The T6 Maintenance Application in Ontario: Steps for Tenants and Landlords

Ontario tenants, current or former, use the T6 to tell the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) that the landlord let the unit or building slip: poor repair, unfit to live in, or below health, safety, housing and maintenance standards. For tenants, it asks the LTB for repairs, money or other relief. For landlords, the outcome turns on records: the defect, the date you heard of it, and how fast and how well it got fixed.

The T6 in brief

The repair duty behind the T6

The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) puts the duty on the landlord in s. 20(1): keep the complex and every unit in good repair, fit for habitation, and compliant with the applicable standards. Knowing about a defect before moving in does not cost the tenant this protection (s. 20(2)).

A tenant, or someone who used to be one, may apply under s. 29(1), para. 1, for a ruling that the duty was breached. If the LTB rules that way, s. 30(1) lets it:

• end the tenancy;
• reduce the rent (an abatement, meaning a partial refund or rent reduction);
• let the tenant do (or keep the cost of having done) repairs, billed to the landlord;
• require the landlord to complete named work by a deadline;
• pay the tenant back for ruined belongings and other reasonable expenses;
• cap a new tenant's rent at the last lawful rent while serious defects remain;
• block any new rent increase notice while serious defects remain;
• block an increase already noticed but not yet in effect; and
• any other order that fits.

Those last three are called orders prohibiting a rent increase, and the LTB keeps them for serious breaches and unfinished work orders.

Does your problem belong on a T6?

A T6 fits when the complaint is about repair or maintenance.

Pick a different form when the complaint is really about:

• harassment, illegal entry, or disruption from how the work was done: that is a T2;
• something the landlord deliberately cut off, such as a service or facility: that is a T3;
• money the landlord collected illegally: use the T1.

Facing an L1, L9 or L10? Instead of a separate T6, the tenant can argue repair issues at that hearing, as long as the issues are put in writing at least 7 days ahead. Where the landlord's application was filed from September 21, 2026 on, the tenant also has to pay half of the claimed arrears to the landlord (ss. 82, 87(2)). See Issues a Tenant Intends to Raise.

Limits on the duty. Under Guideline 5, tenants are not entitled to dictate a preventive maintenance schedule or to perfect repairs. And s. 34 makes the tenant answerable for undue damage done wilfully or carelessly by them, their household or their visitors.

Time limits you need to know

1. The one-year rule (s. 29(2)). The application must come within a year of the breach. Guideline 5 treats a defect as continuing until fixed, so the clock starts on the repair date. A defect repaired more than 12 months before filing cannot be claimed.
2. The look-back. Abatements reach back 12 months from filing, no further. If the defect persists on hearing day, the order may continue beyond it until the work is done (Guideline 5, citing Toronto Community Housing Corp. v. Vlahovich and Goodman v. Menyhart).
3. Evidence exchange. Tenant evidence goes to the landlord and the LTB a minimum of 7 days pre-hearing; landlord evidence, a minimum of 5 days (Rules 19.1–19.2).

Example: a tenant's bathroom fan stopped working in February 2025, the landlord replaced it on March 10, 2025, and a leaking window has been unrepaired since autumn 2024. A T6 filed on November 16, 2026 cannot include the fan, because it was fixed more than a year earlier. The window qualifies, though its abatement cannot begin before November 16, 2025.

Completing the T6: part by part

The current form is version 01/04/2022.

1. Part 1, General Information. Unit address; who the tenants are and how to reach them; who the landlord is and where; the move-in date; whether the tenant has left (and when); and any connected LTB file numbers.
2. Part 2, Reasons. Only one ground exists: a failure to repair, maintain or meet standards. Give each defect its own entry covering what it is, its start date, whether it persists, the repair date and who did it, and the cause. Include the date the landlord first heard about it.
3. Part 3, Remedies. Choose from nine: - an abatement (show the current rent and your calculation); - the cost of damaged belongings; - out-of-pocket expenses; - approval of, and repayment for, repairs already done by the tenant; - permission to carry out repairs at the landlord's expense; - an order that the landlord carry out the work; - a ban on rent increases until serious problems are fixed; - ending the tenancy; - other remedies.
4. Part 4, Signature. After signing, complete the accommodation and French-language request section and the payment page.

Filing and paying

Filing options: the Tribunals Ontario Portal, mail, courier, or a ServiceOntario centre accepting LTB documents. It costs $53, or $48 online through the Portal, and a fee waiver may be requested. Delivery to the landlord is the LTB's job (Rule 5.1); evidence, by contrast, passes directly between the parties.

Once the T6 is in, the tenant can also request leave to pay rent into the LTB pending the decision (s. 195(1)(b); Rule 20.9). Rent paid in with that leave is not arrears (s. 195(5)), but Guideline 5 says leave is granted only in special circumstances.

For tenants filing a T6: a checklist

• [ ] Each problem is listed separately, with the date it started and whether it is still going on.
• [ ] You have written down the date you first told the landlord, and you have a copy of that message or request.
• [ ] Nothing you are claiming for was repaired more than a year before your filing date.
• [ ] Your abatement figure covers no more than the year before filing.
• [ ] You let the landlord in after proper written notice, or you can explain why entry did not happen.
• [ ] You keep paying rent. Holding it back on your own creates arrears; only rent paid to the LTB with its permission is protected.
• [ ] The fee is paid, or a fee waiver is requested.
• [ ] Your photos, messages and receipts go to the landlord and the LTB 7 or more days before the hearing.

For landlords receiving a T6: step by step

1. Build a timeline for each item. For every problem listed, record when it began, when you heard about it, what you did and on what date, and whether it is now resolved. Items repaired more than a year before the filing date are time-barred.
2. Focus on notice. In picking a remedy, the LTB has to weigh whether you were informed before the T6 was filed (s. 30(2)). Guideline 5 adds that landlords are usually not liable for defects they had no knowledge of and no reasonable way to discover. Keep each request, its date and how it reached you.
3. Prove a prompt, suitable response. Guideline 5 says that where a landlord acted within a reasonable time and the fix was appropriate, an abatement or other remedy is not normally ordered. Gather: - invoices from trades and your own work orders; - supplier orders explaining any wait for parts; - dated photos taken before and after; - your 24-hour entry notices.
4. Record any refusal of entry. Section 27 lets you enter on 24 hours' written notice to inspect or repair. Note every refusal or delay by the tenant; Guideline 5 says such conduct can cut an abatement down or eliminate it.
5. Raise tenant-caused damage. If the tenant's carelessness or deliberate act is to blame, rely on s. 34 and bring proof.
6. Show your maintenance program. Proof of routine inspections and preventive upkeep can reduce an abatement where big work was necessary. Guideline 5 refers to Herbold v. Pajelle Investments, which treats an abatement for briefly losing common facilities during needed repairs as an exceptional remedy.
7. Think about the amount. Under Guideline 5, the size depends on how seriously the defect disrupted the tenant's enjoyment of the unit, with the rent level also a factor. If liability looks likely, come prepared with a figure of your own.
8. Meet the 5-day deadline. Evidence disclosed late can be excluded (Rule 19.7).

What sinks or shrinks a T6 claim

1. Old repairs. Section 29(2) shuts out anything repaired 12+ months before filing.
2. Abatement reaching too far back. The LTB has no power to stretch a remedy beyond the year before filing.
3. The landlord was never told. Not fatal by itself, yet remedies shrink unless the landlord was aware or should have been (s. 30(2); Guideline 5).
4. The tenant caused the damage. Under s. 34, that repair falls to the tenant.
5. Entry refused or work blocked. Even with a repair ordered, the abatement may be zero.
6. Conduct dressed up as maintenance. Complaints about harassment or illegal entry belong on a T2, and a T6 built on them can fail.
7. No fee and no waiver. The LTB will not accept the application.

After the hearing

Next comes a hearing, sometimes with mediation first. The resulting order may give a work deadline, an abatement, approval of tenant repairs or, for serious breaches, a rent-increase ban. Ignoring an order to do work is an offence. For orders issued from July 1, 2026, a review can be requested within 15 days ($58); an appeal on a point of law goes to the Divisional Court within 30 days (s. 210).

Your questions, answered

Is there a set number of days for a landlord to finish a repair?

The RTA sets none. Guideline 5 looks mainly at the defect's seriousness, its effect on the tenant, and whether parts and trades can be had. Reasonable speed plus a proper fix usually means no abatement.

As a tenant, may I hold back rent over repairs?

No, not on your own; anything unpaid is arrears. With the LTB's leave, someone who has filed a T6 can direct rent to the LTB, and those payments are not arrears (s. 195).

Do problems that were already there at move-in count?

Yes. Section 20(2) keeps the landlord responsible even when the defect was known to the tenant from the start.

What is the furthest back an abatement can go?

One year before the T6 filing date. If the problem has still not been fixed at the hearing, the abatement can carry on until it is.

Can a T6 freeze the rent?

For serious breaches, yes. Until the ordered repairs and any overdue work-order items are complete, the LTB can block increases and cap a new tenant's rent (s. 30(1), paras. 6–8).

Official sources

• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 20, 27, 29, 30, 34, 82, 87, 195, 210
• T6 Instructions
• T6 – Tenant Application about Maintenance (PDF)
• Interpretation Guideline 5: Breach of Maintenance Obligations
• Request to Pay Rent to the Board on a Tenant Application About Maintenance (PDF)
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rules 5.1, 19.1–19.2, 19.7, 20.9, 26.5
• 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.