Ontario’s rental rules changed today, September 21, 2026, touching everything from a late rent payment to an eviction hearing. The update, introduced through Bills 60 and 97, shortens the notice tenants get for unpaid rent, changes what a landlord owes when reclaiming a unit for personal use, and adds a new cost to raising complaints at a hearing. This guide breaks down the headline changes that took effect today, what already changed back on July 1, and one widely expected change Ontario quietly shelved months ago.
What Ontario rental rules changed today, September 21, 2026?
Four parts of Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act changed today, introduced through Bills 60 and 97. The notice tenants get for unpaid rent got shorter, a new no-compensation option opened up for owner-use evictions, a formal definition of persistently late rent arrived, and tenants raising complaints at an arrears hearing now face a new payment threshold. One more widely expected change, ending the automatic conversion of fixed-term leases into month-to-month tenancies, did not happen: it was quietly dropped almost a year ago.
The table below lays out each rule in plain terms: what it used to require, what it requires now, and exactly when each version took effect.
| Rule | Before | Now | In effect since |
| N4 notice for unpaid rent | 14 days to pay | Seven days to pay | September 21, 2026 |
| N12 owner-use eviction compensation | One month’s rent required | Optional: skip compensation with 120+ days’ notice (landlord’s own use only, not purchaser’s use) | September 21, 2026 |
| Persistently late rent | Decided case by case | More than seven days late, three or more times in six months | September 21, 2026 |
| Arrears hearing complaints (section 82) | No extra payment required | 50% of claimed arrears paid directly to the landlord, due seven days before hearing | September 21, 2026 (new applications) |
| LTB order review deadline | 30 days | 15 days | July 1, 2026 |
| AGI notice to serve | 14 days | Seven days | July 1, 2026 |
| Maximum RTA offence fines | $50,000 (individual) / $250,000 (corporation) | $100,000 (individual) / $500,000 (corporation) | July 1, 2026 |
| Fixed-term lease conversion to month-to-month | Automatic, unless landlord has valid grounds | Still automatic, unchanged | Not changing (shelved October 2025) |
How much shorter is the N4 notice for unpaid rent?
The N4, Ontario’s official notice to end a tenancy for unpaid rent, now gives tenants seven days to pay what they owe before a landlord can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board, down from 14 days. The shorter window applies to monthly and annual tenancies; daily and weekly tenancies already ran on a seven-day cycle, so nothing changes for them. Paying everything owed within that window still voids the notice and stops the eviction process entirely, exactly as it did before today.
Landlords aren’t necessarily getting a faster resolution out of the change, though. Kayla Andrade of Ontario Landlords Watch told CBC News that a shorter notice period “doesn’t mean that you’re going to get your hearing any faster,” since the Landlord and Tenant Board’s own scheduling backlog is unaffected by how quickly a landlord can file.
Can a landlord skip compensation when evicting for personal use?
Yes, but only for a landlord’s own use, and only on a longer timeline. A landlord using an N12 notice to reclaim a unit for themselves or a close family member can still give 60 days’ notice and pay one month’s compensation, exactly as before, or, as of today, give at least 120 days’ notice and pay no compensation at all. That 120-day no-compensation option does not apply to an N12 served for a purchaser’s own use, which still requires 60 days’ notice and one month’s compensation. For a landlord’s-own-use N12, a new rule also presumes the eviction was made in bad faith if the landlord or the specified intended occupant doesn’t actually move in within 60 days of the termination date and the former tenant files a T5 application; that presumption can be rebutted only by the landlord, and it doesn’t apply to an N12 served for a purchaser’s own use.
For tenants, that bad-faith presumption is the part worth remembering: it shifts the burden onto the landlord to show the move was genuine, rather than leaving a tenant to prove it wasn’t.
What does “persistently late” rent mean under Ontario law now?
As of today, Ontario law sets a defined basis for persistently late rent: paying more than seven days late on three or more occasions within any six-month period. That threshold feeds into the N8 notice, the ground landlords use to end a tenancy over a pattern of late payment, but it isn’t the only way the Landlord and Tenant Board can reach that finding; the board may still find a tenant persistently late in other circumstances. A payment also isn’t treated as late if the landlord applied it to another amount the tenant owed, such as arrears. Meeting the definition does not end a tenancy automatically: a landlord still has to serve an N8 and apply to the board, which keeps its discretion over whether eviction is the right outcome.
What payment must a tenant make to raise a section 82 issue at a hearing?
For applications filed on or after today, yes: a tenant who wants to raise a maintenance, repair or other issue under section 82 of the Residential Tenancies Act at a non-payment hearing must first pay 50% of the arrears the landlord is claiming, paid directly to the landlord rather than to the Landlord and Tenant Board, at least seven days before the hearing. The tenant must also give the landlord and the LTB a written description of the issues they intend to raise, also at least seven days before the hearing. The rule doesn’t affect a tenant who isn’t raising a section 82 issue; it applies specifically to using that hearing to counter with a complaint of their own.
Tenant advocates argue the threshold discourages legitimate repair complaints from tenants who are already behind on rent and can’t front more money. Dania Majid of the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario told CBC News the change could end up creating more contested hearings rather than fewer, since tenants facing the payment requirement have less reason to settle before a hearing date.
Are fixed-term leases still converting automatically to month-to-month tenancies?
Yes, and that hasn’t changed today despite months of speculation that it would. Ontario floated ending the automatic conversion of an expired fixed-term lease into a month-to-month tenancy as part of Bill 60’s original consultation package, but Rob Flack, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, announced on October 26, 2025, that the government was not proceeding with those consultations after public pushback that included criticism from Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow. Flack said at the time that “residents expect stability and predictability in Ontario’s rental market.”
Practically, that means a fixed-term lease in Ontario still rolls over into a month-to-month tenancy at the end of its term unless the landlord has valid grounds to end it, the same rule that applied before Bill 60 existed. If your lease renewal notice or a landlord tells you otherwise, that’s worth double-checking against this.
What Bill 60 changes already took effect on July 1, 2026?
Three changes at the Landlord and Tenant Board took effect on July 1, 2026, months before today’s updates, according to Tribunals Ontario’s own operational update. The deadline to request a review of an LTB order was cut from 30 days to 15 days, landlords issuing an above-guideline rent increase (AGI) got a shorter window to serve their Direction to Serve, and maximum fines for offences under the Residential Tenancies Act doubled.
Faster deadlines at the board
A tenant or landlord who disagrees with an LTB order now has 15 days to file a request for review, instead of 30. When the LTB directs a landlord to serve tenants with an AGI order, the landlord has seven days from the order’s issuance to do so, down from 14, and must file the Certificate of Service within five days after service. Tribunals Ontario also made the LTB’s official payment agreement form mandatory for repayment plans between landlords and tenants, so an informal, undocumented arrangement no longer holds the same weight it once did.
Bigger fines for offences
The Ontario Rental Housing Enforcement Unit, which investigates offences under the Residential Tenancies Act and prosecutes them at the Ontario Court of Justice, can now seek fines up to $100,000 against an individual and $500,000 against a corporation, both double the previous maximums of $50,000 and $250,000.
What is Ontario’s rent increase guideline for 2026?
Ontario’s rent increase guideline for 2026 is 2.1%, the maximum a landlord can raise rent without Landlord and Tenant Board approval, according to ontario.ca. The guideline applies to most private rental units first occupied before November 15, 2018; units first occupied on or after that date, along with most new basement apartments, are exempt from it entirely. The guideline is set annually under a separate, existing formula and isn’t part of Bill 60.
What should tenants and landlords do differently starting today?
Both sides benefit from tighter documentation now that timelines are shorter and more of a tenancy’s outcome turns on dates and paper trails. A missed week, a notice date, or a move-in date can matter more than it used to.
For tenants
Keep dated proof of every rent payment and every message to a landlord, since a seven-day window leaves far less room to sort out a dispute over whether rent was actually late. Renters who sign and store their lease through liv.rent’s renter tools keep a verified, time-stamped copy of the agreement and any amendments, which is useful evidence if a payment or notice date is ever disputed at the board.
For landlords
Use the current LTB-issued forms for any notice filed on or after today; several, including the N4, were updated to reflect the new timelines, and an outdated form can be rejected outright. Screening tenants properly before signing still matters more than reacting after a payment problem starts. liv.rent’s Trust Score gives landlords a verified, documented read on a prospective tenant’s payment history before move-in, and the platform’s tenant screening guide and landlord dashboard walk through building that documentation from the start of a tenancy rather than scrambling for it once a notice period is already running.
None of this is legal or financial advice. A tenant or landlord dealing with a specific notice, hearing or dispute should confirm current requirements with the Landlord and Tenant Board or a paralegal or lawyer licensed in Ontario. For the broader rules tenants and landlords are navigating this year, liv.rent’s Rental Laws section tracks changes province by province.
Can my landlord evict me seven days after I miss rent in Ontario?
No. The seven-day window in the N4 notice is how long a tenant has to pay the rent owed before a landlord can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an eviction order, not a deadline to move out. The board still has to schedule a hearing and issue an order, and paying everything owed within the seven days voids the N4 entirely.
Do fixed-term leases in Ontario still turn into month-to-month tenancies?
Yes. Ontario considered ending that automatic conversion as part of Bill 60, but the government announced on October 26, 2025, that it wasn’t moving forward with the idea. A fixed-term lease still becomes a month-to-month tenancy at the end of its term unless the landlord has valid grounds to end it.
Does my landlord still have to pay me one month's rent to evict me for personal use?
It depends on who’s moving in and the notice period. A landlord using an N12 notice to move in themselves or a close family member still owes one month’s compensation with 60 days’ notice, exactly as before, or can instead give at least 120 days’ notice and skip the compensation, as of September 21, 2026. That no-compensation option does not apply to an N12 served for a purchaser’s own use, which still requires 60 days’ notice and one month’s compensation.
What happens if I don't pay 50% of my arrears before my hearing?
That payment, made directly to the landlord rather than to the LTB, only applies if a tenant wants to raise a maintenance, repair or other issue under section 82 at a non-payment hearing, for an application filed on or after September 21, 2026. The tenant must also give the landlord and the LTB a written description of those issues at least seven days before the hearing. A tenant who isn’t raising a section 82 issue doesn’t need to make that payment to attend the hearing itself.
Where can I find the official Ontario government information on these changes?
Tribunals Ontario, which runs the Landlord and Tenant Board, publishes operational updates on changes from Bill 60 and Bill 97, and ontario.ca hosts the Residential Tenancies Act text and the annual rent increase guideline.
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