Ontario N13 Notice: Ending a Tenancy to Demolish, Renovate or Convert a Unit

In Ontario, a landlord who plans to tear down a rental unit, turn it into something other than housing, or carry out repairs or renovations big enough to need both a building permit and an empty unit ends the tenancy with Form N13 from the Landlord and Tenant Board. Expect a notice period of 120 days and, in most cases, compensation to the tenant. Where a renovated unit's tenant elects to come back, the landlord also owes written updates, and since September 21, 2026 those obligations are stricter.

At a glance

The three grounds

RTA s. 50(1) allows notice where the landlord needs possession of the unit for one of these purposes:

• Reason 1: to demolish the unit;
• Reason 2: to carry out repairs or renovations extensive enough to need a building permit and vacant possession;
• Reason 3: to convert the unit to a use other than residential premises.

A corporation can serve an N13, which it cannot do with an N12. Good faith is still required. Interpretation Guideline 12 points out that the courts look for a genuine intention that continues over time, assessed when the notice is served and later on.

Picking the right ground has consequences. A renovated unit survives the work, so its tenant holds a right of first refusal to return (RTA s. 53). Demolition leaves nothing to return to. Guideline 12 also reports that the Divisional Court has treated merging two separately rented units into one as a demolition, and that the LTB has held that turning a unit into short-term rentals is not a conversion to non-residential use.

When the N13 is (and is not) available

Reason 2 requires two things. The work must genuinely need a building permit, and it must be impossible to do with the tenant still living there. The checklist on the form puts it bluntly: for repairs and renovations, "this Notice cannot be used unless a building permit is required". A new floor, fresh paint, an updated kitchen or any job that can be done with the tenant in place falls short.

Reasons 1 and 3 require follow-through. The demolition or conversion has to actually go ahead; RTA s. 73(1) obliges the LTB to be satisfied that it will be carried out in good faith.

The N13 is the wrong choice if you want to move in yourself or install a family member (that is the N12), if the real goal is a new tenant at a higher rent, or if your municipality requires a renovation licence and you do not intend to obtain one. Guideline 12 observes that certain municipalities insist on such a licence before a renovation N13 and treats it as an "other authority" for s. 73 purposes.

Time limits

Notice

The notice must give 120 days or more (RTA s. 50(2)), and the termination date has to be the final day of a rental period or of a fixed term. If the tenant is the owner of a mobile home or land lease home, the minimum rises to one year.

Counting

Leave out the day of service. Mail adds five days, because under s. 191(3) a mailed notice counts as given on day five; courier adds one business day (Rule 3.9: the day after the courier takes it (or, when that day is a weekend or holiday, the next business day; Rule 1.1 treats Saturdays and Sundays as holidays)). The official instructions use an August 31 termination date as their example. Here is another, for a termination date of June 30, 2027:

Fixed rules

• O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56 leaves the LTB no power to change the notice period in either direction. An incorrect date renders the notice defective, and amendment is not possible (Guideline 12).
• Compensation must be paid on or before the termination date (s. 55.1).
• The L2 may be filed at any point after service but within 30 days after the termination date at the latest (s. 69(2)).
• The tenant can leave sooner by giving 10 days' written notice on an N9.

Returning tenants and claims after move-out

The right to return depends on the tenant giving you written notice before moving out (s. 53(2)). Your obligations then continue until the tenant has had 60 days from the unit being ready in which to move back (s. 53(2.2)).

A former tenant can bring a T5 within these periods:

• for bad faith (s. 57), one year from the move-out;
• for a right of first refusal that was not honoured (s. 57.1), the later of two years from move-out and six months after the work is finished.

For a landlord, those are the windows during which the N13 can come back to haunt you, well after the unit is empty.

Completing the N13

The current form is labelled N13 (2026/09). Its first two pages are a checklist to take off before serving; the notice proper is four pages.

Page 1: who, where and when

• To: (Tenant's name) include all tenant names. List all tenants in possession; an assignee or subtenant counts, but children and guests do not.
• From: (Landlord's name). Every landlord; corporations use their legal name.
• Address of Rental Unit. Street number and name, unit, apartment or suite, municipality and postal code.
• Termination date (dd/mm/yyyy). No sooner than 120 days out, landing on the closing day of a rental period or term.

Page 1: the reason box

Fill in a single circle: Reason 1 to demolish, Reason 2 for permit-level repairs or renovations that need the unit empty, or Reason 3 to convert to a non-residential use. Leave the Reason 2 note about the tenant's right to return exactly as it is, because RTA s. 50(3) requires that the tenant be told.

Page 2: describing the work

More N13s turn on this box than any other. Explain the work in enough depth that the tenant can follow it: the scope, the systems involved and any structural elements; whether it affects the unit alone or the whole building; who will do it and in what phases; when it starts and how long it should take; and why the tenant cannot stay while it is done. Extra pages are fine. The checklist asks whether there is "enough detail", and something as thin as "major renovations" is an invitation to dismissal.

Page 2: Necessary permits

Choose one of three statements: that you have obtained the permits or other authorization needed, that you will obtain them, or that none are needed. The last choice is only open for demolition or conversion, since a Reason 2 renovation needs a building permit by definition.

Pages 2–3: the printed information

Do not change this text. It covers the rules for termination dates, the tenant's right to leave early on 10 days' notice, and the compensation table.

Page 4: signing

Indicate whether you sign as Landlord or Representative, enter your first and last name and phone number, then sign and date. Representatives fill in their own section as well, giving their company, phone, email, mailing address and, if licensed, LSO number.

Serving the N13 and paying compensation

Methods

Every tenant must be served by a method allowed by RTA s. 191 or Rule 3.1. Acceptable options are handing it to the tenant (or to an adult in the unit), the mailbox, under the door or through the mail slot, courier, mail or Xpresspost, and email if the tenant consented in writing beforehand. Taping the notice to the door is not one of them. Note the date and method for your Certificate of Service.

Paying compensation

Under RTA ss. 52, 54, 55 and 55.1, payment is due by the termination date. How much depends on the ground, how many units the residential complex has, and whether the tenant has chosen to come back:

Special situations:

• Where demolition or repair has been ordered under an Act, no compensation is payable.
• Section 55 applies a three-month figure where a building of 5 or more units was severed into a complex with fewer than 5, and the N13 is served within two years after that severance.
• Tenants who own their mobile home or land lease home get $3,000 or a year's rent, whichever is less.
• In a care home, the landlord has to make reasonable efforts to find suitable alternative accommodation (s. 146).
• Under RTA s. 7, compensation does not apply to most social housing units.

Errors that defeat an N13

1. Relying on Reason 2 when no permit is needed, or the tenant could stay. Section 50(1)(c) demands both elements, and Guideline 12 records dismissals where a permit turned out to be unnecessary.
2. Arriving at the hearing without permits, a licence or proof of reasonable steps. RTA s. 73(1)(b) bars an eviction order unless every necessary permit or authority is in hand, or you prove all reasonable steps were taken where the permit cannot issue while the unit is occupied. A municipal renovation licence is an "other authority".
3. A sketchy description of the work. A notice that leaves the tenant unable to understand the plan and why they have to go may be held defective (Guideline 10).
4. A bad termination date. Fewer than 120 days, a date mid-way through a rental period or term, or forgetting the mailing days: any of these voids the notice beyond repair.
5. Compensation that is wrong or late. Section 83(4) and (5) prevent an eviction order until payment is made, and if the termination date has passed unpaid, Guideline 12 says dismissal follows absent exceptional circumstances. Get the residential complex unit count right, because it decides whether one month or three is owed.
6. Choosing the wrong ground. Treating a demolition as a renovation, or the reverse, alters the tenant's rights and can cast doubt on good faith. Short-term rental use does not count as "non-residential".
7. Failing to disclose all N12s and N13s served in the last two years, for any unit at all. Section 71.1(3)–(4) requires the LTB to refuse the application, and per Guideline 12 a notice that surfaces undisclosed at the hearing results in dismissal.
8. A late L2. Filing beyond 30 days after the termination date is prohibited by s. 69(2).
9. Service problems. Leaving out a tenant, door-posting, and email with no written consent each make service defective, unless you can prove timely actual receipt (s. 191(2)).
10. Mishandling the right of first refusal once the tenant has left. Leaving the tenant uninformed about the projected completion date, a revised date or readiness, cutting the 60-day return window short, or asking more than the lawful rent each count as a deemed failure to honour the right under s. 57.1(1.1), and a T5 award can follow.
11. An old version of the form. From November 30, 2026, earlier versions of the N13 are not accepted.

The path after service

If the tenant does not leave

File an L2 accompanied by:

• the N13 and its Certificate of Service;
• the N13 schedule setting out compensation paid or to be paid;
• your disclosure of earlier N12 and N13 notices;
• proof of permits, or of the steps you have taken; and
• the filing fee.

At the hearing, the LTB must consider whether to refuse or delay the eviction (RTA s. 83). For N13 grounds, O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4 permits a delay you oppose only where it would be fair to you and to the other tenants.

If the L2 is dismissed

Where compensation has already been paid, the LTB may order the tenant to give it back (s. 73.1).

Once the tenant has moved out

The work has to be done within a reasonable time. A former tenant has one year to file a T5 alleging bad faith.

If the tenant elected to return

Your obligations are to:

• send written notice, without delay, of when you expect the unit to be ready;
• send written notice, without delay, whenever that expected date shifts;
• send written notice, without delay, when the unit is actually ready;
• allow 60 days or more from readiness for the tenant to return; and
• limit the rent to what would have been lawful if the tenancy had never been interrupted (s. 53(3)).

Under s. 53(4), address changes are the tenant's responsibility to report in writing, so address every notice to the most recent address you were given.

What changed in 2026

From September 21, 2026:

• Written notices to returning tenants. A tenant who, from September 21, 2026 onward, notifies you in writing of wanting to return is entitled to the three written notices set out above (RTA s. 53(2.1)).
• A 60-day return window. Where the unit becomes ready from September 21, 2026 onward, the tenant has no less than 60 days to move back (s. 53(2.2)).
• Deemed denial. A breach of either obligation is deemed a denial of the tenant's first-refusal right (s. 57.1(1.1); Guideline 12).
• Longer T5 window. A right-of-first-refusal T5 can now be filed until two years after move-out or six months after the work wraps up, whichever is later (s. 57.1(2)).
• Delay of eviction. On N13 grounds, the Board applies the "not unfair" test alone (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4).
• Revised form. The N13 is now version 2026/09, and older versions stop being accepted on November 30, 2026.

Still not in force: a 2023 amendment that would make renovation N13s carry a report from a qualified person (RTA s. 50(3)(b)). e-Laws, current to October 28, 2026, still lists it as "not in force".

Frequently asked questions

What notice period applies to an N13?

At least 120 days, and the termination date has to close out a rental period or fixed term. A tenant who owns the mobile home or land lease home is entitled to a year or more.

What compensation does an N13 trigger?

That turns on the ground, the size of the complex and whether the tenant chooses to return. Broadly, a complex of five or more units means three months' rent, a smaller one means one month's, or in either case an acceptable alternative unit. A tenant coming back after a renovation is owed rent for the renovation period or that one- or three-month period, whichever is shorter. Work ordered under an Act carries no compensation.

After renovating, can I rent to a new tenant for more?

Not where the tenant gave written notice before leaving that they want to return. They get first refusal, at whatever rent would have been lawful had the tenancy simply continued. Even without such notice, using the N13 in bad faith is not permitted.

Is a building permit required before the N13 is served?

Not at the time of service. By the hearing date, though, RTA s. 73 requires all needed permits or authorities in hand, or proof of every reasonable step where a permit will not be issued while the unit is occupied.

Official sources

• N13 form (PDF, 2026/09)
• N13 Instructions
• L2 Instructions
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 7, 50, 52–55.1, 57, 57.1, 69, 71.1, 73, 73.1, 83, 146 and 191
• O. Reg. 516/06 (General), ss. 8.4 and 56
• Interpretation Guideline 12
• Interpretation Guideline 10
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rules 1.1, 3.1 and 3.9
• LTB Operational Update, September 21, 2026