Ontario Landlord Compliance
Everything you're responsible for as a landlord in Ontario
Rent control, just-cause eviction, deposits, entry, repairs and recordkeeping, written for people who own or manage a few units, checked against the official sources, and kept current when the rules move.
Jurisdiction
key details
Rent cap · Detail
Annual guideline (Ontario CPI, max 2.5%): 2.1% for 2026, 1.9% for 2027. Exempt: units first occupied for residential purposes after Nov 15, 2018 (s.6.1), vacant-unit turnover, community housing; above-guideline increases by LTB order (s.126).
Deposit cap · Detail
The only permitted security deposit is a rent deposit collected at or before signing, capped at the lesser of one rent period and one month's rent; damage deposits are prohibited. Refundable key deposits allowed under O. Reg. 516/06.
Rent increase notice · Detail
At least 90 days' written notice on the LTB-approved form (N1/N2) or the increase is void; no more than one increase per 12 months. Applies to periodic and fixed-term tenancies alike.
City rules · Detail
Rent rules are provincial: the RTA applies to residential rental units despite any other Act or agreement (s.3(1)), and municipalities have no rent-setting or tenancy-termination power. Some cities (e.g., Toronto, Hamilton) license renovations to deter renovictions, but these do not set rents or add grounds.
Just cause · Detail
A tenancy may be terminated only in accordance with the Act; landlord notices must rest on listed grounds (own use s.48, purchaser s.49, demolition/repair s.50, tenant fault ss.58-66) and eviction requires an LTB order. Fixed terms roll into month-to-month.
Return deadline · Detail
No return deadline: the landlord must apply the rent deposit to rent for the last rent period before the tenancy ends (s.106(10)) and pay annual interest at the guideline rate (s.106(6)). Not a refund-or-claim regime.
Nonpayment notice · Detail
N4 notice effective no earlier than the 14th day after service (7th day for daily/weekly). From Sept 21, 2026, 7 days for all tenancies (2025, c. 14, Sched. 12, s. 4). Notice is void if tenant pays all arrears before the landlord applies to the LTB (s.59(3)).
What are you trying to do?
Start from the task. Each route gathers the guides, checklists and forms that apply to it in Ontario.
Essential local guides
If you're new to owning here, these five cover most of what will come up in your first year.
View All GuidesWhen a Tenant Breaks Condo Rules in Toronto, Is the Landlord Responsible?
A Toronto owner gets a letter saying their tenant's dog has triggered three noise complaints, and the first question is usually whether the board can just fine the tenant and move on. It can't, not in the way that word implies elsewhere. Ontario condos work through compliance orders and cost chargebacks, and the difference changes who ends up paying and how fast.
Guide
Renting a Condo in Toronto: What Move-In Rules Can the Condo Corporation Require?
A Toronto owner books the elevator for a tenant's move-in day, gets handed a $300 deposit requirement from the condo corporation, and assumes the easiest move is folding that cost into the lease as a line item. That move is exactly the one Ontario's tenant-protection law blocks, and it catches more landlords than almost anything else on a move-in checklist.
Guide
Can a Toronto Condominium Corporation Require Tenant Approval or Registration?
A Toronto owner finishes screening a tenant and assumes the board still has to sign off before the lease is final, the way a board might in some other markets. In an Ontario condo, that assumption is backwards. The corporation isn't a gatekeeper for who moves in; it's an address on a notification form the owner is legally required to fill out.
Guide
Can a Toronto Condominium Corporation Restrict Long-Term Rentals?
A Toronto condo owner wants to rent out a unit long-term and worries the board will simply vote to ban it next year. That fear usually doesn't match how Ontario condo law works. Banning long-term leasing takes more than a board vote, and the one real lever a corporation has sits behind a threshold most buildings never clear.
Guide
Hamilton Renovation Licence and Relocation By-law: What Landlords Must Do When an N13 Is Served
A Hamilton landlord who serves an N13 because a unit needs renovations that require the tenant to leave now has a week to file something else: an application for a City renovation licence. Hamilton's Renovation Licence and Relocation By-law, in effect since January 1, 2025, adds a municipal layer to a process the province otherwise controls, and it comes with fees, paperwork and duties to the tenant.
Guide
Recent changes
Only substantive changes, not copy edits.
1 Jan 2026
2026 rent increase guideline set at 2.1%
Ontario’s guideline for most covered rent increases taking effect in 2026 is 2.1%.
Checklists, templates and official forms
Turn reading into preparation. Checklists are ours; forms come straight from the agency that issues them.
Checklists
5Templates
5Full Ontario collection
Filter by what you're doing or by the kind of resource you need.
| Resource | Type | Task | Reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
Document delivery date explorer Compare two delivery methods for an Ontario notice and see the deemed-receipt date and every date that follows. | Tool | End a tenancy | 7 Oct 2026 |
Before ending a Toronto tenancy Ending a tenancy in Ontario is reason-specific: find the N-form, notice period, compensation and what the LTB will ask for. It does not generate a notice. | Tool | End a tenancy | 7 Oct 2026 |
Tenancy-ending forms and official routes Ontario N-forms, the L-applications that follow them, the Tribunals Ontario portal and Toronto's demolition and renovation rules, filtered by reason. | Official form | End a tenancy | 7 Oct 2026 |
Rent payment reconciliation worksheet A Google Sheets worksheet separating lawful rent, payments, credits and disputed amounts for a Toronto tenancy. | Template | End a tenancy | 7 Oct 2026 |
Occupied-property project intake checklist The facts a reviewer needs before saying whether Toronto's demolition/conversion rules, the rental renovation licence or an N13 route applies. | Checklist | End a tenancy | 7 Oct 2026 |
Hamilton Renovation Licence and Relocation By-law: What Landlords Must Do When an N13 Is Served A Hamilton landlord who serves an N13 because a unit needs renovations that require the tenant to leave now has a week to file something else: an application for a City renovation licence. Hamilton's Renovation Licence and Relocation By-law, in effect since January 1, 2025, adds a municipal layer to a process the province otherwise controls, and it comes with fees, paperwork and duties to the tenant. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 6, 2026 |
Toronto Rental Renovation Licence By-law: What Landlords Must Do and Pay When an N13 Notice Is Served A Toronto landlord who has just served an N13 on a tenant because a unit needs renovations that cannot be done while someone lives there now has a second clock running at city hall. Since July 31, 2025, the City of Toronto has required a Rental Renovation Licence for that kind of eviction, and the licence comes with duties to the tenant that the provincial notice alone never carried. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 6, 2026 |
Ontario 50% Arrears Rule for LTB Hearings: What Tenants Must Pay Before Raising Issues An Ontario tenant served with an L1 application for unpaid rent used to be able to walk into the hearing and tell the adjudicator the heat had been broken for months. For applications filed on or after September 21, 2026, that tenant has to have paid the landlord half of the arrears at least 7 days before the hearing, or the Landlord and Tenant Board will not hear the complaint in that proceeding. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 6, 2026 |
Ontario N12 Notice 2026: Landlords Who Give 120 Days' Notice No Longer Owe One Month's Compensation An Ontario landlord terminating a tenancy for personal or family use under an N12 notice has always owed the departing tenant one month's compensation, regardless of how much notice was given beyond the 60-day minimum. As of September 21, 2026, that changes for landlords willing to give considerably more lead time: giving at least 120 days' notice now waives the compensation entirely. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 4, 2026 |
Ontario N4 Notice 2026: Termination Date for Unpaid Rent Can Now Be Set 7 Days After Service An Ontario landlord filing an L1 application after serving a nonpayment N4 notice used to wait out a 14-day window before the earliest possible termination date would arrive. As of September 21, 2026, that window is cut in half: the termination date on an N4 notice can be set just 7 days after service, applying across all tenancy types covered by the Residential Tenancies Act. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 4, 2026 |
Page 1 of 2 · 14 resources
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What you read about
Rent increase dates and notice
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Obligation tracking with reminders
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Move-in and move-out photos
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Records kept per unit, per tenancy
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Repair requests and responses
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Maintenance log with timestamps
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Everything a hearing could ask for
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