Ontario N4 Notice for Unpaid Rent: Completing and Serving It Under the 2026 Rules

In Ontario, when a tenant has not paid the full rent by its due date, the landlord's first formal step is the N4 notice. It sets out how much is owed and the date by which the tenant has to either pay or leave, and without it you cannot file an L1 to evict for non-payment. For N4s given from September 21, 2026 onward, the tenant gets 7 days rather than the former 14.

At a glance

The legal basis

The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) allows a landlord, in s. 59, to give notice of termination if a tenant "fails to pay rent lawfully owing under a tenancy agreement." Section 59(2) requires the notice to state the amount due and to tell the tenant that paying it, together with any rent that has fallen due since, by the termination date avoids termination.

An N4 can be undone by the tenant. Section 59(3) voids it if the tenant pays the full arrears, plus any further rent due as of the payment date, before the day you file with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). In other words, the tenancy can still be rescued after the termination date has passed, as long as you have not yet filed.

Keep three limits in mind:

• Rent only. Damage, late fees, NSF charges, an unpaid last month's deposit and utilities owed to a utility company all stay off the N4 (Interpretation Guideline 11).
• No eviction by itself. Only the Court Enforcement Office (Sheriff), acting on an LTB order, can remove a tenant.
• Tenant in possession. The tenant has to be living there on the day you serve and again on the day you file.

Is the N4 the right tool?

The N4 fits a tenant who lives in the unit and has paid none or only part of the rent that came due. The N4 checklist notes that payment can be made up to midnight on the due date, so the notice cannot go out until the next day.

Other routes suit other situations:

• Money without eviction. The L9 needs no notice, but its order can never be used to evict.
• A tenant who has already left. The L10 applies, with a one-year filing window from move-out (RTA s. 87(1.1)).
• A tenant who pays, but chronically late. That is the territory of the N8. The two can be served together, since the Divisional Court has confirmed that unpaid rent is both in arrears and late (Shearer v. Oz, 2026 ONSC 3753, as cited in Guideline 10).

Counting the days

The termination date

It must be 7 or more days after the notice is given (RTA s. 59(1)). Under Rule 1.13 of the Rules of Procedure, you leave out the day of giving and count the termination date itself.

Extra time by service method

• Mail (Xpresspost included): treated as given five days after it is mailed (Rule 3.9; RTA s. 191(3)).
• Courier: treated as given one 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) (Rule 3.9). The instructions describe this as one added business day.
• Fax: the fax confirmation date is the date of giving.

A worked example

Rent was due on February 1, 2027 and is still unpaid. Serving on Tuesday, February 2, 2027:

The LTB has no power to stretch or shrink a notice period set by statute (Guideline 10). Any N4 given before September 21, 2026 still required 14 days.

Filing the L1

Section 74(1) lets you file the L1 from the day following the termination date. Nothing sets a final day; for non-payment of rent, neither the 30-day notice expiry nor the 30-day filing limit used for other grounds applies (ss. 46(2), 69(3)). Delay carries its own risk, though, because the tenant can void the notice with full payment at any point before you file.

Completing the N4

The LTB suggests getting the latest version from its forms page, saving the file and filling it in with a PDF program rather than in the browser. Keep the official instructions at hand, and take the checklist page off before you serve.

Page 1: the landlord's box

• Tenant's name. Every tenant in possession, correctly spelled, along with any subtenant or assignee; children and guests are left off.
• Landlord's name. Yourself, or every landlord if there are several.
• Address of Rental Unit. The full address: municipality and postal code, street name and number, and any unit, suite or apartment (or "Basement").
• Termination date (dd/mm/yyyy). An actual calendar date, 7 or more days away plus any mail or courier days. Writing "7 days" is not enough.
• Amount of rent owing ($). Do this one last, copying the Total Rent Owing from the table on page 3 so the two figures agree.

Page 2 is explanatory text for the tenant and has no fields.

Page 3: the rent table

Give each period with unpaid rent its own row. Fill in Rent Period From and To (a whole calendar month where rent is due on the 1st), then Rent Charged, which must be the lawful rent, then Rent Paid and Rent Owing. Add them up in Total Rent Owing.

Under RTA s. 2(1) and the N4 instructions, rent covers the basic rent and any separate payment to you for a service, parking or a seasonal air-conditioner charge being typical. A fixed monthly utility amount the tenant pays to you also counts. A utility bill paid directly by the tenant, or a portion of a bill that fluctuates, does not (Guideline 11).

With more than three periods outstanding, you can merge the earlier ones into the first or second row, provided the bottom row shows the latest period on its own. Alternatively, serve a separate page listing every period along with the notice. Leave out any rent not yet due when the N4 is given.

Signing

Tick Landlord or Representative, enter the name and phone number, and sign and date. Either the landlord or the landlord's agent must sign (s. 43(1)(c)), and Guideline 10 confirms an agent can sign a notice without being licensed. Representatives add their own contact block, with an LSO number where they have one.

Delivering it

According to the instructions, you may hand the N4 to the tenant or to someone in the unit who appears to be an adult, put it in the mailbox or wherever mail is delivered, slide it through the mail slot or under the door, or use mail, courier or fax. Email is only possible with the tenant's written consent (Rule 3.1). The door itself is off limits.

Serve every tenant, keep an exact copy of what was served, and have whoever served it complete a Certificate of Service. What makes service valid is the approved method, not whether the tenant actually read the notice (Guideline 10).

Errors that defeat an N4

A flawed N4 cannot be corrected after service (Boomer v. Arvane Farms Ltd., 2025 ONSC 1772, as cited in Guideline 10). The s. 212 substantial-compliance rule saves only harmless errors, and a wrong date or amount is rarely harmless to the tenant. A failed N4 means the eviction part of the case is dismissed, although the LTB may still order the arrears (Guideline 11). For a landlord, that typically means starting over with a new notice and losing weeks.

1. Serving on the due date. The tenant can pay until midnight, so serve the following day at the earliest.
2. A short notice period. Fewer than 7 clear days, or leaving out the 5 mail days or the courier day. The LTB cannot fix it.
3. No actual date. Wording like "seven days from today" may not satisfy s. 43(1)(b), which requires the notice to set out a termination date.
4. Charges that are not rent. Guideline 11 warns that any of these "will likely invalidate the notice": an unpaid deposit, damage, late or NSF fees, administration charges, or utilities owed to a utility company. Claim NSF charges on the L1.
5. An incorrect figure. Guideline 10 reports N4s struck down because the arrears were calculated on an increase that had never lawfully taken effect. The same goes for rent not yet due, or a total on page 1 that differs from page 3.
6. Gaps in the parties, address or signature. A tenant left off, part of the address missing, or a signer who is neither landlord nor agent. Guideline 10 requires every tenant in possession to be named and served.
7. Improper delivery. Door-posting, or email the tenant never agreed to in writing, sinks the eviction claim unless you can prove the tenant actually got it in time (s. 191(2)).
8. Premature filing. An L1 filed on the termination date or earlier (s. 74(1)).
9. Filing on a notice the tenant has already voided. Full payment of the arrears plus any newly due rent before you file voids it (s. 59(3)). Check your rent ledger on the filing day.
10. Using the last month's deposit against the arrears. It is applicable only to the final month of the tenancy (Guideline 11).
11. Missing attachments. If the N4 and Certificate of Service are not uploaded with the L1, or within the following 5 calendar days, administrative dismissal can follow (Rules 4.4, 4.5).
12. An outdated form. A new N4 came out on September 21, 2026. The LTB's operational update names ten forms (N5, N6, N8, N12, N13, L1, L2, L9, L10, T5) whose earlier versions are not accepted from November 30, 2026, but does not name the N4, so whether that cut-off covers it has not been confirmed. Avoid the question by downloading a fresh N4 every time.

After the N4 is served

Full payment before filing. The N4 is void. If the tenant falls behind again, serve a new one. Under RTA s. 45, accepting part of the arrears leaves the notice standing unless you agree otherwise.

The tenant moves out. The tenancy is over, and unpaid rent can be claimed on an L10 within a year.

The tenant neither pays nor leaves. Starting the day after the termination date, you can file an L1 through the Portal, attaching the N4 and Certificate of Service, paying $186 there (or $201 by other methods). From that point:

• The application ends if, before an order issues, the tenant pays the arrears, the rent since come due and your filing fee (s. 74(2)).
• On L1, L9 and L10 applications filed from September 21, 2026, the tenant may raise their own complaints at the hearing only after paying you half the arrears claimed, at least 7 days ahead (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.3; RTA ss. 82 and 87(2)).
• The LTB is obliged to consider refusing or delaying the eviction (s. 83). Delay without your consent now requires compelling grounds as well as no unfairness to you or other tenants (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4).
• If the tenant pays the amount in the order before it becomes enforceable, the eviction order is void (s. 74(4)).

What changed in 2026

September 21, 2026. N4s given from this date need only 7 days instead of 14, and a new N4 form was issued. On rent applications (L1, L9, L10) filed from the same date, tenants must pay half the arrears to raise their own issues, and the test for delaying an eviction is stricter.

July 1, 2026. For orders issued from this date, the time to request a review of an LTB order shrank from 30 days to 15, and repayment plans under s. 206 now have to use the LTB's Payment Agreement form.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a tenant get on an N4 now?

Where the N4 was given from September 21, 2026 onward, a minimum of 7 days, with 5 more if the notice is mailed or 1 more business day if it goes by courier. Earlier N4s required 14 days.

May I include late charges or NSF fees on the N4?

No. The N4 is limited to rent, and Guideline 11 says adding NSF charges will likely invalidate it. The L1 is where the bank's NSF charge and your capped administration fee go.

Rent came in after the termination date. Can I still file?

Yes, if the payment fell short. Full payment of the arrears and any rent due in the meantime, made before you filed, voids the N4 (s. 59(3)); anything less leaves it valid.

Is there a date after which an N4 can no longer be used?

Non-payment notices have no fixed expiry (RTA ss. 46(2), 69(3)). Still, every day you wait gives the tenant more time to void it with full payment.

Is email service of an N4 allowed?

Only where the tenant has agreed in writing to be served by email (Rule 3.1). Door-posting is never permitted.

Official sources

• N4 form (PDF)
• N4 Instructions
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 2(1), 43, 45, 46, 59, 69, 74, 82, 83, 87, 191, 206, 212
• O. Reg. 516/06, ss. 8.3, 8.4
• Interpretation Guideline 11: Rent Arrears
• Interpretation Guideline 10: Procedural Issues Regarding Eviction Applications
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rules 1.1, 1.13, 3.1, 3.9, 4.4, 4.5
• LTB Operational Update, September 21, 2026
• LTB Operational Update, July 1, 2026
• Certificate of Service (PDF)
• LTB Forms, filing and fees