Ontario halves eviction notice period under new rental rules

A second wave of amendments to Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) took effect on September 21, cutting the repayment window for tenants in arrears in half and reshaping the terms that govern rental investments across the province.

The changes — drawn from Bill 60 and Bill 97 — follow an initial round of RTA reforms that came into force in July.

For mortgage brokers with investor clients in Ontario, the new frameworkaffects cash flow assumptions, rental income qualification, and the regulatory risk profile of mortgage-backed rental properties.

Key changes brokers and their investor clients should know

The most significant amendments under Bill 60 and Bill 97 are as follows:

• The N4 notice repayment window is cut from 14 days to seven. If payment is not received within that window, the landlord can file an L1 application with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) to commence eviction proceedings.
• "Persistent late payment" now has a statutory definition for the first time: rent paid more than seven days after the due date on at least three separate occasions within a six-month period, giving landlords a clearer legal threshold to document habitual delays.
• A landlord issuing an N12 notice for personal or family use with at least 120 days of advance notice is no longer required to pay the tenant compensation, though if the intended occupant does not move in within 60 days, the eviction is presumed to be in bad faith.
• Tenants who wish to raise separate complaints at an eviction hearing, such as maintenance failures or landlord harassment, must now pay 50% of the alleged overdue rent before those issues can be introduced.

A tighter market adds urgency for landlord investors

The RTA changes land as Ontario's investment property sector faces compound headwinds.

Canadian Mortgage Professional has reported on how a sharp population decline is reshaping Canada's rental and condo markets} and on how unsold new condo inventory in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area hit a 35-year low in the first quarter of 2026.

Toronto-area broker Micky Khaneka of MKG Mortgages told CMP that the challenges facing Toronto's condo marketsuggest it "might be a little bit longer before that starts to be absorbed."

A rental market report by Rentals.ca and Urbanation for August placed the asking rent to $2,035, with apartment and condo rents in Toronto rising 1.6% from June to $2,577. 

For brokers advising rental investor clients in Ontario, the new LTB timelines and eviction thresholds are an increasingly relevant factor in the due diligence conversation around mortgage-backed rental holdings in the province.

Source: Canadian Mortgage Professional