Can't Serve the Other Side? The LTB Request to Use Alternative Service in Ontario

Sometimes the usual ways of delivering LTB papers simply do not work: the other side has moved and left no address, or answers email but never agreed to be served that way. In Ontario, the fix is the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) form called Request to use Alternative Service. With it you ask the Board to sign off on a way of serving that falls outside the menu in the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) and the Board's Rules. Landlords run into this most on L10 claims against former tenants who have disappeared, but any party who cannot serve another can use it.

Quick summary

Why the form exists

The ordinary methods come from RTA s. 191 and Rule 3: handing documents over in person, using the mailbox or usual mail spot, mailing, couriering, faxing (with restrictions), and, with written consent, email or the Portal. For someone who has left the unit, only the shorter list in Rule 3.3 and s. 191(1.0.1) is available.

Rule 3.4 opens the door to something else. Any party can seek permission for a different method; the rule's own examples are email and serving the party's representative. Ask ahead of time on this form, or raise it at the hearing. Rule 3.7 is a separate power to permit email service without the other side's consent.

Approval comes with two blanks filled in by a Member: the approved method and the deadline for service. Stick to both.

Situations where it helps

• Chasing a former tenant on an L10 when you have no residential address for them, yet you do know where they work, which social media account they use, or their email.
• A party dodging service.
• A lawyer or agent who will take the papers, in a case where the Rules do not already allow serving them.

It is not a shortcut. Try regular service first, because the form requires it. If the other side has already consented to email in writing, Rule 3.1(h) covers it and no request is needed. And it cannot fix a defective notice of termination.

Tenants can use it too. A tenant who has filed an application and cannot reach the landlord through the regular methods can make the same request, on the same conditions.

Dates to watch

Worked example. An L10 hearing is set for February 15, 2027. The alternative service request must reach the LTB by January 6, 2027 (40 days before). If approved, serve by January 16, 2027 (30 days before) and file the Certificate of Service by January 26, 2027 (20 days before).

Filling it in

File Number and Language Preference. From the Notice of Hearing or application.

Name and Address of the Requestor. You (and your company, if any), with address, phone numbers and email.

Address of the Rental Unit. Whichever unit the case is about.

Question 1: what you have tried. Most requests rise or fall on this answer. Be specific about dates, times, addresses, methods and outcomes. For instance: Canada Post returned an item as unclaimed on a stated date, or a process server went three times and heard from whoever answered that the tenant no longer lived there. Attach the proof: tracking printouts, envelopes that came back, skip-trace reports, the server's notes.

Question 2: the method you want, and why it will get to them. If you propose email, show the address is live: they sent you messages from it recently, they used it throughout the tenancy, or they replied to a demand letter from it. Attach screenshots.

Signature. Tick Landlord or Landlord Representative. Add the name, the LSO number if a licensee, a phone number, the signature and the date.

Do not write in the "For Board Use Only" box.

Sending it to the Board

For landlords, the LTB forms page gives one route: the Tribunals Ontario Portal. For tenants it adds mail, courier and ServiceOntario to the Portal. Rule 4.1 also broadly permits email, courier, mail or ServiceOntario filing. Lawyers and paralegals should file on the Portal. No fee is charged for the request.

Common reasons for refusal

1. No genuine try at regular service. Prior attempts are a condition on the form. "Tenant gone, no address", with nothing to show any searching, will probably be refused.
2. A late L10 request. Inside 40 days of the hearing is too late under Rule 3.4, which puts the hearing at risk of adjournment or of dismissal for failure to serve (Rule 5.17).
3. Nothing showing the method will work. A stale email address proves little, and the form specifically asks why you think the documents will reach the person.
4. Going off-script. Using a method other than the approved one, or serving past the deadline set in the decision.
5. No proof of service. Even an approved method must be proven with a certificate. On an L10, file it 20 days or more before the hearing.

After the decision

If approved, serve precisely as the order says. Save what proves it (screenshots, receipts, copies of the emails you sent), then get the Certificate of Service in on time. If refused, make further attempts at regular service, or raise the issue at the hearing (Rule 3.4).

Common questions

Texting or messaging a former tenant on social media: allowed?

Only if the Board approves it as an alternative method. Your Question 2 answer should show that the person is active on that channel, with screenshots as proof.

What is the deadline on an L10?

The request must be in 40 days or more before the hearing (Rule 3.4).

Can the request wait until the hearing?

Yes, Rule 3.4 permits that, except where the 40-day L10 rule applies. Asking ahead of time is safer, because it avoids losing the hearing date.

May I serve the other side's lawyer or paralegal?

That is one of the examples Rule 3.4 gives. Where the Rules do not already permit it, get the Board's approval before relying on it.

Official sources

• Request to use Alternative Service (form)
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rules 3 and 5
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, s. 191
• LTB Forms, filing and fees