The N8 form in Ontario is the Notice to End your Tenancy at the End of the Term that a landlord serves when a fixed-term lease or rental period is ending and one of five specific grounds applies. It is available as a free download from the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) at tribunalsontario.ca, and it only works if the termination date, the reasons, and the method of service are all correct. Getting any one of those wrong is the usual reason an N8 fails at a hearing.
When the N8 Applies
The N8 ends a tenancy at the conclusion of a rental period or a fixed term, not partway through. The form lists five grounds:
- The tenant has persistently paid rent late.
- The tenant no longer qualifies to live in public or subsidized housing.
- The unit was provided as a condition of the tenant’s employment, and that employment has ended.
- The tenancy was created under an Agreement of Purchase and Sale for a proposed condominium unit, and that agreement has been terminated.
- The tenant is occupying the unit to receive rehabilitative or therapeutic services, and the agreed period has ended.
Persistent late rent is by far the most common ground. It’s a different situation from unpaid rent, which uses the N4 form. With an N8, the tenant does eventually pay but keeps missing the due date. The Residential Tenancies Act doesn’t set a specific threshold for “persistent.” The Board looks at the overall pattern: three or four late payments over a year probably won’t be enough, while paying late nearly every month across several months almost certainly will be. The stronger and more consistent the pattern, the better the case.
Filling Out the Form
Download the current version of the N8 from the LTB forms page. Older printed versions may be rejected.
Tenant Names and Address
Enter the full legal name of every tenant on the lease, including any subtenant or assignee. Other occupants like children and guests don’t need to be listed. Add the complete rental address, including unit number and postal code.
Termination Date
This is where most N8s go wrong. Two rules apply at the same time, and both have to be satisfied.
First, the minimum notice period. For monthly or fixed-term tenancies, the termination date has to be at least 60 days after you give the notice to the tenant. For daily or weekly tenancies, at least 28 days.
Second, the termination date has to fall on the last day of a rental period. For a monthly tenancy with rent due on the first, that means the last day of a calendar month. For a fixed-term lease, the date cannot be earlier than the last day of the term.
An example: you serve the notice on March 15 for a monthly tenancy with rent due on the first. Sixty days lands on May 14, but the termination date must be the last day of a month, so it has to be May 31. Putting May 14 on the form voids the notice.
Details of the Reasons
This section is the case. The form asks for the events that led to the notice, including dates and specific details. For persistent late rent, the instructions say to include when rent was due, the dates the tenant actually paid, any amounts the tenant failed to pay, and what periods those payments covered. A general line like “the tenant is often late” won’t hold up. List each late payment: due date, date received, days late.
If you run out of room, attach additional pages and reference them in the details section. Keep originals of bank records, e-transfer confirmations, or receipts. You will need them at the hearing.
Signature
The landlord or an authorized representative signs and dates the form. An unsigned notice is invalid. A representative should mark that role on the form.
Serving the Notice
A correctly filled-out N8 is worthless if it isn’t served properly. The LTB accepts several methods, and the method changes when the notice counts as received.
- Handing it directly to the tenant or to an adult in the rental unit: received that day.
- Leaving it in the tenant’s mailbox or through a mail slot in the door: received that day.
- Sliding it under the door of the unit: received that day.
- Sending it by regular mail to the tenant’s last known address: not received until five days after the mailing date.
The five-day mail rule matters. If you need 60 days’ notice and you mail the form, mail it at least 65 days before the termination date. Otherwise the notice period is short and the notice fails.
After serving, complete a Certificate of Service. It’s a separate LTB form recording who was served, the date, and the method. Whoever actually delivered the notice has to be the one who signs the certificate. Filing false or misleading information on it is an offence under the Residential Tenancies Act.
Filing the L2 if the Tenant Doesn’t Leave
Serving the N8 doesn’t end the tenancy by itself. If the tenant stays past the termination date, you have to file an L2 Application to End a Tenancy and Evict a Tenant with the LTB. There’s a hard deadline: the L2 must be filed no later than 30 days after the termination date on the N8. Miss it and the notice expires. You would need to start over.
The filing fee is $186 through the Tribunals Ontario Portal or $201 for a paper filing. LTB fees are non-refundable. File a copy of the N8 and the Certificate of Service with the application. The Board schedules a hearing and sends a Notice of Hearing to both sides.
At the Hearing
Wait times vary. As of early 2026 the LTB estimates roughly three months for a typical case, with 80 percent of cases heard somewhere between three and sixteen months. The tenant remains in the unit through the wait.
The landlord carries the burden of proof. The adjudicator reviews the N8, the payment records, and whether the notice was properly completed and served. Bring originals of every payment record listed in the details section, the lease, and the Certificate of Service.
The tenant does not have to move out just because an N8 was served. The form itself tells them so, and they can appear at the hearing to challenge the accuracy of the payment records, argue the pattern isn’t persistent, or raise other circumstances.
Even when persistent late payment is proven, the Board has discretion under section 83 of the Residential Tenancies Act to refuse the eviction or delay enforcement. The Board can refuse an eviction unless it’s satisfied that refusing would be unfair after weighing all the circumstances, and it can postpone the enforcement date to give the tenant time to find housing. The Board must refuse eviction in certain situations, including where the real reason for the application is that the tenant complained to a government authority, tried to enforce their legal rights, or where the landlord is in serious breach of their own obligations under the Act.
Mediation
Before or instead of a full hearing, both parties can agree to mediation through the LTB. If they reach an agreement (for example, that rent will be paid by a specific date each month going forward), a dispute resolution officer writes it up, both sides sign, and the hearing is cancelled.
The parties can also ask to have the agreement issued as a consent order, which is enforceable like any other Board order. For eviction applications, a mediated agreement or consent order can include a clause letting the landlord request an eviction order without another hearing if the tenant breaks the agreement. Tenants should be realistic about whether they can meet the conditions before signing.
Enforcement After an Eviction Order
If the Board grants the eviction, the order sets a date by which the tenant has to leave. If the tenant doesn’t go, the landlord files the eviction order with the Court Enforcement Office. A sheriff, also called a Court Enforcement Officer, carries out the eviction. The landlord cannot do it themselves and cannot change the locks before the sheriff acts. Once the sheriff has enforced the order, the landlord can change the locks.