Rent in Ontario that stays unpaid after the day it was due is dealt with first by an N4. The notice tells the tenant two things: how much rent is owed, and the date by which it must be paid or the unit vacated. No L1 eviction application for unpaid rent can be filed until an N4 has been given. For any N4 given from September 21, 2026, that deadline is 7 days away, where it used to be 14.

Quick summary
Served by A landlord, or someone acting for them, on a tenant who owes rent and has not moved out
Earliest day The day after the rent was due, as long as it is still unpaid
Notice length A termination date 7 days or more after the notice is given (for N4s given from Sept 21, 2026), plus time for mail or courier
Service Every tenant, using a method the rules allow (taping to the door is not allowed)
Cost Free. The follow-up L1 costs $186 online through the Portal, $201 otherwise
Next step From the day after the termination date: the L1, with proof of service on the Certificate of Service

The law behind the N4

The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA), s. 59, allows a notice of termination where rent lawfully owing has not been paid. By s. 59(2) the notice has to set out the arrears and explain that the tenant can head off termination by paying them, and any further rent then due, on or before the termination date.

There is a second escape hatch. Section 59(3) makes the notice void when the tenant clears all arrears, and whatever rent has come due by then, any time before the landlord's application reaches the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). The termination date passing does not close that door. Filing does.

Three limits to keep in mind:

  • Rent only. Utilities owed to a utility company, late fees, NSF charges, damage and an unpaid last month's deposit stay off the N4 (Interpretation Guideline 11).
  • It removes no one. Removal takes a Board order and the Sheriff (Court Enforcement Office) to carry it out.
  • Possession matters. The tenant must still be living there both when the N4 is served and when the L1 is filed.

Is the N4 the right notice?

It fits when a tenant who is still in the unit has paid nothing, or less than the full rent, for a period that is already due. Do not serve it on the due date itself. The tenant has until midnight that day to pay (N4 checklist), so the day after is the earliest.

Different facts, different route:

Situation Go to
You only want the money, and the tenancy can continue Apply on an L9; skip the notice, but accept that eviction is off the table
The tenant has left L10, filed within a year of the move-out (RTA s. 87(1.1))
Rent arrives, but late every time An N8, which may go out with an N4. Guideline 10 relies on Shearer v. Oz, 2026 ONSC 3753, where the Divisional Court treated rent that is unpaid as both overdue and owing

Working out the dates

The termination date

Allow 7 days at minimum between giving the N4 and the termination date (RTA s. 59(1)). Rule 1.13 says the day of delivery is not counted and the termination date is.

Example: an N4 handed to the tenant on May 12 can have a termination date of May 19 at the earliest.

Add time for the delivery method

  • Mail, Xpresspost included: add five days; that is when the law treats a mailed notice as given (Rule 3.9; RTA s. 191(3)). Mailed May 12, it counts as given May 17, and the earliest termination date is May 24.
  • Courier: treated as given the day after hand-off to the courier, or the next business day when that day is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday (Rule 3.9; Rule 1.1 counts weekends as holidays). The N4 instructions call this adding one business day.
  • Fax: whatever date appears on the transmission confirmation.

Statutory notice periods are fixed; the Board can neither lengthen nor shorten them (Guideline 10). Any N4 given ahead of September 21, 2026 was subject to the old 14 days.

When the L1 can be filed

From the day after the termination date onward (s. 74(1)). No end date applies. Unlike other termination notices, a rent notice neither expires after 30 days nor has a 30-day filing window (ss. 46(2), 69(3)). Waiting has a cost, though: the longer the gap, the longer the tenant has to void the N4 by paying in full.

For tenants: the dates that matter to you

  • Up to the termination date: pay the amount on the N4, plus any rent that has come due since, and the termination is stopped.
  • After the termination date but before the landlord files: paying everything owing, including newly due rent, still voids the N4 (s. 59(3)).
  • After filing: see "What comes after the N4" below.

Paying only part leaves the notice in force, unless the landlord agrees to something else (RTA s. 45).

Filling in the N4

Download a fresh copy each time from the LTB forms page. The LTB advises saving it and completing it outside the browser. Keep the official instructions open as you go. Take out the checklist page before you serve it.

Page 1: the box at the top

Work in this order:

  1. Tenant's name. All tenants who live there, names spelled right, and any assignee or subtenant too. Leave out kids and visitors.
  2. Landlord's name. Yours, or every landlord's.
  3. Address of Rental Unit. Include the unit, suite or apartment ("Basement" works), the street, the municipality and the postal code.
  4. Termination date (dd/mm/yyyy). A real date on the calendar, not a count of days, set at least a week out plus any mail or courier allowance.
  5. Amount of rent owing ($). Finish here, using the Total Rent Owing from page 3, so both pages show one number.

Page 2 explains the tenant's options and has no blanks.

Page 3: the table of rent owing

Use a line for each period with a balance. Rent Period From and To mark its start and end (for rent due on the 1st, the whole calendar month); Rent Charged is the lawful rent; then Rent Paid; then the difference under Rent Owing. Add up the last column for Total Rent Owing.

What counts as rent? Basic rent counts, and so do separate payments to you for services: parking, for instance, or a seasonal charge for air conditioning (N4 instructions; RTA s. 2(1)). A fixed monthly utility charge you collect is rent. A utility bill paid straight to the provider, or a share of a bill that varies, is not (Guideline 11).

The table has room for three periods. With more, either merge older periods into row one or two (keeping the latest period alone in the bottom row), or attach a page listing every period and serve it with the notice. Rent that is not yet due on the day you give the N4 stays out.

Signature and Representative Information

Tick Landlord or Representative, add a name and phone number, sign and date. Section 43(1)(c) requires the signature of the landlord or the landlord's agent, and signing a notice does not require the agent to be licensed (Guideline 10). Representatives fill in their own block: name, company, LSO number, contact details.

Delivering it

Approved methods under the instructions:

  • handed to the tenant, or to an apparent adult at the unit;
  • left in the mailbox or wherever mail usually lands;
  • pushed beneath the door or through the slot;
  • by fax, courier or mail.

Email requires the tenant's written consent (Rule 3.1). Door posting is never allowed.

Each tenant must be served. Hold on to a duplicate of the exact notice, and get the server to fill out a Certificate of Service. Whether service is valid depends on the method, not on whether the tenant actually read it (Guideline 10).

Why N4s fail

There is no amending an N4 after service; Guideline 10 cites Boomer v. Arvane Farms Ltd., 2025 ONSC 1772 for this. The s. 212 safety net covers only mistakes that cause the tenant no significant prejudice, and a wrong date or wrong amount generally does cause it. If the N4 falls, the eviction claim goes with it, although the Board may still order the arrears (Guideline 11).

  1. Served on the due date. The tenant had until midnight. Serve the following day or later.
  2. Not enough days. Fewer than 7 clear days, or no allowance for mail (5 days) or courier (1 business day). A short notice period cannot be cured.
  3. A number of days instead of a date. "Seven days from today" may not meet the s. 43(1)(b) requirement to state a termination date.
  4. Charges that are not rent. Guideline 11 lists the usual culprits (late fees, NSF and administration charges, utility-company bills, damage, a deposit never paid) and says they make the notice likely invalid. Put NSF charges on the L1 instead.
  5. A wrong total. The Board has found N4s invalid where arrears rested on a rent never lawfully increased (Guideline 10). Rent not yet due, or a page 1 figure that does not match page 3, causes the same problem.
  6. A missing tenant, a partial address, or the wrong signer. Each tenant in possession has to be named and served, and only the landlord or their agent may sign (Guideline 10).
  7. Bad service. Door taping, or email the tenant never agreed to in writing. The claim then fails, unless proof shows the notice actually reached the tenant on time (s. 191(2)).
  8. An early L1. Any filing up to and including the termination date (s. 74(1)).
  9. An L1 after the tenant paid up. If all arrears and newly due rent were paid before filing, the N4 is void (s. 59(3)). Check the ledger on filing day.
  10. Applying the deposit to the debt. A last month's rent deposit pays for the last month only (Guideline 11).
  11. No N4 or Certificate of Service uploaded with the L1 or in the 5 calendar days after. That risks administrative dismissal (Rules 4.4, 4.5).
  12. An outdated form. The N4 was reissued September 21, 2026. The operational update names ten forms whose old versions are refused from November 30, 2026 (N5, N6, N8, N12, N13, L1, L2, L9, L10, T5); the N4 is missing from that list, so nobody can say for sure that the cut-off covers it. Sidestep the issue with a newly downloaded N4.

What comes after the N4

Tenant pays everything before filing: the N4 is void. If rent falls behind again, a new N4 is needed.

Tenant moves out: that ends the tenancy; an L10 filed inside one year recovers the rent.

Tenant stays and does not pay: once the termination date has passed, an L1 goes in through the Tribunals Ontario Portal, attaching the N4 and the Certificate of Service. The fee is $201, or $186 on the Portal. From there:

  • Paying all arrears, rent that has come due since and the landlord's filing fee before an order issues ends the case (s. 74(2)).
  • Tenants with complaints of their own face a new hurdle on L1, L9 and L10 applications filed since September 21, 2026: half the claimed arrears must reach the landlord a week or more ahead of the hearing (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.3; RTA ss. 82 and 87(2)).
  • Section 83 requires the Board to weigh refusing or postponing eviction. If the landlord does not consent, a postponement now needs compelling grounds, and must be fair to the landlord and the other tenants (s. 8.4 of O. Reg. 516/06).
  • Paying the amount in the eviction order before it becomes enforceable voids the order (s. 74(4)).

Recent changes

From September 21, 2026. A new N4 form; 7 days instead of 14 for N4s given from that date. For L1, L9 and L10 filings made since then, tenants must pay half before raising their own issues, and delaying an eviction is harder.

From July 1, 2026. 15 days, down from 30, to ask for a review of an LTB order issued from that date. Every s. 206 repayment plan must now be written on the Board's Payment Agreement form.

Common questions

How long does a 2026 N4 give the tenant?

For an N4 given from September 21, 2026, at least 7 days, plus 5 more if mailed or 1 business day more if sent by courier. Earlier N4s needed 14 days.

Can late fees or NSF charges go on an N4?

No. The N4 claims rent and nothing else; Guideline 11 says NSF charges on it probably make it invalid. The bank's NSF charges and the capped administration fee belong on the L1.

The termination date passed, then the tenant paid. Can the L1 still be filed?

It depends on whether the payment was complete. Full payment of the arrears plus all rent due since, made before filing, voids the N4 (s. 59(3)). Anything less and the notice still stands.

Is there an expiry date on an N4?

No; rent notices do not lapse on a fixed date (RTA ss. 46(2), 69(3)). The practical risk of delay is that it gives the tenant more time to void the notice by paying everything.

May an N4 be sent by email?

Yes, but only with the tenant's prior written consent to email (Rule 3.1). And no N4 may ever be taped to a door.

Official sources