Ontario N3 Form, Step by Step: Raising Care Home Rent and Care or Meal Charges

A care home landlord in Ontario (a retirement home, say) uses the Landlord and Tenant Board's N3 when it plans to charge a resident more: higher rent, higher fees for care services and meals, or a combination. For the home, it is the required written notice. For the resident and their family, it shows exactly what will change and when, and it helps to know that the two parts follow separate rules. Rent is held back by the yearly guideline (1.9% for 2027) and by the 12-month rule. Fees for care and meals face neither limit on timing or size. Both kinds of increase need at least 90 days' written notice.

The essentials

Two increases, two rule books

First, two terms from RTA s. 2(1). A "care home" is any residential complex where people live, or are intended to live, to receive care services; that need not be its main purpose. "Care services" means health care, therapeutic or rehabilitative services, or assistance with the activities of daily living.

The rent part (RTA ss. 116, 119, 120). Check that:

• [ ] the written notice gives 90 days or more;
• [ ] a year or more has gone by since the resident's previous increase or move-in;
• [ ] the amount is no higher than the guideline, unless a signed N10 or an LTB order allows it.

Ontario's own guidance says the guideline limits only the rent in a care home, not service charges such as nursing, food or cleaning (ontario.ca).

The care and meal part (RTA s. 150). Check that:

• [ ] the notice is in writing, on the approved form, with the new charges stated, and gives 90 days or more;
• [ ] you understand that skipping this notice makes the increase void, so a fresh notice would be needed.

What does not apply to this part, per the N3 instructions: any 12-month gap or any cap on the amount.

One condition covers both parts. Every new resident must first receive the prescribed care home information package (RTA s. 140). Before the package is delivered, the landlord is barred from giving any notice raising the rent or the care or meal charges.

Does the N3 fit? A quick check

Reach for the N3 whenever a rent-controlled care home unit faces a higher rent, higher care or meal fees, or both.

Choose differently when:

• The unit is exempt from the rent increase limits, under RTA s. 7 for example. For the rent, the form is the N2; and the N3 instructions say no notice is required at all for raising care and meal charges in such a unit.
• The resident has said yes to an added (new) care service or meal, or to more of an existing one. According to the N3 instructions, that needs neither notice nor the 90-day wait. Think of physiotherapy increasing from 3 to 6 hours a week.
• Both sides agree to rent above the guideline, with capital work or a new service as the trade-off: use an N10.

Timing rules

1. Ninety days per increase. Leave out the day the notice is given, and allow five extra days when mailing (RTA s. 191(3)). The Board has no power to cut either period short (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56).
2. A one-year gap, for rent alone. Fees for care and meals are not subject to it.
3. The resident's way out. Residents of a care home may leave at any time on 30 days' notice, and once they have given it they can require the landlord, on 10 days' notice, to stop providing care services and meals (RTA s. 145).

Example: a home hands an N3 to a resident on Monday, February 1, 2027 and names June 1, 2027 as the new date. That is well past 90 days. For the rent part, the resident's last rent increase must also have been on or before June 1, 2026.

Filling in the N3, step by step

Use version 01/04/2022, which is two pages.

Step 1 – To: (Tenant's name and address). Every tenant. Per the instructions, add a separate mailing address for anyone who gets mail somewhere else.

Step 2 – From: (Landlord's name and address). Every landlord, with a mailing address.

Step 3 – Address of the Rental Unit. Street, unit number, municipality and postal code.

Step 4 – the "On dd/mm/yyyy" line under Your New Rent and Charges. The start date: at least 90 days away, and, if rent is changing, at least a year after the prior rent increase.

Step 5 – the new rent line. Write the rent amount and the period (month, week or other). Rent alone. Care and meal amounts do not belong here.

Step 6 – Pick one box. One box says the new rent needs no approval; the other says it needs approval by an order under the RTA. Tick the second when the rent exceeds the guideline and rests on an L5 order. Older 2015 instructions refer to additional boxes, distinguishing an order already made from one applied for, but the current form shows only these two.

Step 7 – the care services and meals line. The new charges and their period. No rent here.

Step 8 – Total. The form asks for the combined amount payable on the increase date. Worked example: current rent of $2,400.00 rising by the 1.9% guideline ($45.60) to $2,445.60, with $1,850.00 added for the new care and meal charges, totals $4,295.60 monthly.

Step 9 – the printed legal information on pages 1–2. Do not edit it.

Step 10 – Signature. Mark whether you are the Landlord or a Representative, add your printed name and phone number, then sign and date. A representative fills in the representative section too.

Delivering it

Methods listed in the N3 instructions:

• in person, to the resident or another adult in the unit;
• in the mailbox, or wherever mail normally arrives;
• under the door or through a mail slot;
• by mail or courier;
• by fax.

Email is also possible under Rule 3.1 where the tenant has agreed in writing. Taping it to the door is not allowed. Where someone makes decisions for the resident, a guardian or an attorney under a power of attorney, the instructions say that person should get a copy too.

Errors that undo the increase

1. No information package first. Since s. 140(2) prohibits the notice until the package is given, the increase ends up with no valid notice supporting it.
2. Fewer than 90 days. For either part, ss. 116(4) and 150(3) make a short-notice increase void; you must start again with a new notice.
3. Blending the two amounts. If care costs end up on the rent line, a fee change can look like rent above the guideline; if rent lands on the charges line, it can sidestep the one-year rule. Each figure has its own line for a reason.
4. Rules on the wrong side. The guideline and the 12-month rule govern the rent, never the care and meal charges; mixing them up either way is an error.
5. No copy for the guardian or attorney. The instructions recommend one. Skip it and there may be a dispute about whether anyone capable of acting on the notice ever saw it.
6. Taped to the door, or emailed with no written consent. That service is defective unless proof shows the notice reached the resident in time (s. 191(2)).

After it is given

For the home: nothing goes to the Board. The new amounts start on the date shown.

For residents and families:

• [ ] Check the start date is at least 90 days after you received the notice.
• [ ] For the rent line, check it has been a year since your last rent increase and that the amount is within the guideline, unless the "needs approval" box is ticked.
• [ ] If the rent depends on an L5 order not yet issued, you may pay just the guideline increase until it comes, though you may owe the difference later (form, item 3).
• [ ] Remember a care home resident can leave on 30 days' notice.

Frequently asked questions

Is a retirement home bound by the rent guideline?

On the rent portion, yes, and for 2027 that means 1.9%. The guideline does not reach care service or meal fees.

Is there a limit on how often care or meal fees rise?

There is no once-a-year limit. Each increase does still need at least 90 days' written notice on an N3, except in an exempt unit.

A resident asked for an extra service. Is an N3 needed to charge for it?

No. Per the N3 instructions, once the resident agrees to an added care service or meal, or to a higher level of service, neither a notice nor the 90-day wait is required before charging.

Does a care home resident need 60 days' notice to move out?

No. Under RTA s. 145, 30 days' notice is enough to end a care home tenancy.

Official sources

• N3 form (PDF)
• N3 Instructions (PDF)
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 2, 7, 116, 119, 120, 140, 145, 150 and 191
• O. Reg. 516/06 (General), s. 56
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rule 3.1
• Residential rent increases (ontario.ca)

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