Proving Service at the Ontario LTB: The Certificate of Service and Its L10 Counterpart

In Ontario, the Certificate of Service is the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) form on which the person who served a document records what was served, who received it, the date and the method. Nearly every eviction application a landlord files leans on one to show the termination notice was properly delivered. A second version exists for the L10, where the application has to reach a former tenant who has left the unit.

At a glance

The role of the certificate

Section 191 of the RTA sets out the ways a notice or document can be given, and the Rules of Procedure supplement that list in Rule 3. Whenever the Rules call for it or the LTB orders it, service has to be confirmed with a Certificate of Service signed by the individual who did the serving (Rule 3.8). Think of it as evidence: if the tenant says at the hearing that service never happened, the Member will test your certificate against the facts. A certificate that holds up is also what protects the order later, if the tenant seeks a review on the basis that they were never properly notified.

Two versions are in use:

• Certificate of Service – L10, for delivering the Notice of Hearing and an L10 application to a former tenant or to a tenant no longer in possession. The form itself says it is off-limits while the tenant still occupies the unit.
• Certificate of Service, the general version, for landlords and for tenants still in possession. It covers termination notices, applications, Notices of Hearing, motions to set aside, review requests and other documents.

Picking the right version and a valid method

• General form: use it for an N4, N5, N12 or any other notice served on a tenant who still occupies the unit, and for any document the LTB tells you to serve.
• L10 version: use it only once the tenant has moved out. The methods change, because service is aimed at wherever the former tenant now lives.
• Never tape a notice to the door. Rule 3.2 and the note on the form both confine posting to a 24-hour notice of entry under s. 27, absent a Member's order permitting it.
• Email requires written consent (Rule 3.1). A former tenant can be served by email only if they gave written consent during the tenancy and you can show the document actually reached them (Rule 3.3).

Deemed service dates and filing deadlines

When service counts as made (Rule 3.9)

Why this matters: a termination notice's notice period starts running from service. Mail a notice on Monday, November 2, 2026 and it is deemed served on Saturday, November 7, 2026, so the termination date has to be calculated from November 7, not November 2.

When the certificate must be filed

• Portal applications. Upload the termination notice and the Certificate of Service when you file (Rule 4.4). If that is not possible, you have 5 calendar days; missing that window can lead to administrative dismissal (Rule 4.5).
• Applications and Notices of Hearing you are ordered or required to serve. File within 5 days after service (Rules 3.8 and 5.15).
• L10 applications. The application and Notice of Hearing must be served by 30 days ahead of the hearing at the latest (Rule 5.8), and the L10 certificate filed no later than 20 days before it (Rule 5.16). If no permitted method will work, ask for alternative service at the 40-day mark before the hearing or earlier (Rule 3.4).

Completing the certificate

General version

1. Top boxes (file number and unit address). If no application has been filed yet, the file number stays blank.
2. "I, [name], certify that on [date]..." Insert the name of the person who carried out service, and the date of service.
3. Documents. Check every document served. The boxes cover a Notice of Termination (add its form number, for example N4), an Application (add its form number), a Notice of Hearing, a Request to Review an Order, a Motion to Set Aside an Ex Parte Order, or Other (describe it).
4. To whom. Check tenant, landlord or other and give the name. Where several tenants were served on one date by one method, check that circle and attach a list of their names and addresses.
5. Method. Check a single method that reflects what actually happened. The choices are: hand delivery to the person, to an authorized employee of the landlord or to an adult in the unit; placed in the mailbox; slid under the door or through the mail slot; sent by courier; faxed (give the number); mailed or sent by Xpresspost to the last known address (give the address); or "a different method" with an explanation.
6. Signature. Check landlord, tenant, representative or other, and add a name and phone number. The server signs and dates.

L10 version

The structure is the same, with three differences. What gets served is the L10 Application with its Notice of Hearing; the recipient is the former tenant; and each method points to that person's current residence. The options are hand delivery to the former tenant or an adult at that address, mail, courier, the mailbox, the mail slot or under the door, or email (only with earlier written consent and proof it was received). Write the current address next to the method you used. The form cautions that the Member may ask how you found that address.

Filing the certificate

According to the LTB, both versions are filed through the Tribunals Ontario Portal. For a Portal filing, typing the person's name counts as a signature (Rule 4.3). No fee is charged. Under the LTB's Practice Direction on licensees, lawyers and paralegals have to use the Portal for applications and the listed requests.

Certificate errors that cost landlords their applications

1. Checking a method that was not the one used. Filing false or misleading information is an offence, and a notice delivered by a method the rules do not allow may be rejected at the hearing.
2. Posting the N4 on the door. Posting does not serve a termination notice, which puts both the notice and the application that rests on it in jeopardy.
3. Emailing a tenant who never consented in writing. Without that written consent (Rules 3.1, 3.5), nothing has been served.
4. Treating the mailing date as the service date. Certify the day you mailed as the day of service and the five deemed days can leave your termination date too early.
5. Not uploading the certificate with the application. Letting the 5-day window lapse can end in administrative dismissal (Rule 4.5).
6. Serving a former tenant at the old unit, or on the general form. A tenant no longer in possession must be served at their present home (RTA s. 191(1.0.1); Rule 3.3).
7. A late L10 certificate. The form cautions that missing the 20-day cut-off can mean a cancelled hearing and a closed application.
8. The wrong person signs. Only the individual who served the document may sign (Rule 3.8).

Once the certificate is on file

The certificate becomes part of the record supporting your application. If the LTB concludes service did not meet the requirements, it may proceed anyway if nobody is prejudiced, or it may adjourn or dismiss (Rule 5.17). Where none of the permitted methods can reach a party, file a Request to use Alternative Service.

Frequently asked questions

Whose signature goes on the Certificate of Service?

The signature of the individual who served the document, whether that is the owner, a property manager or a process server. A representative signs only when they personally did the serving.

Is email service of an N4 allowed?

Yes, but only where the tenant has agreed in writing to be served by email (Rules 3.1 and 3.5). Keep that consent on file; the LTB publishes a Consent to Service by Email form for this purpose.

Is a certificate still needed when the Board serves the hearing notice?

As a rule the LTB serves the application and the Notice of Hearing itself (Rule 5.1). Your certificate covers what you delivered personally, such as the termination notice, plus anything the LTB tells you to serve.

How much time does mail add?

Five days. Under Rule 3.9 a mailed document is treated as served on the fifth day after it was mailed, and any notice period is counted from then.

Official sources

• Certificate of Service (PDF)
• Certificate of Service – L10 (PDF)
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rules 3, 4 and 5
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, s. 191
• LTB Forms, filing and fees