Jumping the LTB Queue in Ontario: How the Request to Shorten Time Works

Waiting your turn at Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) is the default. The Request to Shorten Time is the exception: one page that can do two things: move your hearing up the Board's calendar, or rescue an above-guideline increase (AGI) application that missed the 90-day lead time before its first increase. Either party can use it. What it takes is a delay that would do real harm, and documents that prove it.

Snapshot

Two things it can do

Under RTA s. 190 and Rule 16, the Board has power to shorten time requirements in its own proceedings, but not prescribed ones. The form gives you two boxes to choose from.

Box 1 – an earlier hearing. Granted, and your hearing happens before it otherwise would. Denied, and it goes ahead on the normal timeline.

Box 2 – a late AGI. The rule is that an L5 goes in at least 90 days ahead of the first effective date being claimed. Granted, and the late L5 is accepted. Denied, and it is not.

Rule 16.4 lists what the Member looks at:

• who gets hurt, and how, under each outcome (yes or no), on both sides;
• whether any such harm is fixable;
• good faith; and
• anything else relevant.

How urgent is urgent enough?

The official instructions illustrate the bar with landlord scenarios:

Not what this form is for

• Cutting a notice period. Those periods are set by law, and O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56 puts them beyond the Board's reach. If an N4 was given on or after September 21, 2026, it needs at least seven days (RTA s. 59(1)) for any tenancy, weekly or monthly alike, and the Board cannot shave that down.
• Changing a hearing date that is already booked. That calls for the Request to Reschedule a Hearing form.
• Getting more time to file. Lateness is handled through the Request to Extend Deadline form.

Timing and limits

• No deadline for the hearing version. But a request filed early has more room to make a difference.
• The AGI box matters only once you are less than 90 days out from the first effective date.
• One try per time requirement. Refused once, you are barred from re-asking for that hearing or that AGI deadline, absent a significant change of circumstances (Rule 16.6, echoed on the form).
• You may end up doing the serving. A shortened service period can come with a direction under Rule 5.2 that you, not the Board, deliver the Notice of Hearing and the application. Read the order, and if service is yours, finish with a Certificate of Service.

If you are on the other side

A Member can decide the request without hearing from you first (Rule 16.5). Your protection is that prejudice to the other party is one of the Rule 16.4 factors, so the requester is expected to deal with it. If an earlier hearing date arrives, check whether you have been served and prepare on the new timetable.

Filling it in

The current version is dated 2025/10.

1. File Number. At the very top. Where one reason covers several files, list them all, and in the Portal upload a copy to each file separately.
2. Language and accommodation. Only if you need them.
3. Requesting party. Your role (one of five boxes, from landlord through tenant's representative to other), your contact particulars, and your preferred way of receiving documents from the Board.
4. The unit, building or complex. Its full address.
5. What you want shortened. Tick the hearing box or the AGI filing box.
6. Your reasons. Keep every point tied to this file; per the form, off-topic reasons are disregarded. Be concrete: the dollar figure owing today, the exact closing or mortgage date, the dated list of incidents. Address the tenant's position honestly, including how a quicker date would affect them and why your harm is greater or theirs can be eased. On a late AGI, describe the obstacle that kept you from filing in time.
7. Supporting documents. The form cautions that missing documents can sink the request. Medical notes need three things: the diagnosis or condition, its impact, and a likely recovery date.
8. Signature. Role, signature, date; a licensed representative adds an LSO number and contact information.

Getting it to the Board

Choose one route:

• the Tribunals Ontario Portal, uploaded to the file;
• email to [email protected];
• post or courier, addressed to the LTB at 15 Grosvenor Street (Ground Floor), Toronto, ON M7A 2G6; or
• a ServiceOntario centre.

Paralegals and lawyers must use the Portal when a Request to Shorten Time is filed with no other request attached. The instructions do accept a plain letter or email in place of the form, so long as it names the file number, which deadline you want cut, and why; still, using the form is preferred.

Why requests get turned down

1. Assertions instead of proof. Claiming hardship without bank records, the sale agreement or incident reports is the leading cause of refusal.
2. Reasons unconnected to the case. Annoyance at LTB wait times in general doesn't count; the form says unrelated reasons are not considered.
3. Silence about the other party. Both sides' prejudice is on the Rule 16.4 list; leave one out and refusal gets easier.
4. Asking to shorten something prescribed, like a notice period. Section 190(2) and O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56 leave the Board without that power.
5. One upload for several files. Each file needs its own copy.
6. Wasting the single attempt. A thin first request shuts out a stronger one later, unless circumstances change significantly.

What follows

Rule 16.5 lets a Member decide on the paper alone, frequently with no input from the others. The decision comes back stamped granted or denied, reasons included.

• Granted, hearing version: expect a replacement Notice of Hearing showing the new, earlier date, and look for any direction that you serve it.
• Granted, AGI version: the L5 is taken in and processed.
• Denied: nothing changes; the file follows the normal queue, so plan around that.

FAQ

If it's granted, how much earlier will the hearing be?

The Board publishes no figure. The form commits only to "sooner" than the regular schedule.

Does it cost anything?

The fee schedule has no line for this request. Your application's own fee is unaffected.

For an L1, what evidence carries weight?

Per the instructions: concrete particulars of the arrears' impact, documented. Think tenant ledger, evidence that mortgage or property tax instalments went unpaid, and correspondence from your bank or lender.

My L5 went in late. Is that the end of it?

Maybe not. Pair it with this request, explaining what made the 90-day lead time impossible and how each side would be affected. A refusal means the Board won't take the L5.

Official sources

• Request to Shorten Time form (PDF)
• Request to Shorten Time Instructions (PDF)
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rules 5 and 16
• O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, s. 190
• Practice Direction Requiring Law Society Licensees to use TOP