To fill out Ontario’s N11 form, complete the four sections on the single-page Agreement to End the Tenancy: the landlord’s legal name, every tenant’s name, the full address of the rental unit, and the termination date the parties have chosen, then have the landlord and each tenant sign and date it. The form is a fillable PDF available from Tribunals Ontario, and no fee applies to the agreement itself.
Section by Section
Start at the top with the landlord’s legal name exactly as it appears on the lease. Do the same for every tenant named on the lease. Then enter the full municipal address of the rental unit, including the unit number if the property is part of a larger building.
Matching these details to the original lease matters. A name mismatch or a missing unit number gives the Landlord and Tenant Board reason to question the document if it ever comes before an adjudicator.
Next, enter the termination date in the day/month/year format the form specifies. There is no minimum notice period for an N11, which sets it apart from landlord-initiated notices like the N12 that require at least 60 days. You and your landlord can pick any future date that works, whether that is next week or six months out. Choose carefully: the Board’s earliest possible eviction date in any later order will be this termination date.
Finally, every person named on the form signs and dates it. The landlord signs in one section, each tenant in the other. These signatures are the entire point of the form. They prove both sides agreed voluntarily.
Joint Tenancies: Every Tenant Must Sign
When a lease names more than one tenant, every tenant must sign the N11 for the agreement to end the tenancy completely. If only one of two joint tenants signs, the agreement is not enforceable against the tenant who did not sign, and the tenancy continues with the remaining occupants.
Before handing the form to your landlord, confirm that all co-tenants have read and signed it. A landlord who files an L3 application based on a partially signed N11 risks having it dismissed.
When a Landlord Cannot Require You to Sign
The form itself carries a warning: a landlord cannot require a tenant to sign an N11 as a condition of renting a unit. If you were handed an N11 at the start of your tenancy and told signing was mandatory before you could move in, you are not bound by it and do not have to leave on the date listed.
Two narrow exceptions exist where a landlord can require an N11 upfront:
- Student housing: the tenant is a student living in accommodation provided by a post-secondary institution, or by a landlord with an agreement with the school to provide that housing.
- Rehabilitative care homes: the tenant occupies a unit in a care home for therapeutic or rehabilitative services, agreed to a tenancy of no more than four years, and the tenancy agreement states the tenant can be evicted once the care objectives have been met or will not be met. The unit must also be provided under an agreement between the landlord and a service manager under the Housing Services Act, 2011.
Outside those situations, an N11 signed under pressure, threats, or misrepresentation can also be challenged at the Board. Adjudicators look at factors like whether the tenant was given time to consider the agreement, whether the landlord was physically present and pressuring a quick signature, and whether the landlord misled the tenant about what the document actually was. Proving coercion is difficult, but tenants who kept text messages, emails, or other records of the interaction have stronger ground to stand on.
Cash-for-Keys: What Goes Where
Landlords sometimes offer money to a tenant in exchange for signing an N11. These arrangements are legal in Ontario, but the payment terms do not go on the N11 form itself. Keep the N11 clean and use a separate consent agreement to spell out the payment amount, the move-out timeline, the expected condition of the unit on departure, and confirmation that the tenant is signing voluntarily.
That separate document serves a practical purpose. It records that the tenant was not under duress, which makes it much harder to challenge the N11 later. Use a traceable payment method like an e-transfer or cheque so there is a clear record of the money changing hands. Having a lawyer or licensed paralegal draft or review the consent agreement is worth the cost, especially when the payment amount is substantial.
Keep Your Copy After Signing
Both the landlord and the tenant should keep a copy of the signed N11 for their records. The form does not get filed with the Board or any government office at this stage. It only becomes relevant to the Board if the landlord later needs to apply for an eviction order. Hand over or receive copies right away so neither side has to chase the other for documentation weeks later.
What the Signed Form Actually Does
A signed N11 sets the date the tenancy ends by mutual agreement. If the tenant moves out on or before that date, the tenancy is over and nothing more happens. If the tenant stays past the termination date, the landlord can file an L3 Application to End a Tenancy with the Landlord and Tenant Board within 30 days of that date. Because the N11 reflects a mutual agreement, the Board normally issues an eviction order without holding a hearing, based on the landlord’s written application and the signed form. That is why the details you enter on the N11, especially the names, unit address, and termination date, need to be accurate before anyone signs.