A hearing or case management hearing (CMH) at Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) can be moved to another day, before it happens, with the Request to Reschedule a Hearing. It is open to landlords and tenants alike, typically because the party, a witness or a representative has a clash.

Key points
Who can ask Any party: landlord, tenant or other
Timing Before the hearing or CMH takes place
Cut-off The LTB must have it 5 business days or more before the hearing
How to send it Through the Tribunals Ontario Portal, or by the email, mail, courier (to the regional office) or fax options listed on the form
Fee The LTB fee schedule does not list one
What comes after Nothing on paper; on hearing day, an adjournment is asked for out loud

The rule behind the form

Rule 21 of the Board's Rules of Procedure allows a joint, advance request to move a hearing or CMH. Rule 21.1 sets two tests. Everyone in the case has to consent. And the request has to reach the Board as early as reasonably possible, with 5 business days as the absolute minimum. You need that consent even when the other side has not yet received the application and Notice of Hearing.

Missing either condition is not automatically fatal. Rule 21.2 leaves a door open: a Member or Hearing Officer may still say yes, provided they accept it was not reasonably possible for you to comply with Rule 21.1. For a CMH, the Board has another option: cancel the CMH and book a hearing instead (Rule 21.5).

Is this the right step for you?

  • Yes, for a real conflict you know about ahead of time. Think of an earlier-booked court appearance, an operation, a key witness who will be away, or a scheduling clash for your representative.
  • Consider whether someone else could attend. Hearings are not only in person; the Board also uses video and other electronic means, and written hearings (Rule 7.1, and the Practice Direction on Hearing Formats). Expect the form to ask what stops you from logging in remotely or sending a substitute. An agent or representative may solve the problem without a new date.
  • No, if the hearing is today. Ask for an adjournment instead. That request is made when the hearing opens, and the Member has discretion to grant it or not (Rules 21.7–21.8).
  • Rarely, for AGI applications. Under Rules 21.6 and 21.9, an above-guideline increase application (s. 126) moves only when circumstances are exceptional.
  • No, if you are after an earlier date. File a Request to Shorten Time for that.

Counting the time

  • The minimum is 5 business days, and it is counted to the day the Board receives the request, not the day you send it. Business days leave out weekends and LTB holidays.
  • Example: a hearing set for Monday, December 14, 2026. Counting back five business days (Friday the 11th, Thursday the 10th, Wednesday the 9th, Tuesday the 8th, Monday the 7th), the request should be in the Board's hands by Monday, December 7, 2026 at the latest, assuming no LTB holiday falls in that week.
  • File "as soon as reasonably possible" after the conflict comes up. A late request with no reason given is harder to justify under Rule 21.2.
  • Unavailable dates. For each party and each representative, list the dates they cannot attend over the three months that follow the current hearing date (Rule 21.3).
  • The original hearing date holds until you are told otherwise.

Filling in the form (version 2025/04)

  1. File Number, language preference and accommodation.
  2. Requesting Party's Information. First say who you are in the case (landlord, landlord representative, tenant, tenant representative or other). Contact details follow: name, company if any, mailing address, phones, email, and your preferred way of receiving Board documents.
  3. Unit, Building or Complex Covered by the Application. Write out the rental unit's full address.
  4. Hearing Information. Enter, as dd/mm/yyyy, the date you hope to change.
  5. Consent Confirmation. Two questions: did you get consent from everyone else, and was it oral or on paper? Oral consent is permitted by the form's notes; paper is better.
  6. Additional Information. This is where you make your case. Why move the date? Why can you not appear virtually or send a substitute? Attach documents proving the clash.
  7. Scheduling Information. Landlord, landlord's representative, tenant, tenant's representative: list each one's blocked-out dates across the three months after the hearing date.
  8. Signature. Mark your role, then sign and date. Representatives who are licensed include their Law Society number and contact details.

Sending it in

The Portal route: sign in to the Tribunals Ontario Portal, open your case, then choose Documents, Evidence and Requests followed by Request to Reschedule the Hearing. The form lists other channels too. You can email [email protected], mail or courier it to the regional office printed on the Notice of Hearing, or fax it using a number given on the form. Licensees are the exception: the Practice Direction for lawyers and paralegals requires the Portal. Send one copy; duplicates slow processing.

Why requests get turned down

  1. Missing consent. Everyone has to agree under Rule 21.1. If they did not, you are relying on Rule 21.2 and must show it was not reasonably possible to comply.
  2. Late arrival. Fewer than 5 business days' lead time sends you to the same stricter test.
  3. Blank scheduling section. The unavailable dates are a Rule 21.3 requirement, and the form warns that leaving out any requirement can lead to a denial.
  4. Nothing to prove the conflict. Supporting documents are requested for any scheduling clash you rely on.
  5. Not checking the outcome. Under the form, finding out the result is the parties' job. If the applicant is absent, the application can be dismissed; at a CMH, the Board can treat it as abandoned (Rules 9.4, 21.4).
  6. Inventing consent. The RTA makes it an offence to file false or misleading information.

For the party on the other side

If the other party asks you to agree to a new date, you can say yes verbally, but putting your consent in writing protects everyone. Have your own unavailable dates for the next three months ready, because they go on the form. If you do not agree, the request can still be granted only under the stricter Rule 21.2 test. Either way, the original date stands until the Board says otherwise, and a respondent who does not show up may find the hearing went ahead without them.

After the Board decides

The decision is made by a Member or Hearing Officer. If you win, you will receive a fresh Notice of Hearing. If you lose, or nobody has decided by the day, the hearing or CMH proceeds on the original date (Rule 21.4). Show up ready, and raise an adjournment at the outset if you still need one.

Frequently asked questions

Can I move the date over the other side's objection?

Only if the Member is persuaded you could not reasonably have obtained consent or filed in time (Rule 21.2). Usually the request fails, leaving you to attend or to seek an adjournment on the day.

How close to the hearing can I leave it?

Five business days is the floor: the Board has to have the request by then (Rule 21.1). In practice, file as soon as the conflict appears.

The other side agreed over the phone. Is that enough?

The form allows it. But an email or signed note is much easier to rely on if anyone later disputes it.

Rescheduling or adjourning: what is the difference?

Rescheduling happens in advance, on paper. An adjournment is asked for when the hearing opens; the Member then considers things like your reason, prejudice to the other side and how the file has gone so far (Rule 21.8).

I filed and heard nothing. Is the hearing off?

Do not assume so. Get in touch with the Board ahead of the date, and treat the original hearing as confirmed until someone tells you the request was granted.

Official sources