The N8 Notice in Ontario: Ending a Tenancy at Term End, Step by Step for Landlords and Tenants

Ontario's N8 is the landlord's notice for winding up a tenancy when a rental period or fixed term finishes, based on one of five listed reasons. By far the most common reason is rent that keeps arriving late. A regulation in force from September 21, 2026 now gives "persistently late" a concrete meaning: three or more payments made over 7 days after the due date, all within six months.

What it means for each side. For a landlord, the N8 is the first step toward an L2 eviction application, and you may file that application the day the notice is served. For a tenant, an N8 is not an eviction order. You do not have to leave by the date on the notice, the Board decides at a hearing, and you can dispute the landlord's reasons there.

Quick facts

The five reasons an N8 can rely on

Four of the grounds come from section 58 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA); the fifth, for care homes, is in section 144. The form uses this numbering:

1. Rent is persistently late (s. 58(1), para. 1). Rent repeatedly misses its due date. Under O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.1(1), that covers rent paid more than a week late on at least three occasions within any six months. A payment does not count if the only reason it looked late is that you put it toward something else the tenant owed, such as older arrears. Other patterns can still qualify; s. 8.1(2) leaves that open to the Board.
2. Social housing eligibility is gone (s. 58(1), para. 2). The unit falls under paragraphs 1 to 4 of s. 7(1), and the tenant is no longer eligible to occupy it.
3. The job that came with the unit has ended (s. 58(1), para. 3). The unit was provided while the tenant worked for you, and the job is now over.
4. A condo purchase agreement fell through (s. 58(1), para. 4). A good-faith deal to buy a proposed condo unit led to the tenancy, and the deal has since been terminated.
5. A care-home therapy period has run out (s. 144). The tenant's only reason for living in the care-home unit was agreed rehabilitative or therapeutic services; that agreed time is over, and no other tenant receiving those services is allowed to stay past the prescribed period (4 years, according to the form).

One feature to know from both sides: an N8 cannot be voided. Prompt payments after service leave it standing, though a tenant may mention them at the hearing.

Is the N8 the right notice? A quick check

It fits when the problem is the pattern of late rent, not just a balance owing. Where a balance is also outstanding, a landlord may add an N4. Guideline 10, relying on Shearer v. Oz, 2026 ONSC 3753, explains that the Divisional Court allows both at once: unpaid rent is late and in arrears at the same time.

It does not fit when:

• [ ] The tenant's rent-geared-to-income (RGI) subsidy ended. RGI means rent set as a share of household income. Section 58(3) says losing RGI eligibility, or not taking steps to keep it, is not Reason 2. Should the higher lawful rent then go unpaid, an N4 is the tool.
• [ ] The tenant is a superintendent whose job ended. The N8 instructions rule it out. A superintendent still in the unit a week after the job ends can be the subject of an L2 filed straight away, with no notice first.
• [ ] The landlord wants the unit for personal or family use, or for renovation work. Look at the N12 or N13 instead; separate rules apply.

Getting the dates right

Step 1: Find the earliest allowed termination date

Under RTA ss. 44 and 58(2):

Step 2: Count the days properly

• Leave out the day you give the notice; count the termination date itself (Rule 1.13).
• By mail: add 5 days (s. 191(3)).
• By courier: the notice counts as given the day after the courier receives it. A weekend day or holiday pushes it to the following business day (Rule 3.9; under Rule 1.1, "holiday" includes weekends). The instructions put it as adding one business day.

Step 3: Check your date with an example

These examples assume rent is due on the 1st of each month, unless stated otherwise.

• Handed over Wednesday, March 3, 2027. Counting 60 days reaches May 2, mid-period, so roll forward to May 31, 2027.
• Posted by mail the same day. Deemed given March 8; day 60 is May 7; the answer stays May 31, 2027.
• Given to a courier on Friday, April 9, 2027. The next day is a Saturday, so it is deemed given on Monday, April 12. Day 60 is June 11, so the earliest date is June 30, 2027.
• Weekly tenancy, rent due every Monday, notice handed over on Monday, February 1, 2027. Twenty-eight days later is Monday, March 1. The period ends on a Sunday, and Sunday, February 28 is one day short, so the earliest date is Sunday, March 7, 2027.

Step 4: Mark the L2 window

Filing can start the moment the notice is served (s. 71; N8 instructions). It has to happen within 30 days of the termination date (s. 69(2)), a limit the instructions leave out but the RTA imposes on all notices except non-payment of rent. Miss it and the N8 is void (s. 46(1)). Using the May 31, 2027 date above, the last day to file is June 30, 2027.

Tenants: the termination date on the notice is not a move-out deadline on its own. Watch instead for an L2 and a hearing notice from the Board.

Filling in the N8: a walk-through

Download a current copy via the LTB forms page, with the official instructions at hand. Take the checklist page off before you serve.

1. To (Tenant's name). Each tenant living in the unit, and any subtenant or assignee.
2. From (Landlord's name). Your name, or every landlord's name.
3. Address of Rental Unit. The complete address, including unit number, municipality and postal code.
4. Termination date. One exact date, written dd/mm/yyyy, that passes both tests from Steps 1 to 3: enough days (with service time added) and the final day of a period or the end of the term.
5. My Reason(s) for Ending your Tenancy. Check off each reason relied on.
6. Details About the Reasons for this Notice. Be specific, with dates. Per the instructions:

7. Signature and Representative Information. Choose Landlord or Representative, add contact details, sign and date. A representative also adds their name, LSO number (where it applies), company, mailing address, email and phone.

Sample Reason 1 details. Rent of $1,850 is due on the 1st. January 2027 rent was paid on January 12; February rent on February 3; March rent on March 15; May rent on May 10. Only January, March and May count, because February's payment came within seven days. That is three qualifying late payments inside six months. Lay it out month by month. Any payment that only seemed late because it went toward older arrears stays off the list.

Delivering the notice

The N8 instructions allow any of these:

• in person, to the tenant or an adult in the unit;
• in the tenant's mailbox or usual mail spot;
• under the door, or through the mail slot;
• by fax, by courier, by mail or by Xpresspost;
• email, but only where the tenant has agreed in writing (Rule 3.1).

Not allowed: posting it on the door.

Afterward:

• [ ] Serve each tenant, not only one.
• [ ] Keep a copy for yourself.
• [ ] Fill in a Certificate of Service.
• [ ] Send both to the Board with the L2, or within 5 calendar days of filing it (Rules 4.4 and 4.5).

Problems that sink an N8

Guideline 10 says a served N8 cannot be amended. Small errors that cause the tenant no significant prejudice may survive under RTA s. 212; a wrong date seldom does. Landlords should avoid these, and tenants can check for them:

1. The date is not the end of a period. Rent due on the 1st means a month-end date. Stopping at day 60 is the error seen most.
2. Short notice. Under the 60 (or 28) days, or the mail or courier days forgotten. The Board has no power to stretch a notice period (Guideline 10).
3. A fixed-term lease cut short. The date cannot come before the term's last day.
4. Reason 1 without a payment history. A tenant cannot answer "always late"; they need the actual dates and amounts.
5. Counting payments that only looked late because they went to old arrears. They are excluded from the count (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.1). Below three, it comes down to the Board's discretion.
6. Relying on Reason 2 because the RGI subsidy ended. Section 58(3) rules this out; an unpaid new rent is an N4 matter.
7. Serving an N8 on a former superintendent. A direct L2 is the instructions' route for one who stays on past a week.
8. Reason 5 when other therapy tenants can stay beyond the limit. The ground only works if none of them may stay past the prescribed period.
9. A late L2. Past the 30-day limit, dismissal is required (s. 69(2)), and a termination date two months out makes it easy to forget.
10. Basic slips. A tenant left off or not served, a partial address, an unapproved delivery method, no signature.
11. An outdated form. A revised N8 came out September 21, 2026, reflecting the late-payment rule; the Board stops taking older versions on November 30, 2026.

After the notice: next steps

For landlords

1. Apply with an L2, attaching the N8 and Certificate of Service, between service and the 30-day cut-off. Fee: $201 ($186 on the Portal).
2. Prepare to prove the reason. For late payment, that means a clear rent ledger and the tenancy agreement showing when rent is due.

For tenants

1. Read the details box. Check the dates, the amounts and whether any listed payment was late only because it was applied to arrears.
2. Check the termination date and the service method against the rules above.
3. Gather your own proof of when you paid, and anything about your circumstances that bears on eviction.

At the hearing, for both sides

• An eviction order cannot make the tenant move out earlier than the N8's termination date (see the form's "What if the landlord applies to the LTB?" section).
• The Board must consider whether to refuse or delay the eviction (RTA s. 83). Without the landlord's consent, a delay now needs both compelling grounds and no unfairness to the landlord or other tenants (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4).
• Review requests for orders dated July 1, 2026 or later must be made within 15 days.

What changed in 2026

• September 21, 2026: s. 58(1.1) of the RTA opened the door to a regulatory definition, supplied by O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.1 (three 7-day-plus late payments in six months, ignoring any caused only by the landlord applying money elsewhere). It is not the only way to qualify.
• September 21, 2026: new N8 version; earlier ones are refused from November 30, 2026.
• September 21, 2026: delaying an eviction over a landlord's objection got harder.
• July 1, 2026: review requests shrank from a 30-day to a 15-day window, for orders issued from then on.

Common questions

What counts as "persistent" late rent now?

Three or more payments more than a week overdue in any six months, under the rule in force since September 21, 2026. A payment that was late only because the landlord credited it to another debt is left out. Other circumstances can also be enough.

If I pay on time from now on, does the N8 go away?

No. Nothing voids an N8. Good payment since then is still worth raising when the Board weighs refusing or delaying eviction (s. 83).

May a landlord use an N4 and an N8 at the same time?

Yes. Guideline 10 reports the Divisional Court's view that unpaid rent is late and owing at once; the grounds may run together or one at a time.

Which date goes on the notice for a one-year lease?

The lease's closing day, with 60 or more days' notice. A lease that has already turned month-to-month uses a month-end at least 60 days away.

Official sources

• N8 form (PDF)
• N8 Instructions
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 43, 44, 46, 58, 69, 71, 83, 144, 191, 212
• O. Reg. 516/06, ss. 8.1, 8.4
• Interpretation Guideline 10: Procedural Issues Regarding Eviction Applications
• LTB Rules of Procedure
• LTB Operational Update, September 21, 2026
• Certificate of Service (PDF)
• 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.