How to Fill Out and Serve Form N4: Ontario Rent Arrears Notice

To fill out and serve a Form N4 in Ontario, wait until the day after rent was due, download the current PDF from Tribunals Ontario, list every tenant on the lease along with the full unit address, complete the rent arrears table so the line items add up to the total, set a termination date at least 14 days away (7 days for a daily or weekly tenancy), sign and date the form, and deliver a copy to each tenant in person, under the door, or by regular mail. Getting the amount, the termination date, and the delivery method right is what keeps the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) from throwing the notice out later.¹

When You Can Issue an N4

The N4 has one use: unpaid rent. Section 59 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 lets a landlord give notice of termination only when the tenant has failed to pay rent lawfully owed under the tenancy agreement.² Late fees, NSF charges, damage costs, and the last month’s rent deposit are not rent and do not belong on this form.

“Rent” for the N4 covers the base monthly amount plus any charges the tenant pays you separately for services like parking. Utility bills the tenant pays directly to a utility company, and even utility costs the tenant reimburses you for, are not rent for this purpose.¹ Adding those amounts inflates the total and gives the Board a reason to dismiss the notice.

Timing matters too. The tenant has until midnight on the day rent is due to pay. You must wait until the following day to issue the N4.¹ Handing the form over on the due date itself, even late that evening, makes the notice premature.

How to Fill Out the Form

Download the N4 from the Tribunals Ontario website and open it in Adobe Reader rather than a browser, since some browsers will not let you complete or save the fields properly.³ It is two pages: identifying information and the total owed on page one, the rent arrears breakdown on page two.

Tenant and Unit Information

List every tenant named on the lease and spell each name correctly, because each tenant needs their own copy of the notice. Give the full municipal address of the rental unit with the specific unit identifier (for example, “Unit 202” or “Basement”) and the postal code.¹ Add your own name and contact information so the tenant can reach you about the balance.

The Rent Arrears Table

Page two asks you to break down what is owed period by period. For each rental period where rent went unpaid or was only partially paid, enter the period dates, the rent charged, the amount paid (if any), and the amount still owing. The line items must add up to the total on page one. This is where landlords most often trip: a math error or a mismatch between the table and the page-one figure is enough for the Board to dismiss the notice.¹ Recheck the arithmetic before printing.

Signature and Date

Sign and date the notice. The form’s own instructions warn that an unsigned notice may be invalid.¹ A representative or property manager can sign on the landlord’s behalf, but their authority to do so should be clear.

Setting the Termination Date

The termination date is the earliest day you are telling the tenant the tenancy could end. Section 59 of the RTA sets the minimums:

Daily or weekly tenancy: at least 7 days after the notice is given.
All other tenancies (monthly, yearly, and so on): at least 14 days after the notice is given.

Do not count the day you give the notice. If you hand the form to your tenant on March 3, the first day of the notice period is March 4, and the earliest valid termination date for a monthly tenancy is March 17.¹ A termination date even one day too early voids the notice.

If you serve by mail or courier instead of delivering in person, you have to add extra days for delivery. Forgetting those days shortens the effective notice period below the legal minimum and makes the notice defective.²

Serving the Notice

The LTB recognizes several delivery methods, and the method you choose changes when the notice period starts. The common options:

Handing it to the tenant in person: effective the day you hand it over.
Sliding it under the door or through a mail slot: effective that day, as long as the tenant is still in possession of the unit.
Sending it by regular mail: deemed received 5 days after mailing.

The mail rule is the one that catches landlords off guard. Mail it, and the notice period does not begin until 5 days after the mailing date. For a monthly tenancy needing 14 days of notice, the termination date must be at least 19 days from the day the envelope goes in the mail.⁴

Each tenant on the lease needs their own copy. Whichever method you use, keep a dated copy of the notice and any tracking information if you sent it by mail or courier. When you later file an L1 application, you will need to submit a Certificate of Service showing when, where, and how you delivered the notice.⁴

Common Mistakes That Void the Notice

The Board dismisses N4s regularly for avoidable errors. Run through this list before serving:

Issuing the notice on the day rent was due instead of the day after.
Setting the termination date fewer than 14 days out (or 7 for daily and weekly tenancies), or forgetting the extra 5 days when serving by mail.
Arrears table line items that do not add up to the page-one total.
Including utility costs, NSF fees, damage charges, or the last month’s rent deposit in the total.
Leaving a tenant off the form, or failing to give each tenant their own copy.
Missing the unit number or postal code in the address.
Forgetting to sign and date the form.

Any one of these can result in dismissal at a hearing, and dismissal means starting over with a new N4 and a fresh notice period.¹ Ten minutes of review before serving can save months.

What Happens After You Serve It

The tenant has three realistic paths. They can pay all the rent owed and void the notice; under Section 59(3) of the RTA, the N4 becomes void if the tenant pays the full amount before the landlord files an L1 application, not merely by the termination date on the form.² They can move out by the termination date, which ends the tenancy but not the debt. Or they can stay and dispute the notice at a hearing.

If the tenant neither pays nor moves, your next step is to file an L1 application with the Board. You cannot file until the day after the termination date on the N4, and you cannot file if the tenant has already paid the full amount needed to void the notice. The filing fee is $201 on paper or $186 through the Tribunals Ontario Portal.⁵ 6 L1 applications are currently being scheduled roughly 3 months from filing.⁷

1
Tribunals Ontario. Form N4 – Notice to End a Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent
2
Ontario.ca. Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17 – Section 59
3
Tribunals Ontario. Forms, Filing and Fees
4
Tribunals Ontario. How to Serve a Landlord or Tenant with Documents
5
Tribunals Ontario. LTB – Form L1 Instructions
6
Tribunals Ontario. Landlord and Tenant Board – Application to Evict a Tenant for Non-payment of Rent and to Collect Rent the Tenant Owes (Form L1)
7
Tribunals Ontario. Application and Hearing Process