When neither the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) nor the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) Rules permit the service method you need, the Request to use Alternative Service is how you ask the Ontario LTB to approve it. For landlords, the classic case is an L10 against a former tenant who left no forwarding address; another is a party you can reach by email who never agreed in writing to be served that way.
At a glance
| Used by | Any party whose attempts to serve another party by the usual methods have failed |
| Timing | Only after regular service has been attempted without success |
| Key deadline | For an L10 application and Notice of Hearing, 40 or more days ahead of the hearing (Rule 3.4) |
| Filing route | The Tribunals Ontario Portal; the LTB forms page's tenant-forms table also shows mail, courier and ServiceOntario |
| Fee | The LTB fee schedule lists none |
| Next form | A Certificate of Service after you serve by the approved method |
Why the form exists
RTA s. 191 and Rule 3 of the LTB Rules list the ordinary ways to serve: personal delivery, the person's mailbox or the place mail is delivered, mail, courier, fax (within limits), and email or the Tribunals Ontario Portal if the person has consented in writing. Once a tenant or former tenant has left the unit, the options shrink to the narrower set in s. 191(1.0.1) and Rule 3.3.
Rule 3.4 allows a party to ask the LTB to permit some other method, "including service by email or service on the party's representative". The request can be made ahead of time on this form, or in person at the hearing. Separately, Rule 3.7 gives the LTB power to allow email service even where the other side never consented.
When a request is granted, a Member writes in the approved method and the deadline for service. Both are binding on you.
Situations where it helps
The form earns its place when:
- you are pursuing a former tenant on an L10 and have no home address for hand delivery or mail, yet you do have an email address, an active social media account, or a workplace address;
- the other party is deliberately dodging service; or
- the other party has a representative willing to accept documents, but the Rules would not otherwise allow service on that person.
It is not a substitute for trying regular service first, since the form makes that a condition. It is also unnecessary where the party has already given written consent to email (Rule 3.1(h) covers that), and it cannot repair a defective notice of termination.
The clock
On L10 applications, three dates stack up, all counted back from the hearing:
- The request itself: where the person is a tenant or former tenant who has left the unit, any request to use a different method must reach to the LTB 40 or more days before the hearing (Rule 3.4, echoed on the form).
- Service of the L10 and Notice of Hearing: completed 30 or more days before the hearing (Rule 5.8).
- The Certificate of Service: filed 20 or more days before the hearing (Rule 5.16).
Take a hearing set for May 20, 2027. Forty days earlier is April 10, 2027, thirty days earlier is April 20, and twenty days earlier is April 30. If you only start looking for the tenant in April, the first deadline has likely passed.
For other applications the Board directs you to serve, the usual rule is service 15 days before the hearing (Rule 5.9) and a Certificate of Service within 5 days after (Rule 5.15). And if the Member sets a "Deadline for Service" on your approved request, that date governs.
Completing the form
- File Number and Language Preference.
- Name and Address of the Requestor: your name, any company name, address, telephone numbers and email.
- Address of the Rental Unit: the unit the application concerns.
- Question 1, your attempts so far. Requests are won or lost here. Set out each attempt with the date, time, address, method and outcome. Typical entries: a process server attended on three occasions and was told by the occupant that the tenant had moved; Canada Post returned the item unclaimed on a specific date. Back each one with proof, such as returned envelopes, tracking records, a process server's notes or the results of a skip trace.
- Question 2, the method you propose and why it will actually reach the person. For email, show why you believe the address is live: recent messages sent from it, its use throughout the tenancy, or a reply to a demand letter. Screenshots help.
- Signature: tick Landlord or Landlord Representative and give the name, LSO number for a licensee, phone number, signature and date.
The "For Board Use Only" box stays empty.
Submitting it
On the LTB forms page, the landlord forms table points to the Tribunals Ontario Portal, while the tenant forms table names the Portal, mail or courier, and ServiceOntario. Rule 4.1 also broadly allows filing by courier, mail, ServiceOntario or email. Licensed representatives should file on the Portal. The LTB fee schedule shows no fee for this request.
Why requests fail or go to waste
- No genuine effort at regular service. Prior attempts are a precondition on the form. A bare statement that the tenant moved and the address is unknown, with no sign of any search, will probably be refused.
- An L10 request that arrives late. Inside 40 days of the hearing, Rule 3.4 is not met, leaving you exposed to an adjournment, or to dismissal under Rule 5.17 because service never happened.
- No proof the method will reach the person. A stale email address with no recent activity is a weak foundation, and the form asks you directly why the documents will be received.
- Departing from the order. Using a method other than the one approved, or serving after the Member's deadline.
- No Certificate of Service. Alternative service has to be proven like any other. On an L10, the certificate is due 20 or more days before the hearing.
After a decision
If the request is approved, serve exactly as the order says, keep proof such as sent emails, receipts and screenshots, and file the Certificate of Service on time. A refusal is not the end: keep trying regular service, or ask again at the hearing itself (Rule 3.4).
Frequently asked questions
Can a former tenant be served by text or through social media?
Only with LTB approval of that alternative method. Use Question 2 to explain why the documents will reach the person that way, and include proof that they actually use the account.
On an L10, how early must the request go in?
No later than 40 days before the hearing (Rule 3.4).
Is it possible to ask for alternative service at the hearing?
Generally yes; Rule 3.4 permits it, apart from the 40-day rule on L10 applications. Asking beforehand, though, protects your hearing date.
May I serve the tenant's lawyer or paralegal instead?
Rule 3.4 names service on a party's representative as one alternative method. Unless the Rules already allow it, you need the LTB's permission first.