Ontario L3 Form Explained: When a Tenant Gave Notice or Agreed to Move Out

In Ontario, the L3 is what a landlord files with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) once a tenant has either put their own move-out notice in writing (normally on an N9) or signed off, together with the landlord, on ending the tenancy (normally on an N11). It gives the landlord an eviction order to fall back on if the tenant does not move out as promised. For the landlord, it is quick: the Board usually decides it ex parte, meaning on the papers alone, with no hearing and no advance notice to the tenant. For the tenant, it means the first thing you may hear is the order itself, so it helps to know the 10-day window to challenge it.

The L3 in brief

What each side gets from the L3

Section 77(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) allows a landlord to ask, without telling the tenant, for an order that ends the tenancy and evicts the tenant in two cases:

1. The tenant gave notice of termination. The tenant's form for this is the N9.
2. Both of you agreed in writing to end the tenancy. The Board's standard form for that is the N11.

Along with the application, the landlord supplies an affidavit that verifies the notice or agreement (s. 77(2)). Instead of an affidavit, a signed declaration is acceptable (s. 192.1; Rule 1.5). When the Board receives the file, it can issue the eviction order without holding a hearing (s. 77(4)).

Limits that protect both sides:

• No money is awarded on an L3. Unpaid rent or damage is claimed on a separate application: with the tenant still in the unit, that is an L9, L1 or L2; after they leave, it is the L10.
• A void document cannot be saved. Under RTA s. 37(4) and (5), the notice or agreement has no effect if the tenant signed it when the tenancy agreement was entered into, or if signing was demanded as a condition of renting. Some student housing falls under narrow exceptions (s. 37(6)–(7)). Tenants: if you were asked to sign an N11 along with your lease, this rule is there for you.

Is the L3 the right form? A quick check

Work through these before filing. The L3 fits only if every answer points to "yes".

1. Did the tenant (not the landlord) give the notice, or did you both sign an agreement? Notices that came from the landlord (N5, N6, N7, N8, N12 or N13) belong on an L2, and an N4 belongs on an L1.
2. Was it signed after the tenancy started? A lease clause or a form signed at move-in is void under s. 37(5).
3. Is it actually in writing? A tenant who only told you they were moving has not given a valid notice. RTA s. 43(1) says the notice must be in the approved form, name the unit, give the termination date and carry a signature. For an agreement, a copy has to be filed (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 53). With a verbal promise there is nothing to attach.
4. Does the timing work? Under s. 44, a monthly tenant's notice needs at least 60 days, ending on a period's last day (February and March have some exceptions). If the tenant wants out sooner, an N11 is the safer route, because s. 37(3) lets the two of you choose any date.

Key dates for landlords and tenants

• Filing can start the moment the N9 is handed over or the N11 is signed (Section A of the L3 Instructions).
• Filing must end no more than 30 days past the document's end date (RTA s. 77(3)). This deadline comes from the statute, and O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56 prevents the Board from extending it. The form repeats the "no later than 30 days" wording.
• The order cannot start before the date in the notice or agreement (s. 77(5)), and the Board has no power to shorten that (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56).
• The tenant has 10 days after the order issues to move to set it aside (s. 77(6)).
• Supporting documents on the Portal go up with the application, or, if that cannot be done, no later than 5 calendar days afterward (Rules 4.4–4.5).

Worked example. A landlord and tenant sign an N11 choosing Wednesday, March 31, 2027 as the end date. The landlord may file the L3 the same day the N11 is signed. The last day to file is 30 days after March 31, which is Friday, April 30, 2027. Whenever the order is made, it cannot take effect before March 31. If the order issues on Monday, March 8, 2027, the tenant's 10 days to move to set it aside run to Thursday, March 18, 2027.

Completing the L3, step by step

The current PDF is version v. 01/04/2022. Besides its three parts, it has a declaration page and a Payment Information Form at the back. The September 21, 2026 form replacements did not include it.

Step 1: General Information (Part 1)

• Rental unit: street number, street name (with the separate street-type and direction boxes), unit number, municipality and postal code.
• Landlord: who you are and how to reach you: name, company if there is one, address, phone, email. If there is more than one landlord, use a Schedule of Parties.
• Tenants: each tenant's name, spelled to match the N9 or N11. A mailing address is needed only if mail goes somewhere other than the unit.
• Related Applications: the file number of every unresolved LTB application involving this unit, whether you or the tenant started it.

Step 2: Reason for your Application (Part 2)

Shade one box. Holding an N9? Choose "The tenant gave me a notice to end the tenancy". Holding an N11? Choose "The tenant agreed to end the tenancy".

Next, enter the end date, word for word and digit for digit as it appears in your N9 or N11.

Step 3: Signature (Part 3)

Sign and date. If a legal representative signs instead, they also give their name, contact details and Law Society number.

Step 4: The declaration

By signing the declaration page in the L3 PDF, you confirm that what you wrote is accurate and complete, and you acknowledge that RTA s. 234 makes false or misleading information an offence. According to Section C of the L3 Instructions, your declaration or affidavit should state:

• [ ] when you and the tenant made the tenancy agreement;
• [ ] the end date shown in the N9 or N11;
• [ ] who signed it, and on which date or dates;
• [ ] that it was not signed at the same time as the tenancy agreement; and
• [ ] (agreements only) that no later agreement changed or took its place.

You can put these facts on the Board's general Declaration form, or on its Affidavit form, which must be sworn or affirmed before a commissioner.

Step 5: Payment Information Form

Choose how you will pay: credit card, money order or certified cheque (payee: "Minister of Finance"). Portal filers pay by credit or debit card on screen.

Filing on the Portal instead

The Portal covers the same questions, and you attach the N9 or N11 and your declaration as uploads. Do your final check before the "Ready to Submit" page; once you are there, the draft is locked. Tribunals Ontario has not published a screen-by-screen guide, so follow the prompts as they appear.

Your filing checklist

Under Rule 6.10 and Section C of the L3 Instructions, a package missing any item is refused:

• [ ] your completed L3;
• [ ] a copy of the N9 or N11;
• [ ] the signed declaration (or sworn affidavit) backing up that document; and
• [ ] payment, or a Fee Waiver Request that has been approved.

The LTB's forms page names the Tribunals Ontario Portal as the way to file the L3, with a $186 fee. Mail and courier filing, at $201, is described in the L3 instructions as well. Licensed representatives (lawyers and paralegals under the Law Society of Ontario) must file through the Portal.

Seven problems that sink an L3

1. Missing the 30-day limit. Section 77(3) cannot be extended, so an L3 filed late is dismissed. The landlord would need a new notice or agreement.
2. The tenant signed it with the lease, or had to sign it to get the unit. Section 37(4) and (5) make it void. If a tenant shows this on a set-aside motion, the order falls, because no valid notice or agreement ever existed (s. 77(8)(a)).
3. A missing or thin declaration. Without one, the Board refuses the application. And if yours never says the document postdates the start of the tenancy, a tenant's set-aside motion has an easy target.
4. Leaving out the document itself. O. Reg. 516/06, s. 53 makes a copy of an agreement a prescribed filing requirement; the instructions likewise want a copy of any notice.
5. Dates that do not match. The termination date in the application must be the one in the document; the order cannot take effect before it, and the Board measures the 30 days from it.
6. Not every tenant signed. With two or more tenants, a signature from just one of them may leave the other's tenancy untouched by the order. The LTB has published no guidance on this, so get every tenant's signature.
7. A notice that falls short of the RTA. A tenant's N9 can be attacked if it is unsigned, undated or shorter than s. 44 requires. Where an earlier date is wanted, the N11 is the better tool.

What happens after filing

The order. In most cases the Board issues the eviction order without a hearing, effective no earlier than the document's end date. A tenant who stays put can only be removed by the Court Enforcement Office (Sheriff), and the landlord has six months from the effective date to file the order there (RTA s. 81).

For tenants: asking to set the order aside.

1. Within 10 days of the order's issue date, file your set-aside motion (s. 77(6)). Once filed, it pauses the order automatically (s. 77(7)).
2. Deliver copies of the stay, the Notice of Hearing and your motion to the Court Enforcement Office without delay (Rule 25.1).
3. Serve the landlord no less than 48 hours before the motion is heard (Rule 5.11).

At the motion hearing, the Board has three choices under s. 77(8):

• (a) cancel the order if, in fact, neither a notice nor an agreement existed;
• (b) cancel it if the regulation's test is met; or
• (c) end the stay, effective immediately or on a future date.

The clause (b) test, in force since September 21, 2026. Looking at all the circumstances, the Board must be satisfied that cancelling the order "would not be unfair" (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.2(1)). It is barred from considering developments in the tenant's life after the signing of the agreement or the giving of the notice (s. 8.2(2)). For example, a tenant who signed an N11 and then had a new lease fall through cannot win on that setback alone.

For landlords at the motion: have the signed original with you, evidence of the date and circumstances of signing, and anything showing where the tenant stood at that time.

Recent changes

• September 21, 2026: a new section, s. 8.2, was added to O. Reg. 516/06 by O. Reg. 241/26. It limits set-aside of an L3 order to cases where that would not be unfair, and rules out reliance on anything that changed for the tenant after signing. The form (v. 01/04/2022) was left as it was. Because it was not among the forms replaced that day, the deadline of November 30, 2026 for retiring older versions does not reach the L3.

Frequently asked questions

As a landlord, can I file the L3 before move-out day?

Yes. File once you have the signed N9 or N11 in hand; the order will carry an effective date no earlier than the end date.

Will there be a hearing?

Usually not; it is decided on paper, and the tenant is not told in advance. Only a tenant's set-aside motion, brought within the 10-day window, leads to a hearing.

I signed an N11 together with my lease. Does it count?

No. RTA s. 37(5) voids an agreement signed at that stage (a few student housing situations are excepted), so it cannot support an L3.

My move fell through after I signed. Can I get the order cancelled for that reason?

Not on that basis alone. Since September 21, 2026, anything that changed for you after you signed is excluded. The Board asks whether cancelling the order would not be unfair, looking at the situation without those later events.

Does the landlord need a lawyer for the affidavit?

No. Under Rule 1.5 the Board takes a signed declaration in place of an affidavit, provided it says the contents are true and recognizes that making a false declaration is an offence.

Official sources

• Form L3 and L3 Instructions
• N11 – Agreement to End the Tenancy
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 37, 43, 44, 77, 81, 192.1
• O. Reg. 516/06, ss. 8.2, 53, 56
• LTB Rules of Procedure
• LTB Operational Update, September 21, 2026
• LTB Forms, filing and fees

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