Broken heat, a leaking roof, mould, a building that falls short of property standards: when a tenant or former tenant in Ontario says the landlord let things slide, the claim goes to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) on a T6. The legal duty is to keep the unit and the complex repaired, livable, and compliant with health, safety, housing and maintenance standards. For both sides, the case is won or lost on proof: the problem, the date the landlord found out, and whether the fix came quickly and actually worked.

Key facts
Who files Someone who rents the unit now, or used to
When During the problem, or within a year once it has been repaired
Time limit A one-year limitation. Ongoing problems start the clock at the repair date; remedies still stop one year before the filing date
Filing and service The tenant files; the Board then sends the landlord the application along with a Notice of Hearing
Fee $48 online through the Portal, $53 by any other route
Related steps A 15-day window to seek review of the order; tenants may also seek leave to pay rent to the LTB

The landlord's repair duty

Section 20(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) puts the obligation squarely on the landlord: provide and maintain the complex and every unit "in a good state of repair and fit for habitation", and comply with health, safety, housing and maintenance standards. A tenant who knew about the defect before signing still benefits from that duty (s. 20(2)).

Paragraph 1 of s. 29(1) is what allows a current or past tenant to ask the Board for a finding of breach. Once a breach is found, the Board can choose from the orders in s. 30(1):

  1. ending the tenancy;
  2. a rent abatement;
  3. permission for repairs by the tenant, done or planned, with the landlord paying;
  4. a direction that the landlord carry out named work before a deadline;
  5. compensation for the tenant's damaged things and other reasonable costs the tenant paid;
  6. a ban on charging an incoming tenant above the last lawful rent while serious problems remain;
  7. a ban on serving rent increase notices while serious problems remain;
  8. a ban on collecting an increase that was noticed but has not yet started; and
  9. any other suitable order.

Orders 6 through 8 are called orders prohibiting a rent increase, and they are available only for serious breaches and unfinished work orders.

Is a T6 the right application?

The T6 deals with repairs and upkeep. Other complaints go elsewhere:

  • harassment, entry without proper notice, or disruption caused by the way the work was done go on a T2;
  • a deliberate withdrawal of a service or facility goes on a T3;
  • unlawful charges or deposits go on a T1.

If the landlord has already brought an L1, L9 or L10, the tenant can put the maintenance problems before that hearing instead of starting a T6. That requires a written description of the issues a week or more before the hearing, and, on applications filed from September 21, 2026, payment to the landlord of half the claimed arrears (ss. 82, 87(2)). The form for that is Issues a Tenant Intends to Raise.

The duty is not unlimited. Guideline 5 says tenants have no right to insist on a preventive maintenance program of their choosing, or to repairs held to a "standard of perfection". Section 34 also leaves the tenant on the hook for undue damage done wilfully or negligently by the tenant, someone living with them, or a visitor.

Time limits

  • One year (s. 29(2)). Applications more than a year after the breach are barred. Because a failure to maintain usually continues day after day, Guideline 5 treats the year as starting once the repair is complete or the standard is met. Anything repaired more than a year before the T6 went in cannot be claimed.
  • Reach of the remedy. An abatement stops at a point one year before the filing date. If nothing has been fixed by the hearing, though, the order can keep running after the hearing until the repair happens (Guideline 5, relying on Toronto Community Housing Corp. v. Vlahovich and Goodman v. Menyhart).
  • Evidence. Disclose to the other side and the LTB at least a week ahead of the hearing, and responding evidence at least 5 days ahead (Rules 19.1–19.2).

Example: a tenant files on Monday, March 15, 2027, complaining about a window repaired on February 1, 2026 and a roof leak that continues. The window was repaired more than a year before filing, so it is out. The roof can be claimed, with any abatement starting no earlier than March 15, 2026 and able to run beyond the hearing until the leak is fixed.

Completing the T6

The current version is dated 01/04/2022.

  • Part 1. Basic details: the unit's address, each tenant's name and how to contact them, the landlord's name and address, when the tenant moved in, whether they still live there (with a move-out date if not), and any related LTB files.
  • Part 2. There is just one reason to choose: failure to repair or maintain the unit or complex, or to meet the required standards. For each problem, explain it fully: the start date, whether it is still going on, who fixed it and on what date, and what caused it. Also give the date the landlord first heard about it.
  • Part 3. The remedies, numbered 1 to 9: 1. abatement, with today's rent and how you calculated the amount; 2. what the tenant's damaged property cost; 3. other money the tenant spent; 4. approval of repairs the tenant has already paid for, and repayment; 5. leave for the tenant to repair, billed to the landlord; 6. an order requiring the landlord to do the work; 7. a freeze on rent increases while serious problems remain; 8. termination of the tenancy; 9. any other remedy.
  • Part 4 is the signature. The accommodation and French-language request and the payment page follow.

Filing it

Tenants can file online through the Tribunals Ontario Portal ($48), or by mail, courier, or at a ServiceOntario centre that takes LTB documents ($53). A fee waiver can be requested. Rule 5.1 makes service on the landlord the Board's job: it sends out the application and the Notice of Hearing. Evidence, by contrast, each party delivers to the other.

Filing a T6 also opens one more option for the tenant: asking permission to pay rent to the LTB rather than to the landlord until the case is decided (Rule 20.9; s. 195(1)(b)). Rent paid in that way, with permission, is not arrears (s. 195(5)). Under Guideline 5, permission is reserved for special circumstances.

What each side should do

If you are the tenant:

  1. Report it in writing first, and keep a copy. Section 30(2) makes the Board consider whether the landlord was told before you applied, and Guideline 5 says a landlord who neither knew nor could reasonably have known about a problem is generally not liable for it.
  2. Build a record. Photos with dates, every request you made and every answer, receipts for your costs.
  3. Let the landlord in. On 24 hours' written notice, a landlord can enter to inspect or repair (s. 27). Blocking or delaying that can shrink an abatement or eliminate it (Guideline 5).
  4. Do not stop paying rent. Withholding it without permission creates arrears; paying into the LTB requires the Board's leave.
  5. Mind the year limit and the one-week disclosure deadline.

If you are the landlord responding:

  1. Build a timeline for each item. Start date, the day you heard, each step you took, and where it stands now. Anything repaired more than a year before filing is time-barred.
  2. Notice and knowledge. The Board must weigh whether you were told before the T6 was filed (s. 30(2)), and you are generally not responsible for defects you had no knowledge of and no reasonable way of knowing about (Guideline 5). Keep a log of maintenance requests: date received, and how.
  3. Show you acted promptly and properly. If your response came within a reasonable time and was appropriate, Guideline 5 says an abatement or other remedy should not normally follow. Useful proof: contractor invoices and work orders; orders for parts that account for any delay; photos, dated, before and after; copies of 24-hour entry notices.
  4. Refused entry. Section 27 lets you enter on 24 hours' written notice for repairs or inspection. Write down any refusal or stalling by the tenant, since, per Guideline 5, the tenant's conduct can cut an abatement down or remove it.
  5. Damage the tenant caused. If wilful or negligent conduct by the tenant's side created the problem, rely on s. 34 and bring evidence.
  6. Your maintenance program. Proof of routine inspections and preventive work can reduce an abatement where major work was unavoidable. Guideline 5 relies on Herbold v. Pajelle Investments: losing common facilities for a brief period of necessary repairs justifies an abatement only exceptionally.
  7. Abatement amounts. Guideline 5 scales them to how much the problem interfered with the tenant's use of the unit, with the rent level also relevant. If you are likely to lose on liability, come prepared with a number.
  8. Meet the disclosure deadlines. Under Rule 19.7, late evidence can be kept out.

What weakens or defeats a T6

  1. Old problems. Anything repaired more than a year before filing falls outside s. 29(2) and supports no remedy.
  2. Reaching too far back. An abatement cannot extend beyond the year before filing.
  3. No notice to the landlord. Not automatically fatal, but remedies narrow unless the landlord knew or ought to have known (Guideline 5; s. 30(2)).
  4. Tenant-caused damage. Under s. 34, the tenant must fix it.
  5. Obstruction. A tenant who refused entry or held up the work may get no abatement, even with a repair order.
  6. The wrong label. Complaints about conduct such as harassment or illegal entry are T2 matters; a T6 that is really a conduct case may fail.
  7. Fee unpaid and no waiver. The Board will not accept it.

What happens next

There will be a hearing, possibly with mediation first. Orders can include a deadline for work, an abatement, authority for the tenant to repair, or a rent-increase prohibition where breaches are serious. Ignoring an order to carry out work is an offence. For an order issued on or after July 1, 2026, either side has 15 days to ask for a review, at a cost of $58; an appeal to the Divisional Court, limited to questions of law, must be started within 30 days (s. 210).

Common questions

What is the deadline for a landlord to make a repair?

The RTA does not give one. Under Guideline 5, what is reasonable depends chiefly on the seriousness of the problem, its impact on the tenant, and the availability of contractors and materials. Prompt, appropriate action usually means no abatement.

Can I hold back rent until repairs are done?

Not on your own; unpaid rent is arrears. After filing a T6, a tenant can ask the LTB for permission to pay rent to the Board, and rent paid that way is not arrears (s. 195).

Can I claim for problems that were there when I moved in?

Yes. Section 20(2) keeps the landlord's duty in place even if the tenant knew of the defect beforehand.

How far back can an abatement go?

No further than one year before the T6 filing date. An unresolved problem at the hearing can keep the abatement running until the repair is made.

Can the LTB stop a landlord raising the rent?

Yes, where the breach is serious. The Board can freeze increases, and limit the rent a new tenant can be charged, until the ordered work and any outstanding work-order items are finished (s. 30(1), paras. 6–8).

Official sources