Ontario's N6 is a termination notice with two uses. One is crime: something unlawful done, or an unlawful business run, in the building by a tenant or occupant, or with their permission. The other is rent-geared-to-income (RGI) housing, where a tenant misstated what the household earns. There is no way for the tenant to cancel it, and the landlord may file an L2 the moment it is served. Most of the risk sits in one box: the termination date, which can be anywhere from 10 to 20 days out depending on the reason.

Summary table
Given by Landlords (including social housing providers for the income ground)
Timing After the unlawful conduct, or after the income misstatement is discovered
Minimum notice Drugs (Reason 1): 10 days. Other illegality or income (Reasons 2, 3): 20 days, cut to 14 for a second notice after a voidable N5. Mail and courier add time
Delivery To every tenant by an approved method; taping it to the door does not count
Cost Free to serve. The L2 is $201, or $186 through the Tribunals Ontario Portal
Next form L2: available immediately; deadline is day 30 after the termination date

The form draws on ss. 60 and 61 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA).

Section 61: illegal acts and businesses. The landlord can give notice where the tenant or another occupant, in the unit or anywhere in the residential complex, breaks the law, runs an unlawful trade, business or occupation, or allows another person to. Where drugs are involved (producing an illegal drug, trafficking, or possession for trafficking), day 10 can be the termination date (Reason 1 on the form). Any other illegality gets day 20 (Reason 2). Section 61(3) borrows its drug vocabulary ("illegal drug," "production," "trafficking," "possession") from the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

Section 60: income misrepresentation. Where the unit is social housing within s. 7(1), paras. 1 to 4, a tenant who knowingly and materially misstated their own income, or that of other household members, can be given notice (Reason 3). The minimum is 20 days.

Second notices under s. 68. Reasons 2 and 3 can use 14 days instead of 20 if the tenant already had a voidable N5 (given under s. 62, 64 or 67) and the fresh conduct came between day 8 and the six-month mark after it. Drug activity under Reason 1 is outside s. 68, but its 10 days is already the shortest.

No cure period. The tenant cannot make an N6 go away by fixing anything; the Act provides no such route. (Section D of the posted N6 instructions borrows language about voiding a first N5; it has no application to the N6.)

Is the N6 the right notice?

Reach for it when the law-breaking is the issue itself: a grow-op or dealing from the unit, an operation that violates a statute, or another offence on the property. Reason 3 is only for RGI units, and only for a misstatement that was both knowing and material.

Look elsewhere when:

  • Someone's safety was seriously impaired, say through an assault or a fire hazard. That is the 10-day N7. Guideline 10 allows serving several notices about one event, provided a reasonable tenant would not be confused by the mix.
  • It is nuisance, not crime. For substantial interference, serve an N5.
  • The RGI tenant just stopped qualifying. Loss of eligibility is not a termination ground (RTA s. 58(3)); unpaid new rent is dealt with on an N4.
  • Money, not possession, is the goal. For the rent the tenant should have paid, the instructions suggest an L9. Guideline 10 also lets that sum be claimed on an L2 with no termination notice at all.

Picking the termination date

Situation Days Section
Drugs: making, dealing, or holding to deal (Reason 1) 10 s. 61(2)(a)
Any other unlawful act or business, first time (Reason 2) 20 s. 61(2)(b)
RGI income misstated, first time (Reason 3) 20 s. 60(2)
Reason 2 or 3 following an earlier voidable N5 14 s. 68(2)

Ticked Reason 1 plus Reason 2 or 3? Use the longer clock, per the instructions and Guideline 10.

How to count. Rule 1.13: skip the day of service, count the final day. By mail, add 5 days (s. 191(3)). By courier, service is deemed the day after the courier picks it up, moving to the next business day when that day is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday (Rule 3.9; Rule 1.1 counts weekends as holidays). Notice periods are fixed; the Board cannot trim them.

Example. Say an N6 is handed to the tenant on Wednesday, February 3, 2027.

  • Reason 1 only: the termination date can be February 13, 2027 or later.
  • Reason 2 or 3 as a first notice: February 23, 2027 or later.
  • Reason 2 or 3 as a qualifying second notice after a voidable N5: February 17, 2027 or later. Mail it that day instead of handing it over and the earliest date becomes February 22, 2027.

The L2 window. Filing can happen the same day the N6 is served (s. 71). The outer limit is 30 days past the termination date (s. 69(2)). With a termination date of February 23, 2027, the last filing day would be March 25, 2027. Miss it and the notice is void (s. 46(1)).

Filling in the N6

Get a fresh copy from the LTB forms page each time and keep the official instructions open as you go. The checklist pages come off before service.

Parties and address. The "To" box names every tenant in possession, along with any subtenant or assignee. The "From" box names the landlord, or all of them if there are several. Then the unit address: number and street, unit or apartment or suite, municipality, postal code.

Termination date. A single dd/mm/yyyy date, far enough out for the longest period among your ticked reasons once delivery days are added. The form notes next to it that an application can be made right away.

Reasons section. Tick every reason that applies:

  • Reason 1: drugs. You believe the tenant or a member of the household, at the complex, made, dealt or held drugs to deal, ran a business doing so, or let someone else.
  • Reason 2: the same, for any other unlawful act or business.
  • Reason 3: RGI. You believe the tenant gave false income figures for themselves or relatives living in the unit.

Details About the Reasons for this Notice. This is a table of dates, times and descriptions. The checklist wants:

For Include
Every reason When, what, and by whom. It must have happened on the property and been done by a tenant or occupant; for a visitor's conduct, show how the tenant or occupant allowed it
Reason 1 Which drug, and the person who made, dealt or held it to deal
Reason 2 The act or business, the person responsible or permitting it, and the specific law breached
Reason 3 The dollar gap in reported income and your math; plus confirmation the unit is s. 7(1), paras. 1–4 housing

Add pages if you run out of space, and serve them together with the notice.

Signature and Representative Information. Choose Landlord or Representative, add a printed name and phone, sign, date. Representatives fill in their own block too: name, LSO number if any, firm, address, email, phone.

Delivering it

Approved methods under the instructions: in person to the tenant or another adult in the unit, in the mailbox or the normal mail-delivery spot, under the door, through a mail slot, by fax, by courier, or by mail or Xpresspost. Email needs written consent from the tenant first (Rule 3.1). A notice stuck to the door is not served.

Deliver it to each tenant, keep a copy, and fill out a Certificate of Service. Upload both when you file the L2, or no later than 5 calendar days afterward (Rules 4.4 and 4.5).

If you are the tenant who received an N6

There is nothing you can do to cancel an N6 by stopping the activity, but you can contest it when the L2 is heard, and the landlord carries the burden of proving what happened. Compare the termination date with the table: the 10-day date is limited to the drug ground. Check that the details name a law (Reason 2), describe events in the complex, and, if a guest was involved, explain how you permitted it. For Reason 3, the misstatement must have been knowing and material, and simply no longer qualifying for RGI is not a ground at all. If the landlord does not apply within 30 days after the termination date, the notice is void. At the hearing, the Board must also consider whether to refuse or delay eviction.

Twelve ways an N6 fails

Guideline 10 says a flawed N6 cannot be amended after service. Section 212 of the RTA may rescue a minor slip that causes the tenant no significant prejudice.

  1. The 10-day date on the wrong reason. It belongs to the drug ground alone. Any other illegality, an RGI case, or drugs ticked alongside another reason require 20 days (14 if it is a proper second notice).
  2. Fourteen days without the groundwork. You need a prior voidable N5 (s. 62, 64 or 67), with the new conduct after the first week and inside six months.
  3. Simple possession dressed up as dealing. The drug ground needs making, dealing, or holding in order to deal, in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act sense. Lesser evidence cannot carry Reason 1 or its short date.
  4. No law named. Reason 2 asks which law was broken. "Illegal activity" on its own does not tell the tenant what they have to answer.
  5. Wrong location. Section 61 is limited to acts or businesses in the unit or the residential complex.
  6. A guest's conduct with no link to the tenant. The notice has to show the tenant or an occupant committed or permitted it.
  7. Reason 3 in the wrong housing, or without figures. Only s. 7(1), paras. 1–4 social housing qualifies, and only a knowing, material misstatement. Show the amount and how you got it.
  8. Lost RGI eligibility treated as a ground. Section 58(3) forbids it. If the new lawful rent goes unpaid, serve an N4.
  9. An L2 filed after day 30. Mandatory dismissal under s. 69(2).
  10. Confusing notice combinations. Pairing a voidable N5 with a non-voidable N6 or N7 over one set of facts has led the Board to reject all of them (Guideline 10).
  11. The basics. Every tenant in possession named and served, full address, approved delivery, a signature.
  12. An outdated form. The N6 was replaced on September 21, 2026, and the earlier version is not accepted from November 30, 2026.

After the notice

The landlord's next step is an L2, uploaded to the Portal together with the N6 and proof of service; the fee is $186 online or $201 otherwise. Rent lost through an income misstatement can be added to the same L2, with the arithmetic shown (Guideline 10).

The hearing turns on proof. If eviction is ordered on the drug ground, the order has to request expedited enforcement by the Sheriff (RTA s. 84). On any ground, s. 83 obliges the Board to think about refusing or postponing eviction. Without the landlord's consent, postponement now needs two findings: no unfairness to the landlord or other tenants, and compelling grounds (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4). Reviews of orders made from July 1, 2026 onward must be requested inside 15 days.

Recent changes

  • July 1, 2026: review requests shrank from 30 days to 15 for orders dated that day or later.
  • September 21, 2026: stricter test for postponing an eviction the landlord has not agreed to.
  • September 21, 2026: updated N6 released; prior versions refused from November 30, 2026.

The 10, 14 and 20-day notice periods are unchanged.

Frequently asked questions

If the activity stops, is the N6 cancelled?

No. N4s and first N5s can be cured; the N6 cannot. The L2 can go in immediately, though the tenant keeps the right to fight it at the hearing.

Does there have to be a criminal charge or conviction?

Neither is required by ss. 60 or 61; the test is whether a tenant or occupant did or allowed the act. Proof at the hearing is still needed. With no published N6 guidance from the Board on the weight of charges or convictions, direct evidence of the conduct beats relying on a charge.

Two reasons are ticked. Which date applies?

The longer. Drugs plus another reason means the 20-day rule (or 14 for a valid second notice).

Is an N6 available for an RGI tenant who is behind on rent?

Only for misreporting. Honest reporting followed by loss of eligibility is no ground; unpaid new rent calls for an N4. Knowing and material misreporting is what Reason 3 covers.

Official sources