Ontario landlords with an L1 (eviction for unpaid rent) or L9 (rent owing only) application must complete the L1/L9 Information Update ahead of the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) hearing. It refreshes the arrears, meaning the unpaid rent, so the figure is current on hearing day, and it points the Member (the adjudicator) to anything that bears on whether an eviction should be refused or postponed.
Who does what: the landlord fills it in and hands it out. The tenant gets a copy and has the chance to test each number before the hearing.
Quick facts
| Completed by | Landlord, or someone representing the landlord, on any L1 or L9 |
| Timing | Once a hearing date exists, and before that date |
| Due | Five days or more before the hearing, to the Board and to each tenant; extra copies at an in-person hearing |
| Delivery | To the Board: Portal, email, mail or courier. To tenants: a permitted service method |
| Fee | No charge |
| Next form | Nothing further; the hearing runs on it |
Why the Board asks for it
A filed application freezes the numbers on the filing date. Weeks later the picture has usually shifted: a rent increase took effect, the tenant made a partial payment, the deposit moved, or a cheque bounced. So Rule 10 of the Rules of Procedure says that a landlord who seeks eviction plus arrears for non-payment, or arrears alone, must fill in the "L1/L9 – Information Update" fully and accurately, covering the tenancy, what is owed and the rent falling due up to hearing day (Rule 10.1).
The last part is a signed declaration that everything is true. Question 10 is your place to mention facts relevant to RTA section 83 (the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006). That section makes the Board consider refusing or postponing an eviction even when rent really is owed.
Does your case need one?
- Needed: any L1 or L9 heading to a hearing, an L1 bundled with other claims included.
- Not needed: where the matter wraps up beforehand through a consent order on a Payment Agreement, or a discontinuance after full payment. No order yet? Prepare it anyway.
- Separate from evidence: your ledger and supporting papers still follow Rule 19 and the Practice Direction on Evidence.
Timing, in five steps
- Five-day minimum. Both the Board and every tenant must have it five days or more before the hearing, unless the Board says otherwise (Rule 10.2).
- Calendar-day count. Rule 1.12 counts calendar days; Rule 1.13 skips the starting day and includes the final one. The result: deliver on or before the date sitting five days ahead of the hearing. For a hearing on Wednesday, December 16, 2026, the last day is Friday, December 11, 2026. Build in slack.
- Valid delivery to tenants. Use a route the RTA or Rule 3 allows. A Portal upload reaches the tenant only where they consented in writing to Portal service (Rule 19.1.1; Practice Direction on Evidence). Mailed papers are deemed delivered five days after posting (Rule 3.9), so post well ahead.
- In-person hearing? Carry printed copies for the Board and each tenant too (Rule 10.2).
- Watch for the tenant's payment. For L1, L9 and L10 applications filed September 21, 2026 or later, a tenant who wants to raise repair or other issues has to, seven days or more before the hearing, give the landlord 50% of the claimed arrears and put those issues in writing (RTA ss. 82(2) and 87(2); Rule 19.4). Record any such payment received after filing in question 4.
Working through the 10 questions
Use the 2026/09 version. Every question needs an answer: tick "No", or supply details for "Yes".
| # | Item | How to answer |
|---|---|---|
| — | Top of form | Landlord name, Board file number, tenant name, unit address |
| 1 | Moved out? | Give the date if so |
| 2 | Rent changed? | New amount and effective date. Typical reasons: a guideline increase, parking or another service started or stopped, or a seasonal charge for air conditioning in a unit with electricity included. The instruction sheet refers to this as "Question 3" even though the form numbers it 2 |
| 3 | Rent deposit | Did the amount change, or did you pay interest? State the amount currently held and which period the interest covered |
| 4 | Payments since filing | List each one received after filing, dated, with a total |
| 5 | Rent newly due | Each period that fell due after filing, plus anything falling due before the hearing date, totalled |
| 6 | Arrears alone | Start with the application's arrears, add question 5, subtract question 4. Never subtract the last month's deposit or its interest. Keep NSF charges and the filing fee out |
| 7 | New NSF and admin charges | For each bounced cheque: its amount and date, the NSF date, the bank's charge and your admin charge (capped at $20 a cheque). Totals include NSF items from the application |
| 8 | Filing fee | Say whether you want it back and which fee applied: $201 regular, $186 online |
| 9 | Overall total | Arrears, every NSF item, plus the filing fee. Still no deposit deduction; no other costs |
| 10 | Section 83 | Answer yes and use page 2 for anything the Board ought to weigh about eviction, for instance a pattern of missed payment promises, or financial strain on you |
| — | Declaration | Name, date, signature, and your capacity (landlord or representative) |
Sending it out
- The Board: use the Tribunals Ontario Portal, or email, post or courier. Under the Practice Direction for licensees, lawyers and paralegals must use the Portal.
- Tenants: each one gets a copy through an approved service method.
Seven errors that cost landlords
- Missing or late. Under Rule 10.3 the Board can have you complete it mid-hearing, hear other matters first while you do, and deny your filing fee. The form adds that the adjudicator may not proceed until it is complete.
- Board copy only. Rule 10.2 names both recipients. Without written consent, uploading does not count as serving the tenant.
- Subtracting the deposit. The form forbids it; the Member deals with the last month's rent.
- Padding question 6. That line holds arrears and nothing else; NSF costs and the filing fee have their own lines (7 to 9).
- Omitting a payment. Every post-filing payment belongs in question 4. An overstated figure hurts your credibility and your signed declaration, and giving false or misleading information is an offence.
- Cutting off too early. Question 5 runs right up to the hearing date.
- Unsigned. The declaration must be completed and signed.
If you are the tenant receiving it
- [ ] Find each payment you made after filing in question 4.
- [ ] Compare the rent in question 2 with your actual rent.
- [ ] Make sure no deposit adjustment appears where the form prohibits one.
- [ ] Read question 10; you can answer what it says at the hearing.
- [ ] If you want to raise repair or other issues on a newer application, remember the seven-day, half-the-arrears requirement.
On hearing day and afterward
The Member uses the update to settle the arrears and the other figures in the order. For an L1, the Member also has to apply s. 83. Since September 21, 2026, where the landlord objects, postponing eviction is possible only if the Board is satisfied that doing so is not unfair to the landlord or other tenants and that compelling reasons exist. The Member can also refuse eviction subject to conditions, and is required to refuse it in the circumstances s. 83 sets out, a landlord in serious breach of its duties being one. The order then sets the sum the tenant must pay to void, or cancel, the eviction.
Changes in fall 2026
The September 21, 2026 amendments led to a reissued form, version 2026/09. Its summary of s. 83 now reflects the "not unfair and compelling reasons" standard for postponing eviction, and its instructions now mention seasonal air-conditioning charges (allowed starting July 1, 2026) as one reason rent may change. Separately, tenants on L1, L9 and L10 applications filed from September 21, 2026 must first pay half of the claimed arrears to raise issues. The Information Update is absent from the September 21 list of forms whose earlier versions will be refused starting November 30, 2026, and the Board has given no word on rejecting older copies. Use the current version.
Questions people ask
How far ahead is the Information Update due?
Five days or more before the hearing, to the Board and each tenant (Rule 10.2), with extra copies for an in-person hearing.
The Board has my upload. Must the tenant get a copy too?
Yes, unless the tenant gave written consent to Portal service. Hand delivery works, as does mail (allow 5 days) or email backed by written consent.
What if it is forgotten?
The Member may have it filled out on the spot, deal with other cases until it is ready, and decline to order the filing fee repaid (Rule 10.3).
Does the last month's deposit come off the arrears?
No. According to the form, neither the deposit nor its interest is subtracted from the arrears or the overall total.
Official sources
- L1/L9 – Information Update (PDF)
- LTB Rules of Procedure, Rules 10 and 19
- Practice Direction on Evidence
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 82–83
- LTB Operational Update, September 21, 2026
Landlord or tenant, get this right the first time
A licensed paralegal can prepare, serve or answer this form and represent you at the Board.