Ontario landlords use the N13, a Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) form, when a tenancy has to end for one of three building-related reasons: tearing the unit down, turning it into something other than housing, or a renovation so large that the city must issue a permit and nobody can live there meanwhile. Expect 120 days' notice at a minimum and, in most cases, a payment to the tenant. Tenants of renovated units may choose to return, and since September 21, 2026 the landlord must keep them informed in writing.

Quick summary
Given by Individual landlords and corporate ones alike
Grounds Knocking it down, changing it to non-residential use, or permit-level work requiring an empty unit
Notice length Minimum 120 days, landing on a period-end or lease-end; tenants who own their mobile or land lease home get a year
Service and filing Every tenant is served; the notice reaches the LTB only with an L2
Fee Free to serve. Applying on an L2 costs $201, or $186 if filed on the Portal
Next forms The L2, accompanied by a Certificate of Service

The three grounds

Section 50(1) of the RTA allows notice when the landlord needs the unit back in order to:

  • Reason 1: demolish it;
  • Reason 2: do repair or renovation work of a scale that needs vacant possession as well as a building permit;
  • Reason 3: convert it to a non-residential use.

Companies may serve N13s (the N12 is closed to them). Either way, good faith is required. According to Interpretation Guideline 12, the courts look for a real and continuing intention to do the work, assessed when the notice is served and afterwards.

Pick the ground carefully, because it changes the tenant's rights. A renovated unit survives, which gives its tenant a right of first refusal (RTA s. 53); a demolished one does not. Two rulings noted in Guideline 12 show where the lines fall: combining two units that were rented separately counted as demolition in the Divisional Court, while the LTB refused to treat short-term-rental use as a non-residential conversion.

When the N13 fits, and when it does not

It fits only if:

  • for Reason 2, a permit is truly required and the work cannot proceed around an occupant. The form's checklist rules out repair or renovation N13s where no building permit is needed. New floors, fresh paint, a kitchen facelift, or anything you could work around do not count.
  • for Reasons 1 and 3, the demolition or conversion is really going ahead; s. 73(1) requires the Board to find the landlord in good faith intends to do it.

It does not fit:

  • when the real goal is for you or a relative to move in (that is an N12);
  • when the real goal is a higher rent from a new tenant;
  • where local rules demand a renovation licence that you are not going to obtain. Certain municipalities insist on one before a renovation N13, Guideline 12 observes, and it counts the licence as an "other authority" for s. 73 purposes.

If you are the tenant who received an N13

Look at three things right away. First the date: 120 days or more after service (plus mail or courier time), and the closing day of a rental period or your lease? Does the notice explain the work in enough detail for you to understand why you must leave? And, for a renovation, do you want to come back? If so, tell the landlord in writing before you move out; that is what preserves your right of first refusal. Should you find a place sooner, an N9 lets you go on 10 days' written notice. Any compensation must reach you by the termination date.

Timing rules

Notice period. No less than 120 days under s. 50(2), ending at the close of a rental period or lease term. If the home on the site belongs to the tenant (mobile or land lease), it becomes one year minimum.

Counting. The day the notice is given does not count. Mail adds five days, since s. 191(3) treats it as given on day five; a courier adds a business day (the notice counts as given the day after the courier gets it, or the next business day if that is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, Rule 3.9). Worked example: to end the tenancy on October 31, 2027, deliver the N13 in person by July 3, 2027, or put it in the mail by June 28, 2027.

No adjustments. O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56 denies the Board any power to change the period. A notice with a bad date is defective for good; Guideline 12 says it cannot be amended.

Compensation. Section 55.1 sets the deadline: the termination date.

L2. Any time after service, up to 30 days past the termination date (s. 69(2)).

Early exit. An N9 with 10 days' notice lets the tenant go sooner.

Right of first refusal. It depends on written notice from the tenant given prior to moving out (s. 53(2)). From there, the landlord's duties last until a 60-day reoccupation window following readiness has run (s. 53(2.2)).

T5 time limits.

Claim Deadline
Bad faith (s. 57) 12 months from the move-out
Right to return denied (s. 57.1) Two years from move-out or six months from completion of the work, whichever ends later

Completing the N13

The current version is labelled N13 (2026/09). Pages 1 and 2 are a checklist for you, not the tenant; remove them. The four pages that follow are the notice.

Page 1: who, where and when

  • To. All tenants living in the unit, including an assignee or subtenant, but not kids or visitors.
  • From. All landlords; a company gives its legal name.
  • Address of Rental Unit. Number and street, unit or suite, municipality, postal code.
  • Termination date. dd/mm/yyyy, 120-plus days out, on a period-end or term-end.

Page 1: the reason

One circle only: 1, 2 or 3. The pre-printed text under Reason 2 tells the tenant they may return; s. 50(3) makes that mandatory, so do not edit it.

Page 2: describing the work

More N13s succeed or fail here than anywhere else. Answer five questions:

  1. What is being done? Scope, building systems, structural work.
  2. Where? Just this unit, or the whole building?
  3. How? Contractor, phases.
  4. When? Start date and how long it will take.
  5. Why can the tenant not stay while it happens?

Attach pages as needed. One checklist question is whether you gave "enough detail"; two words like "major renovations" will not satisfy it, and may cost you the application.

Page 2: permits

Three options, pick one: permits or other authorization already obtained; permits to be obtained; or none needed. The last choice is only realistic for a demolition or conversion, since by definition a Reason 2 job requires a building permit.

Pages 2 and 3: the printed information

Keep it unchanged. It walks the tenant through termination-date rules, leaving early on 10 days' notice, and the compensation chart.

Page 4: signing

Mark Landlord or Representative, print your name with a phone number, then sign and date. Representatives complete their extra section too: Law Society number where licensed, firm, address, email and phone.

Serving it and paying compensation

Serve every tenant by a method allowed under RTA s. 191 or Rule 3.1:

  • handing it to the tenant, or to another adult living there;
  • the mailbox;
  • sliding it beneath the door, or into a mail slot;
  • courier, regular mail or Xpresspost;
  • email, but only where the tenant agreed to email in writing ahead of time.

Never post it on the door. Keep track of when and how, since you will need both for the Certificate of Service.

What the tenant is paid, by the termination date, under ss. 52, 54, 55 and 55.1 of the RTA:

Complex with 5+ units Complex with under 5 units
Unit demolished or converted Three months of rent, or another unit acceptable to the tenant One month of rent, or another unit acceptable to the tenant
Renovation, and the tenant does not elect in writing to return 3 months' rent, or an alternative unit the tenant accepts 1 month's rent, or an alternative unit the tenant accepts
Renovation, and the tenant does elect in writing to return Rent for 3 months or for the renovation period, whichever is shorter Rent for 1 month or for the renovation period, whichever is shorter

Special cases:

  • Work ordered under an Act: no compensation is owed.
  • Severed buildings: three months' rent is owed (s. 55) if the complex came out of a severance that cut a 5-plus-unit building down below 5, and the N13 follows within two years.
  • A tenant who owns a mobile or land lease home: one year's rent or $3,000, whichever is less.
  • Care homes: s. 146 requires reasonable efforts to place the tenant in appropriate other accommodation.
  • Social housing: generally no compensation, because of RTA s. 7.

How N13 applications fail

  1. Reason 2 without a permit-level job. Under s. 50(1)(c), both the permit and vacant possession must be needed; per Guideline 12, applications fail where the work needed no permit.
  2. Arriving at the hearing without permits. No eviction order is possible under s. 73(1)(b) until all needed permits and authorities are in hand, unless the landlord shows every reasonable step was taken and the permit simply will not issue while someone lives there. Municipal renovation licences fall within "other authority".
  3. A thin description of the work. A tenant left guessing about the plan, or about why leaving is necessary, can argue the notice is defective (Guideline 10).
  4. A bad termination date. Under 120 days, not a period-end or term-end, or no allowance for mailing. The notice is void and cannot be repaired.
  5. Compensation wrong or late. Sections 83(4) and (5) hold back any eviction order until payment. Unpaid by the termination date? Guideline 12 expects dismissal, save in exceptional circumstances. Get the unit count for the residential complex right, because one month versus three depends on it.
  6. The wrong ground. Mixing up demolition and renovation alters what the tenant is entitled to and raises good-faith questions. Using a unit for short-term rentals is still residential.
  7. Not disclosing past notices. Any N12 or N13 given within the last two years, on any unit, has to be listed. If one is missing, s. 71.1(3)–(4) obliges the Board to refuse the application, and per Guideline 12 a notice that surfaces at the hearing leads to dismissal.
  8. Late L2. Once a month has gone by past the termination date, s. 69(2) closes the door.
  9. Service problems. A tenant left out, a notice taped to the door, or email without written consent. That is defective service unless you can prove the tenant actually received it in time (s. 191(2)).
  10. Ignoring the right of first refusal after the tenant leaves. Examples: no written estimate of the completion date, no update when it shifts, no word that the unit is ready, less than 60 days to reoccupy, or rent above the lawful amount. Section 57.1(1.1) then deems the right to have been denied, opening the landlord to a T5 award.
  11. An old N13. Earlier versions are refused from November 30, 2026.

After service

If the tenant does not leave, the landlord's L2 package contains the N13 and its Certificate of Service, the N13 schedule of compensation (paid or to be paid), a disclosure of any N12s and N13s from the past two years, evidence about permits or the steps taken to get them, and payment of the fee.

At the hearing, s. 83 obliges the Board to think about refusing or postponing eviction. For N13 cases, enforcement can be pushed back against the landlord's wishes only if that is not unfair to the landlord or to other tenants (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4).

If the application is dismissed after compensation was paid, s. 73.1 lets the Board order it repaid.

Once the tenant has left, expect to start and finish the work in a reasonable time; a bad-faith T5 is open to the former tenant for twelve months.

If the tenant elected in writing to return, the landlord must:

  • send a written estimate of the completion date, without delay;
  • send written word of any change in that estimate, without delay;
  • send written notice once it is ready, without delay;
  • allow 60 days or more after that for the move back;
  • charge no more than the lawful rent that would have applied had the tenancy carried on (s. 53(3)).

For their part, tenants must keep the landlord updated in writing on any change of address (s. 53(4)), and the landlord should send notices to the most recent address given.

Recent changes

In force since September 21, 2026:

  • Written-notice duties. A tenant's written election to return, made from that date, triggers the landlord's three written notices (RTA s. 53(2.1)).
  • 60 days to move back. For units ready from that date on, the tenant has at least 60 days to reoccupy (s. 53(2.2)).
  • Deemed denial. Breach either duty and the law treats the landlord as having refused the tenant's return (Guideline 12; s. 57.1(1.1)).
  • T5 deadline. Two years from move-out or six months from completion, whichever comes later, for a T5 on the right to return (s. 57.1(2)).
  • Delaying eviction. N13 cases use the "not unfair" test alone (s. 8.4 of O. Reg. 516/06).
  • Form. N13 (2026/09) replaced the old version, which is refused from November 30, 2026.

Still not in force: a 2023 change requiring a qualified person's report to accompany a renovation N13 (RTA s. 50(3)(b)). e-Laws shows it as "not in force" at its October 28, 2026 currency date.

Common questions

How long is the notice on an N13?

At least 120 days, and the date must close out a rental period or lease. For a tenant-owned mobile home or land lease home, a year at least.

What compensation is payable?

Three factors decide it: which ground, how many units the complex has, and whether the tenant elects to come back. As a rule: three months' rent where the complex has five or more units, one month where it has fewer, or an alternative unit the tenant accepts. When a renovated unit's tenant elects to return, it is rent for that period or the renovation period, whichever is shorter. No compensation is owed where an Act ordered the work.

Can the landlord renovate and then rent to someone new for more?

No, if the tenant said in writing, ahead of leaving, that they want back in. They are first in line, at the lawful rent that would have applied with no interruption. Even without that notice, the N13 must not have been given in bad faith.

Must the building permit be in hand before the N13 is served?

Not necessarily at service. What matters is the hearing date: by then the permits and authorities must be obtained, or the landlord must prove reasonable efforts in a case where the city will not issue a permit for an occupied unit (RTA s. 73).

Official sources