Operators of an Ontario care home use the L7 to ask the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) for an order moving a tenant out, and evicting them, because the care the tenant needs no longer matches what the home delivers. That mismatch can run in either direction. Where the tenant needs less care, the case is comparatively simple; where the tenant needs more, the Board can only act once you have proven specific conditions.
Key points
| Available to | Care home landlords, meaning landlords of a residential complex occupied so that residents can receive care services |
| Two grounds | A tenant whose needs fall below the level of care on offer, or above what the landlord can deliver |
| Prior notice | None; you do not serve a termination notice before applying |
| Filing deadline | None set by the RTA |
| Where to file | LTBpayments@ontario.ca by email once you have paid online, by mail or courier, or in person at ServiceOntario. The Tribunals Ontario Portal is not an option |
| Fee | $201 |
| Mediation | Compulsory where the parties disagree; a landlord who refuses to participate risks dismissal |
| Service | When the Board directs you to serve, 30 days or more ahead of the hearing |
The legal basis
Section 2(1) of the RTA defines a care home as a residential complex occupied, or meant to be occupied, by people so they can receive care services, which covers health care, rehabilitative or therapeutic services, and assistance with daily living. People living there are tenants with the RTA's full protection; a change in their needs is not, on its own, a reason they can be made to leave. What s. 148 does is give the landlord a way to apply for an order that evicts the tenant and moves them out of the home, on one of two grounds.
Ground (a): less care is needed. The tenant does not require the level of care the home provides. O. Reg. 516/06, s. 49 widens it: a tenant who keeps substantially opting out of part or all of the contracted care services, without getting substantially equivalent services from community providers, also falls within ground (a).
Ground (b): more care is needed than you can give. The Board may order the transfer only if it is satisfied of two things (s. 148(2)): appropriate alternate accommodation is available, and even the landlord's care together with community-based services provided in the home cannot meet the tenant's needs.
Is the L7 the right application?
Ask three questions before filing.
Is the problem really about care? The L7 is for a gap between needs and services. Conduct, unpaid rent and the other usual grounds go through the ordinary notice-and-application route, such as an N4 with an L1, or an N5 with an L2.
Does the RTA cover this accommodation at all? Under s. 5(l), the Act does not apply to respite stays of a short-term nature in a care home; s. 5(e) likewise excludes places governed by the hospitals legislation or the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021. Where coverage is uncertain, the A1 is the application to look at.
On ground (b), have you done the legwork? The instructions expect you to have searched for suitable alternative accommodation and to have found out which community care services might allow the tenant to remain. The Board has no power to grant the order without that groundwork.
Timing
- Filing. Section 148 applications carry no statutory deadline, and no termination notice comes first.
- Service, if you are told to serve. For a care home transfer, the application and Notice of Hearing have to be served 30 or more days before the hearing (Rule 5.7). File a Certificate of Service no later than five days after serving (Rule 5.15).
- Mediation. Where there is a dispute, s. 148(3) requires mediation before any order. The form cautions that declining to try mediation can lead the Board to dismiss your application.
- Review. Under Rule 26.5, orders issued from July 1, 2026 onward can be reviewed only if a party asks within 15 days. For a care home operator, that short window is worth planning for: if the result goes against you, the clock on reconsidering it starts the day the order issues.
Completing the L7
The form in use is version 01/04/2022. Write in capitals or type, and read the L7 instructions before starting.
Part 1: General Information
Address of the Rental Unit. The unit's full street address, including postal code and the room or unit number.
Landlord's Name and Address. Name the owner or operator as landlord and provide mailing address, phone numbers and email. Any co-landlords go on a Schedule of Parties.
Tenant Name and Address. The tenant's name, with a separate mailing address only if mail goes somewhere other than the unit.
Substitute decision maker or representative for the tenant. Many care home tenants have someone authorised to act for them, such as an attorney under a power of attorney. If so, include that person's name and contact information.
Related Applications. List the file numbers of any open applications concerning the unit.
Part 2: the reason you are applying
Choose a single reason by shading it.
Reason 1 (the tenant needs less care than the home offers). Explain the minimum level of care the home delivers and why this tenant needs less. Where the tenant has pulled out of services, identify the services, the date the withdrawal began, and the fact that equivalent community services are not being received.
Reason 2 (the tenant needs more care than the home can give, even counting what community providers could add). Set out the care the home delivers, why it falls short of the tenant's needs, what community-based services exist, and why the combination of your care and those services still falls short.
The alternative-accommodation question. The form asks whether other appropriate accommodation is available now. Answer Yes or No. A Yes requires the facility's name and address and a description of the transfer arrangements. On Reason 2, a No means the Board will not make the transfer order unless you can show, by the time of the hearing, that appropriate alternative accommodation has become available.
Part 3: Signature
Indicate "Landlord" or "Legal Representative", then sign and date. A representative also supplies contact details and a Law Society number.
Payment
Mark how you are paying, and include the receipt number for an online payment.
Filing
| Method | How it works |
|---|---|
| Pay the $201 online with Visa or Mastercard (credit or debit). Then, no more than 24 hours later, email both the receipt and the application to LTBpayments@ontario.ca; the subject line carries the unit address and receipt number | |
| Mail or courier | Enclose a certified cheque or money order payable to the "Minister of Finance", or pay by card using the Credit Card Payment Form |
| ServiceOntario | File in person at a location that handles LTB filings |
The fee cannot be refunded, as the LTB fees page notes, though a Fee Waiver Request can be made if you qualify. Once the application is in, a Board mediator reaches out to both parties.
What sinks an L7
- No alternative accommodation on a Reason 2 application. Availability is a condition of the order under s. 148(2)(a); without proof of it, the transfer will not be ordered.
- Ignoring community services. Under s. 148(2)(b) you must prove the tenant's needs remain unmet even once community services are added to what you provide. Describing only what the home itself cannot do is not enough.
- Not engaging in mediation. Section 148(4) allows the Board to dismiss the application if you will not take part.
- Leaving the tenant's decision maker off the form. There is a field for this person for a reason. Omitting them invites delay and a fairness challenge, particularly where the tenant cannot participate independently.
- Breaking the 30-day service rule after being directed to serve. Rule 5.17 lets the Board adjourn or dismiss for failure to serve.
- Assertions without records. Assessments, care plans, logs showing service withdrawal, and correspondence with community agencies and the receiving facility are what carry a transfer order. Bare conclusions seldom do.
After filing
If mediation does not resolve the matter, a hearing follows. Since the L7 asks for eviction, the member has to consider relief from eviction under s. 83. From September 21, 2026, the Board cannot impose a delay the landlord opposes unless compelling reasons exist and the delay would be fair to the landlord and to the other tenants. A transfer order is enforced in the same way as any eviction order, through the Sheriff (the Court Enforcement Office).
Recent changes
September 21, 2026 (Bill 60). Relief from eviction under s. 83 became harder to get. Without the landlord's agreement, a delay now requires compelling reasons and a finding of no unfairness. The eviction sought on an L7 is subject to this test.
July 1, 2026. The window to request a review of an order shrank from 30 days to 15 (Rule 26.5).
No new L7. The form was not reissued on September 21, 2026; version 01/04/2022 remains current.
Questions care home operators ask
Can a resident be moved out just because their care needs have changed?
Not without an L7 order under RTA s. 148. The landlord has to establish one of the two mismatches: the tenant's needs are below what the home provides, or beyond what it can supply. If it is more, you also have to prove that alternate accommodation exists and that community services cannot bridge the gap.
Is mediation mandatory on an L7?
Where there is a dispute, yes. Section 148 directs disputed applications to mediation before the Board rules, and a landlord who stays out of it risks having the application dismissed.
A tenant keeps refusing the care services. Does that count?
It can. Under O. Reg. 516/06, s. 49, a tenant who substantially and repeatedly refuses the contracted care, with no equivalent community services in place, can be the subject of a Reason 1 application.