Almost every residential dispute in Ontario runs through the Landlord and Tenant Board, and almost every one begins with a form. Get the form wrong and the application fails months later on a technicality, whatever the underlying facts were.
Our charges include applicable taxes. Disbursements are extra and billed at cost — itemized upfront, in writing, never hidden.
From $1,354.87 taxes included
Nothing starts without a prescribed notice, served on the tenant in the correct form for the correct ground. A notice for unpaid rent is not the same document as one for damage, for the landlord's own use, or for repeated late payment, and each carries its own notice period. A notice for arrears gives the tenant seven days in a daily or weekly tenancy and fourteen days in every other case, though from 21 September 2026 the arrears notice period becomes seven days for all tenancies; other grounds run longer, and own-use and demolition notices run months.
The notice does not end the tenancy. It sets a termination date and, on many grounds, gives the tenant a chance to fix the problem. A tenant who pays the full arrears within the voiding period cancels the notice entirely, and the landlord cannot rely on it afterwards. Landlords who treat the date on the form as an eviction date are the ones who end up before the Board explaining an illegal lockout.
Accuracy is not a formality. The legal names of the parties, the rental unit address, the correct rent, an arithmetically correct arrears figure and a termination date falling on the right day all have to be right, because the Board can and does dismiss applications built on defective notices. Under the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/06r17">Residential Tenancies Act, 2006</a> the notice is the foundation of the application, not an introduction to it.
Check first whether the Act applies at all. Where the occupant shares a kitchen or bathroom with the owner or the owner's family living in the building, the tenancy is generally outside the Act, and the Board has no jurisdiction. Commercial premises are outside it too: those disputes run under the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90l07">Commercial Tenancies Act</a> in the Superior Court of Justice.
After the notice period expires, the landlord files an application with the Board, pays the fee and waits for a notice of hearing. Tenants have their own applications, for money owed and illegal charges, for interference with reasonable enjoyment or harassment, for maintenance failures, and for a notice given in bad faith. A tenant with a maintenance claim can raise it as a defence in the landlord's own hearing rather than filing separately.
The waiting is the part nobody prepares for. Filing and scheduling run through Tribunals Ontario's online portal, and hearings are ordinarily held by video or telephone rather than in person. Scheduling delays have been substantial for several years, so a landlord counting on possession by a particular date, particularly one who has promised vacant possession on a sale, should assume months rather than weeks.
Evidence has to be filed and exchanged before the hearing, by the deadline in the notice of hearing, and blocks are typically scheduled with several matters at once. Bring the ledger, the lease, the notice and proof of how it was served, photographs, correspondence and any witness who actually saw what happened. Documents produced for the first time at the hearing are frequently refused.
Many blocks begin with an opportunity to negotiate, and most matters settle there. A consent order recording a payment plan is enforceable, which is the reason to take it seriously: agreeing to a schedule you cannot meet simply moves the eviction a month later. Read what you are signing, and ask for time to take advice before you agree to terms.
The Board can order eviction, but it does not have to. It has an express discretion to refuse or delay eviction, or to grant it on conditions, having regard to the circumstances, and in an arrears case it must consider whether the landlord has been meeting maintenance obligations. Tenants who appear, explain and propose a realistic plan do considerably better than tenants who do not appear at all.
An eviction order is enforced only by the Court Enforcement Office, the sheriff. A landlord cannot change the locks, remove belongings, cut off heat, water or electricity, or pressure the tenant to leave, whatever the order says and whatever the arrears are. Self-help ends with the tenant restored to the unit and the landlord facing a tenant application, and it converts a strong case into a losing one.
An order for arrears can usually be stopped by paying everything owed, including costs, before the sheriff enforces it. A money order stands on its own and can be filed with the court for enforcement against wages or accounts. Orders take effect on their terms, so read the date on the order rather than assuming the process moves on the day the decision is released.
If an order is wrong, there are two routes and both are short. A request to review goes back to the Board, on limited grounds and, for orders made on or after 1 July 2026, within 15 days of the decision or order being issued unless the Board extends the time. An appeal on a question of law goes to the Divisional Court within thirty days, and disagreement with the findings of fact is not a question of law. We publish our fees for every service; see <a href="/pricing">pricing</a>, or the <a href="/real-estate">real estate</a> overview if this arises from a sale.
Longer than most landlords expect. The notice period runs first, then the application waits for a hearing date, then the order takes effect, and only then can the sheriff be instructed. Delays at the Board have been significant for several years. Anyone relying on possession by a fixed date, especially to close a sale, should not build the schedule around a best case.
No. Only the sheriff can carry out an eviction, and only under a Board order. Changing locks, removing belongings or cutting services is unlawful regardless of how much rent is owed. The tenant can be put back in the unit and can apply for compensation, and a landlord who does it damages an arrears case that would otherwise have succeeded.
If the tenant pays everything owed within the voiding period, the notice is cancelled and cannot support an eviction. Payment later, but before the sheriff enforces the order, can also stop the eviction if the full amount, including costs, is paid. Keep an accurate ledger, because the whole case turns on what was owed on which date.
Not always. Straightforward arrears matters with clean paperwork are often handled without one. Representation is worth it where the notice may be defective, where there is a maintenance or bad-faith counterclaim, where a business decision such as a sale depends on the outcome, or where the amount at stake justifies it. Paralegals licensed by the Law Society may also appear.
No. Its jurisdiction is residential. Commercial leases run under the Commercial Tenancies Act, where remedies such as distraint and termination operate very differently and disputes go to the Superior Court of Justice. Mixed-use premises need to be looked at closely, because a unit occupied partly as a residence may attract residential protections.
Open your file tonight — a licensed Ontario lawyer will confirm everything with you by tomorrow.