure the work or service is described specifically. After signing, you have five days to change your mind: give the landlord written notice. The increase cannot start until six days after signing and not within 12 months of your last increase. Broken promise? Tenants and former tenants have two years from the start of the increase to file a T4, and the LTB can order the above-guideline part refunded.

Afterwards

If the five days pass quietly, the agreed rent applies from the effective date, and that date restarts the 12-month clock for the next increase.

Should the landlord not follow through, a T4 is available to the tenant, or a former tenant, for two years after the increase began. A refund of the above-guideline amount is one possible order.

Common questions

What is the 2027 cap?

4.9% of the previous lawful rent: the 1.9% guideline for 2027 plus the 3% allowance, for any increase beginning in 2027.

Does the landlord still need to serve an N1?

No. A signed N10 does the job of the notice of rent increase. An N1 served earlier for a later date becomes void when the N10 starts.

Can a tenant back out after signing?

Yes. Written notice to the landlord within five days does it. In any case, nothing takes effect for six days.

What if the landlord never does the work?

An application to the LTB is open to the tenant for two years after the increase began. The Board may rule the above-guideline part invalid, wholly or partly, and order money returned.

Official sources