When an Ontario tenant decides to move out, the written notice to the landlord is the N9. This page works for both people involved. Tenants will find out how to pick a valid date and deliver the form. Landlords will find out how to tell whether the notice they got is good, and what comes next if the tenant does not actually leave.

Key facts
Who gives it The departing tenant. All tenants in the tenancy should sign
When Whenever you like, provided the date leaves enough notice
Notice period 60 days minimum for monthly, yearly and fixed-term tenancies, landing on the final day of a rental period or the term. 28 days for daily or weekly. Some situations below allow less
Service To the landlord, by a method permitted under RTA s. 191 or Rule 3. The LTB never receives it directly
Fee Free to give. A landlord's L3 costs $186 online through the Portal, $201 otherwise
What can follow An L3 by the landlord, any time from receipt of the N9 up to 30 days past its termination date

What the N9 does

The legal basis is s. 47 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA). A tenant can end things at the close of a rental period or a fixed term, provided the notice satisfies the time limits in s. 44. Section 43(1) adds four formal requirements: the Board's approved form, identification of the unit, a stated termination date, and a signature from the tenant or the tenant's agent. That approved form is the N9.

Move out as the valid N9 says, and the tenancy is over on its termination date (s. 37(2)). Stay, and the N9 becomes what the landlord relies on for an L3 under s. 77.

When the N9 is the right notice

Most tenants who simply want to move should use it. Some situations have their own rules or forms:

  • The landlord served you an N12 or N13. Ten days' notice is enough, and the date can be any day (ss. 48(3)–(4), 49(4)–(5), 50(4)–(5)).
  • The landlord turned down your request to assign. A refusal, or silence for seven days, lets you give notice within 30 days of asking (s. 95(4)). You need only the lesser of the usual period and 30 days (s. 96(2)), ending on any day.
  • Care home residents. You can leave on 30 days' notice whenever you choose (s. 145(1)), and stop care services and meals on 10 days' notice (s. 145(2)).
  • No standard lease was provided. Where you asked in writing for a required standard form of lease and did not receive it within 21 days (or received it but it was never signed), s. 47.0.1 lets you end even a fixed-term tenancy with 60 days' notice, on the final day of a rental period.
  • You are leaving because of sexual or domestic violence. That situation has its own form, the N15: 28 days' notice and strict confidentiality.
  • You and your landlord have agreed on a date the N9 would not allow. The document for that is an N11 Agreement to End the Tenancy (s. 37(3)).

No landlord may make you sign an N9 as part of signing the lease, or as a condition of renting. Section 37(4) voids any N9 obtained that way. The only exceptions are students living in housing that a post-secondary institution provides, or that is provided under an agreement with one (s. 37(6)), and the specific care home units for rehabilitative or therapeutic services that the N9 itself describes.

Getting the date right

Notice periods (s. 44).

Tenancy Minimum notice The date must be
Monthly 60 days The last day of a rental period. Rent due on the 1st means the last day of a month
Yearly 60 days The final day of a yearly period
Fixed term 60 days before the term expires The expiry date itself; an N9 cannot end a term early (s. 47.0.1 aside)
Daily or weekly 28 days The final day of a rental period (a Sunday, if rent is due on Mondays)

February and March (s. 44(5)). For a February-end date, notice given on or before January 1 is treated as 60 days. For a March-end date, the cut-off is February 1.

Counting. Calendar days. Skip the day you give the notice; count the termination date, even when the Act's wording is "at least" (s. 89(3) of the Legislation Act, 2006). Mailed notices are treated as given on day five after mailing (s. 191(3)). Couriered ones count as served the day after the courier takes them, pushed to the next business day if that is a weekend or holiday (Rule 3.9; Rule 1.1 treats Saturdays and Sundays as holidays).

Example: rent is due on the 1st of each month. Give the landlord your N9 on Friday, February 26, 2027, and April 30, 2027 is a valid end date. Wait until Tuesday, March 2, 2027 and April 30 is out of reach; the first valid date becomes May 31, 2027.

After the termination date.

  • Section 46(1) voids a termination notice 30 days past its termination date, unless by then the tenant has left or the landlord has applied to evict.
  • The landlord must file any L3 within those same 30 days (s. 77(3)).

Completing the N9

You need version 01/04/2022. It runs three pages: you complete pages 1 and 3, and page 2 is the LTB's information.

  1. To. The landlord, by legal name or company name.
  2. From. Each tenant. The form asks for all tenant names.
  3. The unit. Complete address, with the unit number and postal code.
  4. Termination date. Day, month and year of your last day as tenant. This is where most N9s go wrong, so check it against the table.
  5. The promise. Printed for you: a statement that you will be out on or before the termination date.
  6. Page 3 signature. Choose Tenant or Representative; sign; print your first and last name and phone number; date it. A representative may sign on your behalf as agent (s. 43(1)(c)).
  7. Office use only. Leave empty.

Delivering it

You give the N9 to the landlord. The LTB is not involved at this stage. Section 191(1) allows hand delivery to the landlord, or to the landlord's employee who has authority over the building; dropping it in the landlord's mailbox; or mailing it to the landlord's home or place of business. Under Rule 3.1 you can also courier it, or email it if the landlord agreed in writing to email service. Even an N9 delivered some other way is effective if it really did reach the landlord in time (s. 191(2)). Tenant or landlord, write down when it arrived and how.

What each side should do

If you are the tenant giving notice:

  1. Double-check the date. Too little time, or a day that is not the end of a rental period or term, can sink the notice.
  2. Get every tenant's signature. With only one signature out of several tenants, the landlord may struggle to show that everyone gave notice.
  3. Keep a copy, and proof it was delivered.
  4. Expect showings. Once you have given notice, the landlord can come in between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. to show prospective tenants, without written notice, as long as you were told or a reasonable attempt was made to tell you (s. 26(3)).
  5. Leaving early, or without proper notice? You can owe rent through the earliest date a valid notice would have ended the tenancy (s. 88(1)). It stops once someone new is entitled to move in (s. 88(3)).
  6. Second thoughts? Nothing in the RTA lets a tenant cancel an N9 unilaterally. If the landlord agrees you can stay, put that agreement in writing.
  7. Belongings. If you move out under the N9 and leave things behind, the landlord may sell, keep or get rid of them (s. 41(1)(a)).

If you are the landlord receiving it:

  1. Review it right away. Correct form? Correct unit? All tenants signed? Enough notice, and a date at the end of a period or term? Keep the original along with proof of the date you got it.
  2. Deal with a defective date immediately. An N9 that is short or misdated is weak support for an L3. Request a corrected one, or settle on a date with an N11.
  3. Showings. Entry rules under s. 26(3) apply as described above.
  4. Taking rent after the notice. Under s. 45, taking rent or compensation after receiving an N9 does not cancel the notice or start a new tenancy, unless you agree to that. If you want the tenant to stay on, record it in writing.
  5. Early or improper departure. You are owed rent up to the first date a valid notice could have ended the tenancy (s. 88(1)), but not past the date a new tenant may move in (s. 88(3)). Reasonable re-rental efforts to cut your loss are required (ss. 16, 88(4)).
  6. The tenant stays. File your L3 in time. You can do it before the termination date arrives.
  7. Belongings left behind after a move-out under the N9 may be sold, kept or disposed of (s. 41(1)(a)).

Mistakes that make an N9 fail

  1. Not enough notice. Under 60 days (or 28), or a date ahead of the end of a fixed term outside the exceptions, breaks ss. 44 and 47.
  2. The wrong day of the month. Where s. 44 calls for the last day of a period, a date partway through it is defective, however many days of notice it gives.
  3. Signed together with the lease. Section 37(4) voids it, except in the student and care home situations.
  4. Missing signatures. If some tenants did not sign, it may be impossible to show that all of them gave notice.
  5. A text or a letter in place of the form. Section 43(1) requires the approved form, so an informal message instead of an N9 or N11 is risky to rely on.
  6. The landlord waits too long. When the tenant stays and day 30 after the termination date passes with no L3, the application is out of time (s. 77(3)) and the notice is void (s. 46(1)).

What happens next

Tenant gone by the termination date? The tenancy has ended, and there is nothing to file. Tenant still there? The landlord files an L3 through the Tribunals Ontario Portal, supported by an affidavit that verifies the notice (s. 77(2)). The LTB can then grant eviction without a hearing, but the order cannot take effect before the N9's date (s. 77(5)).

The tenant has 10 days to file an S2 motion, and filing it stays the order (s. 77(6)–(7)). From September 21, 2026, the LTB cancels the order only if that would not be unfair, and it disregards changes in the tenant's situation that arose after the N9 was given (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.2).

Common questions

What is the notice period for a tenant in Ontario?

Monthly, yearly and fixed-term tenancies: 60 days or more, ending at the close of a period or the term. Daily or weekly tenancies: 28 days. Less is allowed after an N12 or N13, in care homes, and after an assignment request is refused.

Can an N9 end a one-year lease early?

Usually not. Outside s. 47.0.1, the date cannot come before the term ends. Two other options: ask the landlord to let you assign the unit (a refusal, or no reply within seven days, lets you give notice), or agree on a date with the landlord using an N11.

Can I withdraw my N9?

Not on your own; the RTA provides no way to do that. If the landlord agrees the tenancy will continue, get the agreement in writing to avoid confusion later.

Official sources