Sworn Statements at the LTB: A Plain Guide to the Affidavit and Declaration Forms

Some Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) applications can't proceed unless a truthful written statement travels with them. The Board supplies two blank one-page shells for this, the Declaration and the Affidavit; the words are yours. Landlords use them most on an N12-based L2, where whoever is moving in confirms a genuine need for the unit. Tenants gain from knowing the rules too, since a missing or flawed statement can stop the case.

Quick facts

Two versions of the same idea

• Affidavit. You swear or affirm it with a notary or a commissioner for taking affidavits present. The LTB's version ends in a jurat, the block recording where and when the oath was taken, with a line for the commissioner.
• Declaration. Signed and dated by you alone. Printed on the LTB form is wording that the contents are accurate and complete, and that misleading or false information filed with the Board is an offence under RTA s. 234.

RTA s. 192.1 lets the Rules permit an unsworn document wherever the Act asks for an affidavit, and Rule 1.5 uses that power. A signed, dated declaration is accepted instead, so long as it contains the same statement, confirms it as true, and accepts that a false declaration is an offence. The Affidavit form itself mentions that the Declaration form may be swapped in. For most landlords, the declaration is all that's needed.

Four situations that call for a statement

1. Own-use evictions (N12, filed on an L2)

RTA s. 72(1) bars an eviction order on an N12 until an affidavit is on file sworn by the person who personally requires the unit. Its content turns on the type of notice:

The timing rule is unforgiving. Section 71.1 ties the statement to the filing itself and directs that the Board shall refuse to accept an application lacking one; the L2 instructions repeat the point. Where an N12 lists several people who intend to move in, each may sign one.

2. L3: the tenant's own notice or agreement to move

Section 77(2) requires an affidavit verifying that notice or agreement. Drawing on the L3 instructions, cover:

• [ ] the termination date;
• [ ] when the tenancy agreement was made;
• [ ] each date on which the tenant signed;
• [ ] every signer's name;
• [ ] that the notice or agreement wasn't signed together with the tenancy agreement;
• [ ] for an agreement to end, that nothing signed afterward replaced it.

3. L4: a settlement or order was breached

An affidavit is required by s. 78(2), and a dedicated L4 declaration form exists for it.

4. Showing a summons reached the witness

Per the Requesting a Summons brochure, the person who delivered the summons by hand gives a sworn affidavit. See the summons page.

A tenant's checklist

Facing one of these applications? Look at:

• [ ] whether any statement came with an N12-based L2;
• [ ] who signed it: the actual future occupant, or someone signing for them;
• [ ] whether a landlord's own-use statement mentions one year;
• [ ] whether a declaration includes both the truth confirmation and the offence acknowledgement.

Completing the forms, step by step

The Declaration

1. Add the File Number if there is one.
2. Complete the opening line with your name and the city, town or municipality you live in.
3. In numbered, first-person paragraphs, set out the facts. On a s. 48 N12, echo the Act closely: that you need the unit at the stated address, in good faith, to live in yourself for no less than a year. A relative of the landlord should also explain the family relationship.
4. Keep the pre-printed truth confirmation and s. 234 acknowledgement.
5. Print your name; sign and date.

The Affidavit

1. File Number, then the deponent's (signer's) name and municipality.
2. Numbered paragraphs follow the oath-or-affirm wording.
3. The jurat records the place and date; the commissioner and the deponent both sign. Don't sign until you are face to face with the commissioner.

Getting it to the Board

Upload it with the application, as Rule 4.4 directs. When that is impossible, Rule 4.5 allows a delay of no more than 5 calendar days, but with a risk of administrative dismissal. On an N12 that grace period doesn't help, because s. 71.1 demands the statement at filing.

Six errors that sink the application

1. Leaving the statement off an N12-based L2. The Board is obliged to refuse it (s. 71.1(2)).
2. The wrong signer. Only the person who personally needs the unit can give it. A landlord whose son is moving in can't sign on his behalf and meet s. 72(1).
3. Dropping the one-year period from a landlord's own-use statement. Section 72(1)(a) makes it part of what must be certified.
4. A declaration lacking the truth confirmation or the offence acknowledgement. Without both, Rule 1.5 won't treat it as an affidavit. The LTB form prints both, so start from it.
5. Signing an affidavit early, or leaving the jurat blank. Such a document was never sworn.
6. Template language that doesn't match reality. A good-faith claim later shown to be false invites a T5 bad-faith application and s. 234 exposure.

What Bill 60 changed

Per the LTB Operational Update of Sept 21, 2026, Bill 60 altered the rules surrounding N12s served from September 21, 2026 onward:

• Own-use notices without compensation. A landlord's own-use N12 given from that date, with a termination date 120 days or more ahead that lands on the final day of a period or term, needs neither compensation nor an alternative unit (s. 48.1(2)).
• The 60-day move-in rule. Ordinarily the landlord or other specified person moves in within 60 days, counted from the termination date or, if later, from the tenant's move-out. Otherwise, bad faith is presumed on a T5 filed from September 21, 2026, though the presumption can be rebutted (RTA s. 57(6.1), (7); O. Reg. 240/26).
• Purchasers. Neither change reaches a purchaser's own-use N12.

The s. 72(1) requirement is the same as before. The N12 and L2 were both revised on September 21, 2026, and from November 30, 2026, earlier versions are no longer accepted.

Common questions, answered simply

Does a lawyer or commissioner have to witness my N12 statement?

No. Rule 1.5 lets a signed and dated declaration take the place of a sworn affidavit, provided it confirms the contents are true and recognizes that declaring falsely is an offence.

I already filed the L2. Can the N12 declaration follow later?

No. Section 71.1 makes it part of the filing, and an L2 that comes in without it must be refused.

Whose signature goes on an N12 declaration?

The one who will personally live there: the landlord, the purchaser, or the relative named in the N12.

What goes into an L3 declaration?

Confirmation of the tenant's notice or agreement. The L3 instructions ask for the signers, the key dates including termination, and a statement that it wasn't signed when the lease was.

Official sources

• Declaration (form)
• Affidavit (form)
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 48, 48.1, 49, 57, 71.1, 72, 77, 78, 192.1, 234
• O. Reg. 240/26 (Prescribed Period of Time)
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rules 1.5, 4.4 and 4.5
• L2 Instructions
• L3 Instructions
• LTB Operational Update, September 21, 2026

Last reviewed October 31, 2026. General information, not legal advice for your situation. Always use the current version of the form from the LTB.