Got an N4 notice for unpaid rent?

An N4 is a notice from your landlord saying you owe rent. It is not an eviction. You don’t have to move out by the date on it, and only the Landlord and Tenant Board can order you to leave.

You can cancel it by paying

If you pay the full amount on the notice, plus any rent that has come due since, by the date on the notice, the notice is cancelled and your landlord can’t use it to evict you.

Even after that date, if your landlord hasn’t applied to the Board yet, paying everything you owe, including rent that has come due since, still cancels it. Pay in a way that leaves a record, and get a receipt.

A payment plan doesn’t cancel the notice. If your landlord sends you a Board payment agreement to sign, talk to a legal clinic first: if you miss a payment under that kind of agreement, your landlord may be able to get an eviction order without a hearing.

Check the notice

• The date. For notices given on or after September 21, 2026, the date on the notice must be at least 7 days after you got it. Before that, it was 14 days. A notice sent by mail counts from 5 days after it was mailed.
• The form. It has to be the Board’s official N4 form.
• The amount. An N4 can only claim unpaid rent, and the amount must be right. If it also claims things like late fees, bank charges for a bounced payment, a deposit, or utility bills you pay separately, the notice may not be valid.

If something looks wrong, tell a legal clinic.

If your landlord applies to the Board

You’ll get papers about a hearing. Go to it: most hearings are online or by phone, and if you don’t attend, the Board can decide without you.

• You can still stop the eviction by paying everything you owe, plus your landlord’s costs such as the filing fee, before the Board makes its order.
• At the hearing, the Board must consider whether it would be unfair to evict you. It can let you stay with a payment plan.
• To raise other problems at the hearing, like repairs or harassment, you must give your landlord and the Board a written list of the problems and copies of your evidence at least 7 days before the hearing. If your landlord filed on or after September 21, 2026, you must also pay your landlord, not the Board, half of the unpaid rent the application claimed, by then, even if you don’t agree that you owe that much.
• Free legal help, called Tenant Duty Counsel, is available on the day of the hearing.

If there’s already an eviction order

Most orders about unpaid rent say you can cancel them by paying the full amount in the order by a set date. After that date, if you pay everything you owe, including your landlord’s costs, before the Sheriff changes the locks, you can file a motion with the Board to stop the eviction. You can only do this once while you live in that home. Take a copy of the motion and the Board’s notice of hearing to the Sheriff (Court Enforcement Office) right away, and call a legal clinic.

Based on: Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 37, 59, 74, 78, 82, 83, 191, 204 and 206; O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.3; LTB Rules 19 and 25; LTB Interpretation Guidelines 7, 10 and 11. Sources: Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 · O. Reg. 516/06 (general regulation) · Landlord and Tenant Board Rules and Interpretation Guidelines.