Ontario Eviction Notice Form N4 Explained (Non-Payment of Rent)

What Form N4 is — and what it is not

The N4 (Notice to End a Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent) is the form a landlord serves when a tenant has not paid rent that is due. It states the amount of rent owed, the rental period it covers, and a termination date: the date the tenancy will end if the rent is not paid. Only unpaid rent can be claimed on an N4 — not late fees, not damage costs, not utilities or other charges unless they are lawfully part of the rent under the Residential Tenancies Act. Claiming anything that is not rent is one of the most common reasons an N4 is found defective.

What the N4 is not matters just as much. It is not an eviction order, and a tenant does not have to move out on the termination date. If the rent remains unpaid after that date, the landlord's next step is to file an L1 application with the LTB, and only the LTB — after a hearing — can order the tenancy terminated and the tenant evicted. A landlord who changes the locks, removes belongings, or shuts off utilities after serving an N4 is acting unlawfully, whatever the arrears.

The September 21, 2026 change: 7 days for every tenancy

Before September 21, 2026, the N4 notice period depended on how often rent was paid: 7 days for daily or weekly tenancies, but 14 days for other tenancies, including the typical monthly tenancy. Amendments under the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 (Bill 60) replaced that split with a single rule: for any N4 served on or after September 21, 2026, the termination date must be at least 7 days after the notice is given, regardless of whether the tenancy is monthly, yearly, daily, or weekly.

Three details decide whether the new rule helps or hurts a given notice. First, the trigger is the date the notice is served, not the date it is filled in: an N4 served on or before September 20, 2026 still had to comply with the old 14-day rule for a monthly tenancy, and a 7-day notice served before that date for a monthly tenancy was defective. Second, the 7 days count from when the tenant is considered served, not from when the landlord mails or posts the form — service by mail adds 5 days before the tenant counts as served, so a mailed N4 needs 12 days in total before its termination date. Third, the LTB now uses an updated form, N4 (2026/09): use the current version, because the previous version (stamped 01/04/2022) with its 14-day wording is no longer the right form for notices served on or after September 21, 2026.

What did not change is just as important. Paying everything owed on or before the termination date still voids the N4 entirely. The tenant's right to dispute the notice at an LTB hearing is unchanged. And the change does not make hearings faster — the LTB's scheduling backlog is unaffected by how quickly a landlord becomes eligible to file, so a correct notice still matters more than a fast one.

How to fill out an N4 without the errors that get L1s dismissed

Most dismissed L1 applications trace back to an N4 error, not to the merits of the arrears. Work through the form in order, and check each of these points before serving it:

• Correct parties and address — the full legal names of every tenant on the lease and the landlord, and the exact rental unit address. A wrong name or unit can invalidate the notice.
• Rent only — list only rent that is lawfully due and unpaid, broken down by rental period. Do not add late fees, NSF charges, damages, or anything that is not rent.
• Correct arrears math — the total must match the rental periods shown, with any partial payments credited. Overstating the arrears by even a small amount can make the notice void.
• Termination date — at least 7 days after the date the tenant counts as served (12 days if served by mail, because of the 5-day deemed-service rule). Count from deemed service, not from the day you filled in the form.
• Current form version — use N4 (2026/09) for any notice served on or after September 21, 2026.
• Valid service — serve by a method the Residential Tenancies Act recognizes (in person, by courier, by mail with the added days, or as otherwise permitted) and keep proof of how and when you served it. Service defects are the single most common dismissal ground.
• One notice per tenancy — if new rent becomes due after you serve the N4, it does not automatically join that notice; get advice before amending, because amending an N4 is a common source of fresh errors.

What tenants can do: pay, dispute, or both

A tenant who receives an N4 has three practical options, and they are not mutually exclusive. First, pay: paying all arrears — plus any rent that has become due since — on or before the termination date voids the N4 completely, and the tenancy continues as if the notice had never been served. Keep proof of payment (bank record, receipt, or e-transfer confirmation) and confirm in writing that the landlord accepts it as payment in full of the arrears claimed.

Second, dispute: if the amount is wrong, the rent was paid, the landlord is claiming charges that are not rent, or the notice was served incorrectly, the tenant can raise those issues at the LTB hearing after the landlord files the L1. Bring the lease, payment records, and any correspondence with the landlord — the hearing turns on documents, not on who argues hardest. Third, even after an L1 is filed, section 74 of the Residential Tenancies Act still allows a tenant to stop the eviction by paying everything owed (including the landlord's permitted application costs) before the LTB makes its order — a last chance that survives the termination date itself.

What a tenant should not do is ignore the notice. The termination date passes whether or not the tenant responds, and an unanswered L1 can proceed to a hearing the tenant never attends. If the arrears are genuinely unaffordable, talk to the landlord early — a written payment plan, even an informal one, is worth more than silence — and consider community legal clinic advice, which is free for many Ontario tenants. Tenants facing eviction for reasons other than arrears (such as an N12 for the landlord's own use or an N5 for interference) are dealing with different forms and different rules, and should not treat N4 advice as applying to those notices.

After the N4: the L1 application and the LTB hearing

If the termination date passes with the rent still unpaid, the landlord may file an L1 application (Application to Evict a Tenant for Non-payment of Rent and to Collect Rent the Tenant Owes) with the LTB. The L1 can be filed the day after the termination date. At the hearing, the LTB member checks the N4 first: was the right form used, was the termination date correct, was service valid, and is the arrears figure right? A defect in any of those can end the application there, whatever the arrears. If the notice is valid and the rent is still unpaid, the member can order the tenancy terminated and the arrears paid — but can also consider the tenant's circumstances, including any issues the tenant raises about the unit or the landlord's conduct, and can grant relief from eviction in appropriate cases.

For landlords, the lesson of the L1 stage is preparation: a clean N4, a reconciled rent ledger, proof of service, and a complete payment history are what win hearings. For tenants, the lesson is participation: attend the hearing, bring the documents, and raise every issue — including maintenance problems or illegal charges — because issues not raised at the hearing are much harder to raise afterwards. Either side that is unsure about the procedure should consider a licensed paralegal before the hearing, not after an order is made.

What this page doesn't cover

This page explains the N4 for non-payment of rent in Ontario only. It does not cover eviction for other reasons (N5, N6, N7, N12, and the rest each have their own forms, notice periods, and defences), rent-geared-to-income or social housing rules, or tenancies exempt from the Residential Tenancies Act (such as most care homes, many student residences, and units shared with the owner). It is a self-help explainer, not legal advice: if the arrears involve a disputed rent increase, a claim for damages, or a hearing that is already scheduled, get advice on your specific file before acting.

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