How to Fill Out an N4 Notice in Ontario (Without Losing at the LTB)

An N4 — Notice to End your Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent is the first formal step Ontario landlords must take before they can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) to evict a tenant for unpaid rent. It looks like a simple form. It is not.

The LTB throws out hundreds of N4 applications every year — not because the rent isn't actually owed, but because the landlord wrote the wrong number on a single line, used the wrong date format, or served the notice incorrectly. This post walks you through filling out an N4 correctly so your application actually gets heard.

When can you serve an N4?

You can serve an N4 the day after rent is missed. If rent is due on the 1st of the month and unpaid on the 2nd, you may serve N4 on the 2nd. There is no grace period in the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), although many landlords voluntarily wait a few days as a courtesy.

The termination date — the most common mistake

You must give the tenant a minimum number of days to pay or move out before the termination date listed on the N4:

• 14 days for monthly, weekly, or daily tenancies
• 7 days for daily or weekly tenancies (rare in residential)

The 14 days do not include the day of service. If you serve on March 1, the earliest termination date is March 15.

If you write a termination date less than 14 days from service, the LTB will dismiss your eventual L1 application and you have to start over — losing another month of rent.

The seven sections of the N4 — line by line

1. To: (Tenant name)

Use the legal name of every adult tenant on the lease, exactly as it appears on the lease. Misspellings are grounds for dismissal. If there are multiple tenants, list all of them.

2. Rental address

Full address including unit number. "123 Main St, Unit 4B, Toronto, ON, M5V 2K7" — not "123 Main".

3. Termination date

The date the tenant must move out IF they do not pay. Count carefully (see above). Use the format month/day/year as it appears on the official form.

4. Reasons

For an N4, the reason is always "you have not paid the rent that you owe." The form pre-fills this — do not edit it.

5. Rent breakdown table — this is where applications die

You must list each rental period with:

• Rental period (e.g., "March 1, 2026 to March 31, 2026")
• Rent due for that period
• Rent paid for that period
• Rent owing for that period

Common errors that get the application tossed:

• Listing the wrong rent amount (e.g., post-rent-increase amount before the increase took legal effect)
• Including non-rent charges like NSF fees in the rent total (these are recoverable separately, not via N4)
• Including last month's rent deposit math incorrectly
• Listing rental periods out of order

6. Total rent owing

The sum of the "rent owing" column. Must match exactly. Off by one cent = potential dismissal.

7. Signature and date

Sign with the same name you used as landlord on the lease. If the property is owned by a numbered company, sign as an authorized officer.

How to serve the N4 legally

Under the RTA, you can serve a notice in any of these ways:

• Hand-delivery to the tenant
• Leaving it in the tenant's mailbox at the rental unit
• Sliding it under the door of the unit
• By mail to the address of the rental unit (add 5 days for deemed receipt)
• By email — only if the tenant has agreed in writing to be served by email

Document the date and method of service. The LTB will ask. A photo of the notice slid under the door with a timestamped phone clock is good evidence.

What happens after you serve the N4

The tenant has 14 days from service to either:

• Pay the full amount listed on the N4 (the notice is then void)
• Move out
• Do neither — in which case you can apply to the LTB on Form L1

If the tenant pays in full within 14 days, the N4 is automatically void and you cannot apply for eviction based on that N4. If they pay partial, the N4 is still alive — but list the partial payment carefully on your L1.

The L1 application

If the tenant has not paid by day 15, file Form L1 with the LTB. Filing fee is currently $186. Bring the L1 hearing every receipt, the N4, your service evidence, and the lease.

The 7 most common N4 errors that get applications dismissed

1. Termination date less than 14 days from service
2. Wrong rent amount listed (e.g., already increased)
3. Including non-rent charges (NSF fees, parking, late fees) as "rent"
4. Misspelled tenant name
5. Missing unit number on address
6. Wrong service method or undocumented service
7. Tenant paid in full within 14 days but landlord still files L1

One small win: software-generated N4s

Modern property management platforms (including Central Rentals) auto-fill the N4 with the correct rent, dates, and rental periods directly from your rent ledger. The arithmetic mistake — the single biggest cause of LTB dismissals — disappears.

Bottom line

An N4 is the cheapest, fastest legal tool an Ontario landlord has — but only if it is filled out perfectly. Count to 14 carefully, get the rent math exactly right, document service, and never include non-rent charges. Do those four things and your L1 will get heard on the merits.