Getting a Copy of Your LTB Hearing Audio in Ontario: A Simple Guide for Both Sides

Most hearings at Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) are recorded, and a party who wants the audio pays for a copy through the Request for Hearing Recording form. Landlords and tenants tend to want it when preparing a review request, when the wording of a deal or a statement matters, or as raw material for a transcript. Price: $16.15. Existence of a recording: not guaranteed.

Quick summary

What you're actually getting

Recording isn't a legal requirement under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, but the instructions say proceedings "are usually recorded". Where one exists, Rule 7.10 makes it part of the record, available to a party who pays. What happens:

1. The LTB searches for your hearing.
2. It confirms whether a recording was made.
3. If so, you get a copy — with no guarantee about whether it exists or how good it sounds.

Format: MP4 these days; MP3, M4A or WMA for older hearings.

Good reasons to order it — and when not to

Order it if you:

• are preparing a review request that depends on what was said. Since July 1, 2026 you have 15 days, not 30, to file one — so request the audio the same day;
• must know precisely how a consent or settlement was put on the record;
• plan to have a court reporter turn it into a transcript.

Don't use it to:

• obtain file documents — separate records process, $0.54 per page (listed under "Other fees");
• record the hearing yourself. That takes the LTB's permission under the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, s. 29, sought before things begin (Rule 7.12). A different option, Rule 7.11: give notice and bring a court reporter, paid by you.

Timing to keep in mind

How long recordings last — two sources, two answers.

Different periods, different starting points — treat neither as safe and ask early.

Turnaround. Two weeks is the LTB's target (it will "endeavor" to meet it) when a recording exists. Longer happens.

Example. A hearing takes place Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and the order is issued Monday, November 9. The 15-day review clock ends Tuesday, November 24. Order the audio on Tuesday, November 10, and two weeks takes you to that same Tuesday, November 24. The audio may arrive too late — so if time is tight, file the review without waiting for it.

Download link. Live for 30 days after it reaches you.

Filling in the form, step by step

Step 1 — Requester's Information. Pick your category from the four boxes, then contact details — and, importantly, the email for delivery. Leave it blank and you'll get a USB stick in the mail instead.

Step 2 — Hearing Information.

• File Number(s): if files were combined and heard together, list all of them.
• Hearing Date(s) and Time(s): each sitting you're after.
• Hearing Location / Video Conference No.

Step 3 — Recording Fee. Tick your payment method:

• Online Payment — email filers; write in the receipt number;
• Money Order / Certified Cheque — made out to the Minister of Finance;
• Credit Card — mail and courier filers attach the LTB's Credit Card Payment Form.

Step 4 — Signature and the date (dd/mm/yyyy).

Paying and sending it in

Low-income requesters can apply for a fee waiver.

Checklist

• [ ] Every related file number listed (for example, an L1 and a T2 heard together)
• [ ] Every sitting date you need, including adjourned dates
• [ ] An email address, unless you want a USB stick by mail
• [ ] Payment method ticked — and no card numbers in any email
• [ ] Review deadline noted separately, so you're not waiting on the audio

What slows a request down or sinks it

1. Ordering too late for a review. Waiting for audio doesn't pause the 15-day review deadline.
2. Leaving out related files. If an L1 and a tenant's T2 shared a hearing, list both or the search may land on the wrong sitting.
3. Getting the date wrong. Searches run by file and date. Adjourned cases can have several sittings — name each one you want.
4. Card details in an email. Deleted unprocessed.
5. Letting the link lapse. Thirty days, then it's gone. Use folder view and the download arrow — the instructions say saving from the preview player isn't possible.
6. Assuming there's a recording. No recording means a refund, and your proof will have to come from elsewhere — notes you took, or the order itself.

After you order

• Recording found: two emails arrive, one with the link and one with the password. Download within 30 days.
• No email address given: a USB flash drive comes by mail.
• Hearing not recorded: your payment is returned or refunded.

Using it for a review? See Request to Review an Order.

Questions people ask

What's the cost?

$16.15 — consistent across the form, the instructions and the fee schedule.

How soon will I get it?

Usually within two weeks of the LTB confirming a recording exists; occasionally more.

Is there a limit on how old a recording can be?

Depends which source you read: a decade from the hearing (instructions) or seven years from file closing (Rule 7.10). Better not to test it.

Will the LTB give me a typed transcript?

No, just audio. You can retain a court reporter yourself under Rule 7.11, and any transcript relied on at a hearing must be provided, complete, to the Board and every other party.

Official sources

• Request for Hearing Recording (form)
• Instructions: How to Request an LTB Hearing Recording
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rule 7
• LTB Forms, filing and fees
• LTB Operational Update, July 1, 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.