In Ontario, a tenant who wants to end their own tenancy and move out tells the landlord in writing on the N9. This page is written for the landlord on the receiving end: how to tell whether the N9 is valid, which notice period it has to meet, and what your options are if the date passes and the tenant is still there.
Summary
| Given by | The tenant ending the tenancy; all tenants should sign |
| Timing | Whenever the tenant chooses, so long as the date allows the notice the Act requires |
| Notice required | Monthly, yearly or fixed term: 60 days or more, to a period-end or term-end date. Daily or weekly: 28 days. Some special cases allow less (see below) |
| Delivery | To the landlord, by a method permitted under RTA s. 191 or Rule 3; never filed with the LTB |
| Cost | Nothing for the N9. A landlord's L3 costs $186 through the Tribunals Ontario Portal or $201 otherwise |
| Next form | The landlord's L3, available from the day the N9 arrives until day 30 after its termination date |
The legal role of an N9
The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) lets a tenant terminate as of the end of a fixed term or rental period, provided the notice complies with the s. 44 timelines (s. 47). Form rules come from s. 43(1): a Board-approved form, the unit identified, a termination date stated, and a signature from the tenant or an agent. The N9 is built to satisfy all of that.
What follows depends on the tenant. A tenant who vacates under a valid N9 brings the tenancy to an end on the stated date (s. 37(2)). If they stay, the N9 becomes the foundation for your L3 under s. 77.
When the N9 is not the right form
The N9 covers the ordinary case: the tenant has decided to go. Other rules or forms apply in these situations.
| Situation | What changes |
|---|---|
| You served an N12 or N13 | Ten days' notice is enough, and the date can be any day (s. 48(3)–(4); s. 49(4)–(5); s. 50(4)–(5)) |
| An assignment request was refused, or met with a week of silence | Within 30 days of the request the tenant may serve notice (s. 95(4)); the period is the normal one or 30 days, whichever is less, and any day will do (s. 96(2)) |
| The unit is in a care home | Thirty days' notice at any time ends the tenancy (s. 145(1)); care services and meals can be stopped on 10 days' notice (s. 145(2)) |
| The tenant made a written demand for the required standard lease and did not get it within 21 days (or got it unsigned) | Under s. 47.0.1, even a fixed term can be ended on 60 days' notice to a period-end date |
| The tenant is leaving because of sexual or domestic violence | The right form is the N15: 28 days' notice, with tight confidentiality obligations on the landlord |
| You both want a date the N9 rules would not allow | Use an agreement, the N11, rather than an N9 (s. 37(3)) |
One practice is off-limits. Requiring a tenant to sign an N9 at lease signing, or as a condition of renting, produces a void notice (s. 37(4)). Exceptions are limited to student housing supplied by, or under an agreement with, a post-secondary institution (s. 37(6)), and to the rehabilitative or therapeutic care home units that the N9 itself describes.
Checking the notice period
The basic periods (s. 44)
| Tenancy | Minimum | Date must be |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | 60 days | A period's final day; with rent due on the 1st, a month-end |
| Yearly | 60 days | The final day of a yearly period |
| Fixed term | 60 days before expiry | The expiry date itself; outside s. 47.0.1 an N9 cannot cut the term short |
| Daily or weekly | 28 days | A period's final day (Sunday where rent is due Mondays) |
February and March
Section 44(5) treats a notice ending on the last day of February as giving 60 days if it was given by January 1, and one ending on the last day of March as giving 60 days if given by February 1.
Counting
Use calendar days. The service day is excluded and the termination date counted, and the Legislation Act, 2006, s. 89(3) applies that method even to "at least" periods. For mailed notices, add five days (s. 191(3)); for courier, one day after it goes to the courier (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).
Example. Take a monthly tenancy, rent payable on the 1st. An N9 handed to you on March 30 can validly end the tenancy on May 31 (62 days counted). One handed over on April 3 cannot: it gives only 58 days to May 31, so June 30 is the earliest valid date. The same N9 mailed on March 30 is deemed given on April 4, which also pushes the earliest date to June 30.
Once the termination date passes
- Section 46(1) voids the notice on day 30 after the termination date if, by then, the tenant has not left and you have not applied to evict.
- Section 77(3) closes the L3 window at the same point.
What a properly completed N9 contains
The current version, 01/04/2022, runs three pages. The tenant fills in pages 1 and 3; page 2 is LTB information.
- To: your legal name, or your company's.
- From: per the form, every tenant's name.
- Address of the Rental Unit: the full address, including unit number and postal code.
- Termination date: in dd/mm/yyyy form, the day the tenancy ends. This is where most N9s go wrong, so test it against the periods above.
- Statement: the pre-printed undertaking that the tenant will vacate on or before the termination date.
- Signature block (page 3): a tick for Tenant or Representative, then the signature, the date signed, a phone number and the signer's full name. Section 43(1)(c) permits an agent to sign for the tenant.
- Office use only: blank.
How the tenant must deliver it
The N9 comes to you, not to the LTB. Section 191(1) allows it to be handed to you or to an employee with authority over the complex, left in your mailbox, or mailed to where you live or do business. Courier is also allowed under Rule 3.1, as is email where you have given written consent. And by s. 191(2), irregular delivery is cured if the notice in fact got to you on time. Note the date and method of arrival.
Your steps as the landlord
- Review it on arrival. Is it on the right form, for the right unit, signed by every tenant? Does the date allow enough notice and land on a period-end or term-end? File the original away along with proof of the date you received it.
- Raise problems straight away. A short or misdated N9 is a weak foundation for an L3. Either get a fresh, correct N9 from the tenant, or settle on a date together in an N11.
- Showings. After notice has been given, you may enter during the hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to show the unit to prospective tenants without written notice, provided you have informed the tenant or made a reasonable effort to (s. 26(3)).
- Rent after the notice. Under s. 45, money you accept after an N9, whether called rent or compensation, does not cancel the notice or create a fresh tenancy without an agreement to that effect. If you and the tenant do decide to carry on, put it in writing.
- An early or improper departure. Under s. 88(1), the tenant owes rent through the first date a compliant notice could have specified, stops once a new tenant is entitled to occupy (s. 88(3)), and is subject to your duty to take reasonable steps to re-rent and minimise loss (ss. 16, 88(4)).
- A tenant who stays. File an L3 within the deadline; there is no need to wait until the termination date.
- Abandoned belongings. Where the tenant has moved out in accordance with the N9, property left in the unit may be sold, kept or disposed of (s. 41(1)(a)).
Defects that undermine an N9
- An early termination date. Under 60 (or 28) days, or ending before a fixed term expires outside the exceptions, the notice fails ss. 44 and 47.
- A date that is not the end of a rental period. If s. 44 requires the date to close out a period, choosing the middle of a month is a defect no matter how many days are given.
- Signed together with the lease. Void under s. 37(4), apart from the student and care home exceptions.
- Not all tenants signed. With several tenants and only one signature, proving that everyone gave notice may be difficult. Ask for all signatures.
- A text or letter in place of the form. Section 43(1) demands the approved form. Treating a casual message as notice, with no N9 or N11 behind it, exposes you.
- Delay on your side. If the tenant stays and you let more than 30 days pass after the termination date, the L3 is late (s. 77(3)) and the notice void (s. 46(1)).
If the tenant does not leave
When the tenant is gone by the termination date, the tenancy is over and there is nothing to file. When the tenant is not, your L3 goes in through the Portal, supported by an affidavit confirming the notice (s. 77(2)). The LTB can issue an eviction order without a hearing, taking effect no earlier than the N9's termination date (s. 77(5)).
Filing an S2 inside 10 days puts the order on hold (s. 77(6)–(7)). From September 21, 2026, O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.2 allows the order to be set aside only if that would not be unfair, and anything that changed in the tenant's life after the N9 is left out of the analysis. For a landlord, that change makes an order based on a clean, correctly dated N9 considerably more durable than it used to be.
Questions landlords ask about N9s
What notice must an Ontario tenant give?
Monthly, yearly and fixed-term tenants give 60 days or more, to a period-end or term-end date; daily and weekly tenants give 28. Less notice is permitted in care homes, after a refused assignment, and once a landlord has served an N12 or N13.
Can an N9 end a one-year lease early?
As a rule, no. Outside s. 47.0.1, the earliest date is the end of the term. Alternatives are an assignment request (refusal, or a week without an answer, opens the door to notice) or a negotiated date recorded in an N11.
Can the tenant take back an N9?
Not unilaterally; the RTA provides no withdrawal mechanism. Should you both decide the tenancy carries on, document it in writing to avoid argument later.
Official sources
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 16, 26, 37, 41, 43–47.0.1, 48–50, 77, 88, 95–96, 145, 191
- N9 – Tenant's Notice to End the Tenancy (PDF)
- O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.2
- Legislation Act, 2006, s. 89
- LTB Rules of Procedure, Rules 1.1, 3.1, 3.9
- LTB Forms, filing and fees
- LTB Operational Update, September 21, 2026