N12 notice in Ontario: ending a tenancy so you or family can move in (2026)
An N12 is the LTB form you use when you, your spouse, or your (or your spouse's) child or parent genuinely wants to live in the unit for at least a year. Since September 21, 2026, giving at least 120 days' notice means you don't have to pay the usual one month's rent compensation. Here's how it works for a small landlord with a basement unit or a room.
- Who can move in: you, your spouse, a child or parent of you or your spouse, or a caregiver for one of them. The person must intend to live there for at least one year.
- Termination date: at least 60 days after you give the notice, and on the last day of a rental period (or the end of a fixed term).
- Compensation: one month's rent (or another unit the tenant accepts), paid by the termination date, unless it's for your own use and you give at least 120 days' notice with a termination date that's the last day of a rental period or fixed term (N12s served on or after Sept 21, 2026).
- Only an individual landlord can use it. A corporation that owns the unit can't.
- The person must normally move in within 60 days of the N12 termination date, or bad faith is presumed if the tenant files a T5.
First: does the RTA (and the N12) even apply?
If your renter shares a kitchen or bathroom with you, the owner, or with your spouse, child or parent living there, the Residential Tenancies Act usually doesn't apply at all (RTA s. 5(i)). There's no N12 and no LTB in that case; your written room agreement and general law govern. A basement suite with its own kitchen and bathroom is a regular RTA tenancy, so the N12 rules apply. Not sure which you have? Read renting rooms in your home, and if in doubt, assume the RTA applies.
Who can you name on an N12?
Under RTA s. 48, you can end a tenancy if you in good faith need the unit for residential occupation for at least one year by:
- you (the landlord), or your spouse;
- a child or parent of you or your spouse; or
- a person who provides or will provide care services to one of those people, if the person getting care lives or will live in the same building.
Siblings, cousins, friends or a new tenant are not on the list. The rental unit must be owned at least partly by an individual, and the landlord giving notice must be an individual. A separate reason on the same form covers a purchaser's own use when you've signed an agreement to sell a building with no more than three residential units; the 120-day exception doesn't apply to that one.
60 days or 120 days?
| Notice you give | Compensation |
|---|---|
| At least 60 days, but less than 120 | Pay one month's rent, or offer another rental unit the tenant accepts. Pay it on or before the termination date (RTA s. 55.1). |
| At least 120 days (landlord's own use, served on or after Sept 21, 2026) | No compensation or alternative unit required, as long as the termination date is the last day of a rental period or fixed term (RTA s. 48.1(2)). |
Either way, the termination date must land on the last day of a rental period (for rent due on the 1st, that's the last day of a month) or the last day of a fixed term. A fixed-term lease can't be cut short with an N12.
Worked dates
Monthly tenancy, rent due on the 1st. Don't count the day you give the notice. Add 5 days if you mail it, or 1 business day if you courier it (from the LTB's N12 instructions).
| N12 given Friday Oct 23, 2026 | 60-day minimum lands on | Earliest valid date (with compensation) | Earliest date with no compensation (120+ days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Handed to the tenant | Dec 22, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 (120 days = Feb 20) |
| Mailed (+5 days) | Dec 27, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 (125 days = Feb 25) |
The LTB's own example: an N12 handed over on August 1 can't end the tenancy before September 30; mailed on August 1, the earliest date is October 31. When in doubt, give an extra month. A notice with a date that's too early can be invalid, and you'd have to start again.
Step by step
- Download the current N12 from the LTB forms page. The N12 was replaced on Sept 21, 2026; old versions aren't accepted after November 30, 2026.
- Fill it in: every tenant's name (and any subtenant or assignee), your name, the full unit address, the termination date, the reason, and who is moving in.
- Serve it an allowed way: hand it to the tenant or an adult in the unit, leave it in the mailbox or where mail is normally delivered, slide it under the door or through a mail slot, fax, courier or mail. Not by posting it on the door. Keep a copy and write down exactly how and when you served it.
- Compensation (if under 120 days): pay one month's rent by the termination date and keep proof of payment (an e-transfer record or a signed receipt).
- If the tenant stays: you can file an L2 right after serving the N12, and no later than 30 days after the termination date, with a copy of the N12 and a Certificate of Service. The LTB fee is $201, or $186 through the Tribunals Ontario Portal (LTB fees page, checked Oct 22, 2026).
- Affidavit: the person who will move in must swear an affidavit that they in good faith need the unit for their own use for at least a year (RTA s. 72). The LTB can also look at your past N12, N13 and purchaser notices when judging good faith.
The tenant can leave earlier than your date by giving you at least 10 days' written notice. Until an LTB eviction order is enforced, you can't change the locks or remove their things.
Bad faith: the expensive mistake
If the LTB finds an N12 was given in bad faith, it can order you to pay the former tenant up to 12 months of their last rent as general compensation, plus a year of any rent difference, plus moving and storage costs, and an administrative fine (RTA s. 57). Bad faith is presumed if, from the day you give the N12 until a year after the tenant moves out, you advertise the unit for rent, rent it to someone else, advertise it or the building for sale, demolish it, or start converting it to non-residential use. It's also presumed if nobody named moves in within the required time (for N12s for your own use, normally 60 days after the termination date). You can try to rebut the presumption at the T5 hearing, so keep proof of the move: change of address, utility accounts and similar.
Keep it fair and Human Rights Code-safe
An N12 has to be about the real need for the unit, not about who the tenant is. Don't use it to get around a dispute, a family situation, a disability-related request or anything else the Human Rights Code protects. If the real issue is unpaid rent or damage, that's a different notice (N4, N5) with its own rules.
The toolkit's LTB evidence pack has a rent ledger, a communication log and a hearing bundle checklist (the notice on the current form, Certificate of Service, ledger, receipts). That's the paperwork an L2 hearing on an N12 needs.
Official sources
- LTB: Instructions for the N12 notice (updated Sept 21, 2026)
- Tribunals Ontario: Legislative changes at the LTB effective September 21, 2026
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 5, 48, 48.1, 55.1, 57, 72 (ontario.ca/laws)
- ontario.ca: Renting in Ontario: Your rights
- LTB forms
- LTB: A Guide to the Residential Tenancies Act
Not legal advice. This site is general information written by a small Ontario landlord, based on official Ontario and Tribunals Ontario sources as of October 22, 2026. Laws and LTB forms change; check the linked official source before you act, and talk to a lawyer or licensed paralegal (or call the LTB at 1-888-332-3234) about your situation. Not affiliated with the Government of Ontario, Tribunals Ontario or the Landlord and Tenant Board. Full disclaimer.