On issues that come up again and again, from rent arrears and relief from eviction to own-use terminations and reviews, the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board publishes Interpretation Guidelines setting out how it tends to read the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) and put it into practice. A landlord getting ready to file or to argue a hearing will not find a better published guide to how Members actually decide. Below: what legal weight the guidelines carry, a linked list of every current guideline, and a summary of the four that were revised on September 21, 2026.
At a glance
| Topic | Short answer |
|---|---|
| Author | The LTB's Rules and Guidelines Committee, under RTA s. 176 |
| Binding on Members? | No; s. 176(3) describes them as "non-binding guidelines to assist members" |
| Why read them | Members usually follow them, and each gathers the key LTB and court rulings on its topic |
| Number in force | 20, numbered 1 through 19 plus 21 (the current list has no Guideline 20) |
| Revised Sept 21, 2026 | Four of them: 7, 10, 11 and 12 |
| Where they live | LTB Law, rules and decisions |
Their legal status
RTA s. 176(3) authorizes the Rules and Guidelines Committee to "adopt non-binding guidelines to assist members in interpreting and applying this Act and the regulations". So the Member deciding your case has no legal obligation to follow one, and no guideline can displace the RTA, a regulation or a court ruling. Even so, each guideline describes the approach most Members use and cites the LTB orders and the Divisional Court and Court of Appeal decisions supporting it.
For a landlord, that gives them value at three stages. When you are about to serve a notice, they point out the defects that would invalidate it; Guideline 10 matters most here. When you are preparing for a hearing, they show what the Member is likely to explore, such as the s. 83 factors in Guideline 7. And when you are making argument, you can direct the Member to the applicable guideline and the authorities it relies on, keeping in mind that the RTA and binding case law outrank it. The same logic applies further down the line: if a decision departs from a guideline without explanation, that is worth noting when you weigh a review.
Do not confuse the guidelines with the Rules of Procedure, whose job is to set the procedure, or with Practice Directions, which describe what the LTB expects from the parties.
The full current list
| No. | Subject matter | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | How requests to adjourn or move a hearing date are handled | Adjourning and Rescheduling Hearings |
| 2 | Paying money into the LTB's trust account and getting it released | Payment into the Board |
| 3 | When a party is ordered to cover the filing fee or other costs | Costs |
| 4 | Whether a tenant has in fact abandoned the unit | Abandonment of a Rental Unit |
| 5 | What landlords must maintain, and remedies when tenants apply over maintenance | Breach of Maintenance Obligations |
| 6 | Tenant claims including harassment, interference and vital services | Tenants Rights |
| 7 | The Board's s. 83 power to refuse an eviction or put it off (revised Sept 21, 2026) | Relief from Eviction – Refusing or Delaying an Eviction |
| 8 | Review grounds under O. Reg. 178/26 and the 15-day time limit | Review of an Order |
| 9 | Ending a tenancy for an illegal act or business (the N6 and N7 grounds) | Eviction for an Illegal Act or Business |
| 10 | Notice validity, service, filing dates, complete applications and when orders expire (revised Sept 21, 2026) | Procedural Issues Regarding Eviction Applications |
| 11 | L1, L9 and L10 applications, and issues tenants raise at arrears hearings (revised Sept 21, 2026) | Rent Arrears |
| 12 | N12 and N13 terminations, plus T5 bad-faith claims (revised Sept 21, 2026) | Eviction for Personal Use, Demolition, Repairs and Conversion |
| 13 | General powers, for example attaching conditions to an order | Other Powers of the Board |
| 14 | L5 applications based on capital work, taxes or security costs | Applications for Rent Increases Above the Guideline |
| 15 | Fixing clerical mistakes in an order | Amending an Order |
| 16 | When the Board imposes an administrative fine | Administrative Fines |
| 17 | How the Human Rights Code applies at the LTB | Human Rights |
| 18 | Publication bans, anonymization, sealing orders and closed hearings | Restricting Public Access and Seeking Confidentiality Orders |
| 19 | Entering with or without notice under ss. 26 and 27 | The Landlord's Right of Entry into a Rental Unit |
| 21 | Who counts as a landlord, tenant or occupant, and who may be a party | Landlords, Tenants, Occupants and Residential Tenancies |
What changed on September 21, 2026
In its operational update of September 21, 2026, Tribunals Ontario announced rewrites of four guidelines to track what Bill 60 and Bill 97 amended in O. Reg. 516/06 and the RTA. What follows highlights the changes most relevant to landlords; read the complete guideline before relying on any of it.
Guideline 7: refusing or postponing evictions
Section 83(1) allows the LTB to refuse an eviction where refusing would not be unfair, or to postpone enforcement. The revised guideline now tracks O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4. A delay is possible only with the landlord's consent or, on most grounds, where the Board finds both that compelling grounds exist and that delaying would be fair to the landlord and to other tenants. Notices under ss. 48, 49 and 50 (the N12 and N13 grounds) face only the "not unfair" test. Where neither route is satisfied, the guideline's position is that the Board lacks any authority to delay the eviction.
A caution is built into the guideline: its examples of tenant situations that earned a delay, such as a very large family, serious illness or a tight rental market, come from rulings made before s. 8.4 took effect and "may no longer be applicable". Guideline 7 also notes that eviction orders usually fix enforcement 11 days after the order, even though the RTA sets no such period, and it explains the s. 8.2 test, new in 2026, for setting aside an L3 order.
Guideline 10: procedure on eviction applications
Think of this as the checklist for getting notices and applications right. Its topics include:
- the precise termination date, since a wrong date cannot be amended and probably invalidates the notice;
- naming every landlord and every tenant, and signing;
- giving reasons and details;
- when a notice substantially complies (s. 212);
- serving several notices on different grounds;
- N4 notices and first N5 notices that can be voided;
- the earliest and the latest dates for filing;
- whether an application is complete; and
- when eviction orders expire.
Its worked N4 examples have been redone on the 7-day period. The guideline also records the Divisional Court's position that unpaid rent is both in arrears and late, which allows a landlord to run an N4 and an N8 at the same time. Tribunals Ontario flags Guideline 10 as revised on September 21, 2026 without publishing a summary of the changes, so work from the current version, not one saved earlier.
Guideline 11: arrears cases
Guideline 11 now reflects that an N4 given from September 21, 2026 onward needs only 7 days' notice. It also sets out the tenant's new obligation on L1, L9 and L10 applications filed from that date: to raise other issues under s. 82, the tenant has to pay half of the claimed arrears no later than 7 days before the hearing. That money goes straight to the landlord, not to the LTB, and must be paid even where the tenant contests the amount. Further, the guideline explains the July 1, 2026 rules permitting seasonal rent increases for air conditioners installed by tenants where the rent includes electricity, and it walks through the arithmetic of arrears in all three rent applications.
Guideline 12: own use, demolition, repairs and conversion
This guideline deals with N12 and N13 terminations and with T5 bad-faith applications. It describes three changes from September 21, 2026:
- Own-use N12s with 120 days' notice. Where a s. 48 (landlord's own use) N12 is served from September 21, 2026 onward, giving at least 120 days and ending on the final day of a rental period or term, the landlord owes neither compensation nor an alternative unit (s. 48.1). Notices for a purchaser's own use are excluded.
- The 60-day presumption. Bad faith is presumed on a T5 filed from September 21, 2026 onward if the intended occupant has not moved in within 60 days, counted from the N12 termination date or from the tenant's later departure (RTA s. 57(7)). For this rule the guideline relies on O. Reg. 240/26.
- N13 right of first refusal. When a tenant, from September 21, 2026 onward, notifies the landlord of wanting to return, the landlord must tell them in writing the estimated completion date, any change to it and when the unit is ready, and must allow at least 60 days to move back in where readiness comes on or after that date.
The rules that already existed are restated too. An N12 needs a termination date at least 60 days after the notice, an N13 at least 120 days, and in both cases the date must close out a rental period or term. Only the people listed in s. 48(1) qualify as the intended occupant.
Frequently asked questions
Do the Interpretation Guidelines have the force of law?
They do not. Section 176(3) of the RTA makes them non-binding. Members generally follow them, but the RTA, its regulations and court decisions prevail.
Is it acceptable to rely on a guideline at a hearing?
It is. Parties routinely refer Members to the guideline in question and to the cases cited in it. Have the exact paragraph ready.
What happened to Guideline 20?
Nothing is published under that number. The LTB's current list goes from 1 to 19 and then jumps to 21.
Can I still rely on the delay examples in Guideline 7?
Perhaps not. By the guideline's own account, those examples were decided before s. 8.4 of O. Reg. 516/06 existed and might not hold up now.
Where do I look for the rules on reviewing an order?
Guideline 8. For any order dated July 1, 2026 or later, it covers the O. Reg. 178/26 grounds and the 15-day deadline. See also Request to Review an Order.
Official sources
- LTB Law, rules and decisions (full list of guidelines)
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 26, 27, 48, 48.1, 49, 50, 57, 82, 83, 176 and 212
- O. Reg. 516/06, ss. 8.1 to 8.4
- O. Reg. 178/26
- O. Reg. 240/26 (Prescribed Period of Time)
- Interpretation Guideline 7, Guideline 8, Guideline 10, Guideline 11 and Guideline 12
- Operational Update, September 21, 2026
- Operational Update, July 1, 2026