N12 Notice in Ontario: Rules, Compensation and Bad Faith

This article is part of our complete guide to leasing in Ontario. It goes deeper on the N12 notice in Ontario: who can use it, what it costs and how it’s enforced.

What Is an N12 Notice in Ontario?

An N12 notice in Ontario is the Landlord and Tenant Board form a landlord uses to end a tenancy for personal use. It covers two situations under the Residential Tenancies Act. The first is the landlord’s own use, under section 48. The second is a purchaser’s own use after a sale, under section 49.

In both cases, the N12 is only a notice. It starts the process, but it doesn’t end the tenancy by itself. If the tenant stays, the landlord has to apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an eviction order. Our article on how residential leases end in Ontario compares the N12 with the other ways a tenancy can end.

This article covers ordinary private residential tenancies governed by the Residential Tenancies Act. Special rules and exemptions can apply to social housing and other accommodation.

Who Can Move In Under an N12 Notice?

The person moving in has to be one of these, according to the Board’s Interpretation Guideline 12:

• The landlord or the landlord’s spouse.
• A child or parent of the landlord or the spouse.
• A caregiver who provides care services to one of those people, where the person receiving care lives, or will live, in the same building or residential complex.
• For a sale, the buyer, the buyer’s spouse, a child or parent of either, or a caregiver for one of them. The person receiving care must live, or plan to live, in the same residential complex.

Siblings, grandchildren, aunts, uncles and cousins don’t qualify, so an N12 naming one of them is invalid. A corporation can’t serve an own-use N12 either, because section 48 applies only to individual landlords.

The Genuine Intention Test

For a landlord’s own-use N12, the intended occupant must intend, in good faith, to occupy the unit for at least one year. A purchaser’s notice has a different test under the Act, though the buyer still has to intend to live there. The Board looks at whether the intention is real, not whether the plan is sensible, and it can weigh what the landlord does after serving the notice. Have your legal representative confirm the evidence that applies to your situation.

How Much Notice Does an N12 Require?

The termination date has to be at least 60 days after the notice is given, and it has to fall on the last day of a rental period. For a fixed-term lease, it must be the last day of the term, so an N12 can’t end a one-year lease early.

When rent is due on the first of the month, the termination date is the last day of a month, and a date even one day off makes the notice defective. The Board can’t fix or extend a defective notice, so the landlord would have to serve a new one and start again. How you deliver it matters too. The Board treats a mailed notice as received five days after mailing, and a couriered one as received the day after it’s sent, according to its guide to serving documents.

Working Out the Date

Say you hand the tenant an N12 on October 28, 2026, and rent is due on the 1st. Sixty days later is December 27, so the earliest valid termination date is December 31, 2026. If you mail it instead, the Board counts it as received on November 2, which moves the earliest date to January 31, 2027. For an own-use notice with no compensation, 120 days from October 28 is February 25, 2027, so the termination date would be February 28, 2027.

Choosing 60 Days or 120 Days

For a landlord’s own use, the notice period now affects the cost. An N12 served on or after September 21, 2026, with a termination date at least 120 days away, needs no compensation. When your timing allows, the longer notice saves you a month’s rent, although the tenant still doesn’t have to leave by the termination date.

Does a Landlord Have to Pay Compensation for an N12 Notice?

It depends on the notice period and who is moving in. For a landlord’s own-use N12 with less than 120 days’ notice, the landlord must pay the tenant one month’s rent or offer another unit the tenant accepts. The payment is due by the termination date in the notice.

Since September 21, 2026, a landlord who serves an own-use N12 with at least 120 days’ notice doesn’t have to pay compensation or offer another unit, as the Board’s operational update confirms. That change doesn’t cover an N12 served for a buyer. A purchaser N12 still requires one month’s rent, or another unit the tenant accepts, however much notice is given, and the seller who served the notice owes it.

Why Late Payment Matters

The Board can’t issue an eviction order until the compensation is paid. Under Guideline 12, if the termination date passes without payment, the application is dismissed unless there are exceptional circumstances, and the Board extends that deadline only rarely. Pay by a traceable method and keep proof. Waiving a month’s rent instead counts only if the waiver is clear, covers specific months and is given to the tenant before the termination date.

Does a Tenant Have to Move Out After an N12 Notice?

No. A tenant who gets an N12 can stay past the termination date. The landlord then has to file an L2 application, and the Board decides at a hearing. If the Board orders an eviction, only the Court Enforcement Office, often called the Sheriff, can carry it out.

The landlord can file the L2 right after serving the N12, and no later than 30 days after the termination date, according to the L2 instructions. The tenant must still be in possession of the unit when it’s filed, and an eviction can’t take effect before the termination date.

What the L2 Application Must Include

• An affidavit or declaration. The person moving in has to swear or declare that they need the unit in good faith, for at least one year if it’s the landlord’s own use. File it with the application, or within five calendar days after if that isn’t possible.
• Prior notices. Your L2 must list every N12 and N13 the landlord gave in the two years before filing, for any unit. Leave one out and the application must be dismissed, with no chance to amend it. The L2 instructions also warn that incomplete or inaccurate details can lead to dismissal, so check every date and address.

The tenant can leave earlier by giving at least 10 days’ written notice. Even when the landlord proves good faith, the Board still has to consider the tenant’s circumstances and whether to refuse or delay the eviction. Since September 21, 2026, it can delay an N12 eviction only if the landlord agrees or the delay wouldn’t be unfair to the landlord or other tenants.

How Does an N12 Notice Work When You Sell a Tenanted Home?

When a buyer wants vacant possession so they can live in the home, the seller serves the N12 on the buyer’s behalf. Guideline 12 adds these limits:

• The seller must have an agreement of purchase and sale with the buyer.
• The property must have three or fewer residential units, or be a condominium unit.
• The seller, as the current landlord, pays the one month’s compensation.
• The 120-day exemption and the 60-day move-in presumption don’t apply.

If conditions in the agreement make closing uncertain, the Board may refuse the application or delay it until the sale is firmer, so a closing date that depends on vacant possession needs a generous buffer. Our article on selling a tenanted property in Ontario compares the N12 with an N11 agreement and selling with the tenant in place.

Planning Ahead With a Long-Term Tenant

What Happens If an N12 Notice Is Given in Bad Faith?

A former tenant who believes the N12 was given in bad faith can file a T5 application with the Board within one year of moving out. Not moving in as the notice said can support the claim, and the Board weighs the evidence, any presumption that applies and the landlord’s explanation. Under Guideline 12, the Board can order the landlord or buyer to pay:

• The increase in rent the tenant now pays, for up to one year.
• Reasonable moving and storage costs.
• General compensation of up to one year’s rent, without proof of expenses.

The Board may also impose an administrative fine of up to the Small Claims Court limit. This is payable to the Minister of Finance, separately from compensation awarded to the tenant, according to the Board’s guideline on administrative fines.

When Bad Faith Is Presumed

Some facts shift the burden to the landlord. For an own-use N12, bad faith is presumed if, between serving the notice and one year after the tenant moves out, the landlord advertises the unit for rent, rents it to someone else, advertises it for sale, demolishes it or takes steps to convert it to a non-residential use.

For an own-use T5 filed after September 21, 2026, bad faith is also presumed if the intended occupant hasn’t moved in within 60 days after the N12 termination date. If the tenant vacates later than that date, the 60 days run from when they vacate. The landlord can rebut either presumption at the hearing. Prosecuting an offence under the Act is a separate process, and since July 1, 2026, the maximum fines are $100,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations.

What Changed for N12 Notices on September 21, 2026?

Three changes affect N12s, and each is triggered by a different date or step, so check which applies to your notice or application.

1. No compensation with 120 days’ notice. It applies to own-use N12s served on or after September 21, 2026, not to purchaser N12s.
2. A 60-day move-in expectation. For own-use T5 applications filed after September 21, 2026, bad faith is presumed if the intended occupant hasn’t moved in within 60 days after the N12 termination date, or within 60 days of the tenant leaving if that’s later. The landlord can rebut it, and it doesn’t apply to purchasers.
3. New forms. The N12, L2 and T5 forms were updated, along with several others, and the Board will no longer accept older versions as of November 30, 2026.

The new right-of-first-refusal rules apply to N13 notices for renovations and repairs, not to N12 notices. Our tenant rights and landlord obligations article covers both sides of the relationship.

What N12 Mistakes Cost Landlords and Buyers the Most?

Most costly N12 mistakes are technical, and most of them mean starting over:

• A wrong termination date. It must be at least 60 days away and on the last day of a rental period or term.
• Late or missing compensation. If it’s owed, pay it by the termination date and keep proof.
• An ineligible occupant. A sibling or grandchild can’t be named.
• Missing paperwork. File the affidavit or declaration, and list every N12 and N13 from the past two years.
• An old form. Use the version the Board currently publishes.
• Pressuring the tenant. Calls, threats or cutting services to force a move can lead to a tenant application of their own.

If you’re thinking of serving an N12, talk to a lawyer or licensed paralegal first. For lease terms that can’t be enforced, see our article on illegal lease clauses in Ontario. For showings during a sale, see access and showings during a tenancy.

We are not lawyers or paralegals, and this article is general information, not legal advice. It’s based on the Residential Tenancies Act and Landlord and Tenant Board guidance as of October 2026. These rules can change. Before serving or responding to an N12 notice, speak with an Ontario lawyer or a licensed paralegal.