The N12 is Ontario's own-use notice. It lets a landlord recover a unit so that the owner, an immediate relative or a caregiver can live in it, or so that the property's buyer can. The tenant is not at fault, which is exactly why the Act controls this notice so tightly: the eligible occupants, the end date, payment to the tenant and proof that the plan is genuine. The Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) rules changed on September 21, 2026, and from November 30, 2026 only the current form is accepted.

The essentials
Served by Reason 1: individual landlords only. Reason 2: any landlord who has signed to sell
Proper occasion A real, present plan for the named person to occupy the unit
Shortest notice 60 days, to an end-of-period date. Reason 1 notices given from September 21, 2026 with 120+ days to an end-of-period date: no payment owed
How it travels Hand it to, or otherwise serve, each tenant; the Board receives it only inside an L2
Fees None to serve. An L2 costs $186 online or $201 by other routes
Next documents L2, Certificate of Service, occupant's sworn or declared statement

Both sit in the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA).

Reason 1: own use (s. 48)

Good faith is required, along with a plan for occupation lasting 12 months or longer by someone on this list:

  1. the landlord personally;
  2. the landlord's spouse;
  3. a child or parent of either of them;
  4. a caregiver who provides, or will provide, care to one of the above, as long as the person cared for lives or will live in the same building or related group of buildings, or the same mobile home park or land lease community.

Section 48(5) narrows it further: part ownership by a human being, plus a landlord who is a human being. Companies are shut out of Reason 1.

Reason 2: buyer's use (s. 49)

After an agreement of purchase and sale is signed, the seller may serve the notice for the buyer, where the buyer genuinely needs the unit for the buyer or for that same circle of relatives and caregivers. Section 49(2) limits this to:

  • complexes of one, two or three residential units; and
  • condominium units, regardless of building size.

The Act sets no 12-month stay for a buyer's occupant (Guideline 12), a contrast with Reason 1.

Service of an N12 does not terminate anything. A tenant who stays put can only be removed through an L2 order.

Who does not qualify, and other wrong turns

Brothers, sisters, grandchildren, aunts, uncles and cousins are all outside the list, as Interpretation Guideline 12 spells out. The guideline also refers to the Court of Appeal's view that an estate cannot serve an N12 before it is clear who the individual landlord is.

The N12 is the wrong choice when:

  • A corporation is the landlord, or no person (as opposed to a company) owns any share. Guideline 12 recounts a company transferring a one-percent interest to its own shareholders on the eve of service; that was held to be bad faith.
  • The occupancy would be occasional, such as a weekday crash pad or an office. That falls short of "residential occupation" (Guideline 12).
  • The tenant is protected under s. 51 (and the N12 instructions): for instance, anyone already renting there at condominium registration (or when the sale agreement for a proposed condo unit was signed), anyone already renting there at the approval of a severance, and most equity co-ops.
  • Work on the unit is the real goal. Renovation or demolition requires an N13.
  • A buyer is acquiring a four-plus-unit building and the unit is not a condo. Expect dismissal.

Setting the end date

Requirement Detail
Minimum gap 60 days from service to the end date (RTA ss. 48(2), 49(3))
Which day Final day of a rental period; for fixed terms, final day of the term. Rent due on the 1st means a month-end date. A lease cannot be shortened with an N12
Day zero The service day itself is not counted (Rule 1.13)
By mail or Xpresspost Treated as given five days after posting (RTA s. 191(3))
By courier Treated as given the day after handover to the courier, rolling to the next business day if that is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday (Rule 3.9; weekends count as holidays under Rule 1.1). The instructions describe this as adding one business day

The 120-day route. Under s. 48.1(2), a Reason 1 notice served September 21, 2026 or later carries no compensation if the end date is at least 120 days off and lands on the final day of a period or term.

Worked dates. Month-to-month, rent payable on the 1st, N12 personally delivered Monday, November 16, 2026:

End date Days Outcome
January 15, 2027 60 Not allowed: falls mid-period
January 31, 2027 76 First permissible date; tenant must receive one month's rent
February 28, 2027 104 Permissible; under 120, so payment still due
March 31, 2027 135 Permissible; on a Reason 1 notice, nothing owed

More clocks:

  • No flexibility. The Board has no authority to stretch or trim a notice period (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56), and a premature end date is a defect that cannot be amended once served (Guideline 10).
  • Payment. Compensation is due on or before the end date (RTA s. 55.1).
  • Applying. The L2 may be filed straight after service, but s. 69(2) closes the door 30 days after the end date. For a March 31, 2027 end date, the last day is April 30, 2027.
  • The occupant's statement. It must accompany the L2 (s. 71.1(1)). Portal filers who cannot attach it immediately have 5 calendar days under Rule 4.5, after which dismissal is possible.
  • Moving in (Reason 1). As a rule, inside 60 days after the end date, or after the tenant's actual departure if that came later (O. Reg. 240/26), followed by at least a year of living there.
  • Tenant's claim. A T5 for bad faith can be brought within one year of moving out (s. 57(2)).

Completing it

The LTB currently posts N12 (2026/10). Strip off the two checklist pages before serving; what remains is a three-page notice.

Page 1, top half.

  • To: each tenant living there, names spelled right, plus any subtenant or assignee. Not children, not visitors. Every tenant receives a copy.
  • From: all the landlords, as people (for Reason 1 they must be individuals).
  • Address of Rental Unit: civic number, street, unit identifier ("Unit 2", "Basement"), city or town, postal code.
  • Termination date (dd/mm/yyyy): a single date, calculated as above.

Page 1, reasons. Shade one of them.

  • Reason 1: the occupant's name, then their relationship box (yourself, spouse, child, parent, spouse's child, or spouse's parent). For a caregiver, use the care-services row and tick who will be cared for.
  • Reason 2: the occupant's name and the purchaser box that fits (buyer; buyer's spouse, child or parent; spouse's child or parent; or a caregiver to one of them).

Naming a single occupant is enough, the form says. Extra occupants can go on an attached page with their boxes ticked; Guideline 12 treats that as optional.

Page 2. The LTB's information page. Do not edit it. Among other things, it tells tenants about end-date rules, payment, the 120-day exception, and the option of leaving early on 10 days' notice with an N9.

Page 3. Mark Landlord or Representative, print first and last name and phone, then sign and date. A representative completes their own section (name, Law Society number if licensed, firm, address, email, phone). Unsigned, the notice risks being invalid (RTA s. 43(1)(c); checklist). The Office Use Only box stays empty.

Service and payment

Every tenant gets a copy, served in one of the ways RTA s. 191 or Rule 3.1 allows:

  • personal delivery to the tenant or an adult living there;
  • the mailbox, or wherever mail usually lands;
  • slid beneath the door, or pushed through a mail slot;
  • Xpresspost, regular mail or courier; or
  • email, if (and only if) the tenant already agreed to it in writing.

Door-posting does not count. Keep a copy and note the method and date, since you will be swearing to them on the Certificate of Service that goes in with the L2.

What the tenant is owed. One month's rent, or a different unit the tenant agrees to, paid by the end date, on every Reason 2 notice and on Reason 1 notices with fewer than 120 days (ss. 48.1, 49.1). On a sale, the obligation stays with the seller (s. 49.1(2)). Keep receipts: the L2 asks how much was paid and when.

If you are the tenant

  • Is the named person eligible? Only the landlord, the landlord's spouse, a child or parent of either, or a qualifying caregiver. A company cannot serve a Reason 1 notice.
  • Is the date right? 60 days or more, on the last day of a rental period or term, with mail or courier time added.
  • Are you owed money? Yes, one month's rent (or an acceptable unit) by the end date, unless it is a Reason 1 notice served on or after September 21, 2026 with 120+ days to an end-of-period date. No eviction order issues until that payment is made (s. 83(4)).
  • Need to go sooner? An N9 with 10 days' notice ends it early.
  • The notice is not an eviction. Stay, and the landlord must file an L2 and prove good faith at a hearing, where the LTB must also weigh delaying or refusing eviction.
  • After you leave, keep an eye on the unit. Advertising it for rent or sale, re-renting, demolishing or converting it within a year raises a presumption of bad faith, and you have one year from moving out to file a T5.

Thirteen ways an N12 fails

  1. A company relying on Reason 1. Section 48(5) forbids it; no eviction can rest on that notice.
  2. The wrong relative or a friend. No ground exists for a sibling, grandchild, in-law or friend, and amending cannot invent one.
  3. A bad end date. Fewer than 60 days, a mid-month date where rent runs from the 1st, a date inside a fixed term, or forgotten mailing days. Such a notice is void, uncorrectable after service, and beyond the Board's power to extend.
  4. Misreading the 120-day exemption. It is limited to Reason 1, to notices from September 21, 2026 on, and to end dates that are both 120+ days away and at the end of a period or term. A 119-day notice, or any Reason 2 notice, still triggers the month's rent. Section 83(4) holds back the eviction order until payment; Guideline 12 says that if the end date came and went with no payment, dismissal follows absent exceptional circumstances.
  5. An unnamed or unserved co-tenant. Everyone in possession has to be named and served (Guideline 10), and leaving one out can sink the case.
  6. No occupant statement with the L2. The Board is obliged to refuse the application (s. 71.1(2)).
  7. Hiding earlier N12s or N13s. Any served in the previous two years, for any unit, must be disclosed; otherwise refusal under s. 71.1(3)–(4). Guideline 12 reports a Court of Appeal ruling: an undisclosed notice that comes out at the hearing ends the case, with no amendment.
  8. A buyer's notice on a shaky deal. A signed agreement of purchase and sale has to be in place at service. Doubtful or sham sales may lead the Board to refuse or delay (Guideline 12). Share the agreement with both the tenant and the Board at least seven days ahead of the hearing.
  9. A buyer's notice for a non-condo unit in a four-plus-unit building. Outside s. 49(1); dismissed.
  10. Filing the L2 after day 30. Section 69(2) bars it outright.
  11. Taped to the door, or emailed without consent in writing. Defective unless the landlord proves the tenant actually got it in time (s. 191(2)).
  12. An old form version. Refused from November 30, 2026.
  13. No real intention. Good faith is tested at service and by what the landlord does after (Guideline 12). Shifting plans, listing the unit, or inviting the tenant to stay on at more rent are all evidence of bad faith.

After service

  1. Early departure. The tenant can give a 10-day N9 or simply leave by the end date; either ends the tenancy.
  2. If the tenant remains, the landlord files the L2 along with the N12, the Certificate of Service, the occupant's affidavit or declaration, payment details, prior-notice disclosure and the fee. At the hearing, good faith has to be proven on a balance of probabilities.
  3. Relief from eviction. Section 83 requires the Board to think about refusing or postponing eviction. From September 21, 2026, in N12 and N13 cases, the Board may postpone against the landlord's wishes only after finding no unfairness to that landlord or to other tenants (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4). Whatever the order says, it cannot be effective earlier than the N12's end date. Guideline 12 adds that tenants usually are not made to repay the filing fee in no-fault N12 cases.
  4. Moving in (Reason 1). The occupant should be living there within 60 days after the end date (or after the actual move-out, if later), and for a year or more. Under s. 57(5), from service until a year after the tenant goes, bad faith is presumed if the landlord advertises the unit for rent, rents it to someone else, advertises the unit or building for sale, demolishes it, or takes any step toward a non-residential use. If a T5 succeeds, s. 57(3) allows orders for rent differences, moving expenses, general compensation of up to 12 months' rent, and an administrative fine.

Recent changes

In force September 21, 2026:

  • Reason 1 compensation exemption. Under RTA s. 48.1(2), own-use notices served from this date owe nothing if the end date is 120 days or more out and closes a rental period or term. Reason 2 notices are unchanged: a month's rent.
  • Move-in presumption. For Reason 1, O. Reg. 240/26 and RTA s. 57(6.1) expect occupation inside 60 days, counted from the end date or the tenant's later exit. It applies to every T5 filed on or after September 21, 2026 (s. 57(7)), even for older notices.
  • Postponing eviction. N12 and N13 cases now use only the test of no unfairness to the landlord or other tenants (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4).
  • New form. The 2026/10 version replaces earlier ones, which are refused starting November 30, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Does every N12 still cost one month's rent?

No. A Reason 1 notice served from September 21, 2026 onward, with 120 or more days to an end date at the close of a rental period or term, owes nothing. Shorter notices, and all buyer's notices, require one month's rent (or an acceptable unit) by the end date.

Could the landlord's brother or grandchild be the occupant?

No. The list is the landlord, the spouse, a child or parent of either, and a qualifying caregiver. Guideline 12 names siblings, grandchildren, aunts, uncles and cousins as ineligible.

Can a corporation serve an N12?

Not for its own use, because s. 48(5) requires individual ownership (at least in part) and an individual landlord. A corporate seller can still serve a buyer's N12 where the other conditions are satisfied.

Must the occupant swear to anything?

Yes. Whoever personally needs the unit gives an affidavit, or a signed declaration the Board accepts in its place, stating a good-faith need to live there (for at least a year on Reason 1). Filed without it, the L2 is refused.

Official sources