Renter rights

N12 and N13 notices

An N12 or N13 is a notice from your landlord asking you to move out. It is not an eviction. Here is what it means, in plain words, and how to find out whether your landlord has given these notices before.

The short version

  • You do not have to move out by the date on the notice. If you stay, your landlord has to apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board, and only the Board can order you to leave, after a hearing.
  • When your landlord applies, they must list every N12 and N13 they gave to any tenant in the two years before. If one is missing, the application is not valid.
  • So your landlord's earlier notices matter, including the ones at their other buildings. This page shows you where to find them, and lets you check your address and your landlord.
  • Get free legal help early. Community legal clinics help tenants with these notices.

Why your landlord's past notices matter

To end your tenancy after an N12 or N13, your landlord files an application with the Board, called form L2. It must list each N12 and N13 your landlord gave to any tenant in the two years before it was filed. That includes notices for other units and other buildings, and earlier notices given to you.

In July 2026, the Court of Appeal for Ontario said that if one is left out, the application is not valid and cannot be fixed at the hearing. The cases are Miller Estate v. Arguelles and Shafiq v. Ramsay.

The Board can also look at your landlord's past notices when it decides whether they really plan to move in or do the work.

How to find earlier notices

Proof has to come from real notices and real people. These are the places to look.

  • Keep every notice. Keep a copy of any N12 or N13 you were given before, even one your landlord did not follow through on.
  • Read your landlord's application. If your landlord applies to the Board, you get a copy. Compare its list of earlier notices with what you know.
  • Ask neighbours and past tenants. Ask people in your building, and people who moved out in the last two years, whether they got a notice. Ask for a copy. They may be able to speak at your hearing.
  • Search past Board decisions. Some Board decisions are published free on CanLII. Search for your landlord's name. Board decisions on CanLII.
  • Ask the Board for its records. Most Board records are public. You can ask Tribunals Ontario for copies of earlier applications. It helps to have the landlord's name and a file number. Request for records.
  • Check your address and your landlord here. Log your notice below. If other renters have logged one at the same address, or from the same landlord at another building, you will see when. Check my address and landlord.

Log your notice and check your address

Tell FairRent about your notice. We show you the notices other renters logged in the last three years at the same address and, if you give your landlord's name, at the landlord's other buildings. No account, and we never ask for your name.
Which notice did you get?
The month you got the notice, not the date it asks you to leave.
Number and street, for example 123 Rideau Street. You can leave out the city and postal code.
Leave it empty for a house with one home.
Copy it from the notice, where it says who the notice is from. It can be a person or a company, for example Jane Smith or 1234567 Ontario Inc. With it, we can also find notices from the same landlord at other buildings, which their application must list too.
What happens to what you enter

We keep the city, the type of notice, its month, and codes made with a secret key from the address, the unit and the landlord's name. We do not keep the address or the name as you typed them, and we never ask for your own name.

Other renters who log a notice at the same address will see the type and month of yours, and whether it was the same unit and the same landlord name. Renters who give the same landlord name will see the type, month and city of yours, never the address.

Logs are deleted three years after the month on the notice. We do not remove a single log on request, because we cannot tell who made it.

A log is not proof, and nobody checks it. It tells you what to ask about.

What each notice means

N12. Your landlord says that they, their spouse, a child or parent of either of them, or someone who will care for one of them will live in your home. Or the person buying your home says that they or their family will. The date to leave must be at least 60 days after you get the notice, on the last day of a rental period or lease term.

N13. Your landlord says they will tear the building down, do repairs or renovations so large that the home must be empty, or change it to something other than a home. The date to leave must be at least 120 days after you get the notice, on the last day of a rental period or lease term.

In Ottawa, from January 1, 2027, a landlord must get a building permit before giving an N13, give you a City guide with it, and apply for a City licence within 7 days.

What you are owed

  • N12 from your landlord: one month's rent, or another home you accept, by the move-out date on the notice. For an N12 given on or after September 21, 2026, this is not owed if the notice gives you at least 120 days and ends on the last day of a rental period or lease term.
  • N12 from a buyer: one month's rent, whatever the notice period.
  • N13 to tear down or change the use: three months' rent in a building with 5 or more units, one month's rent in a smaller one.
  • N13 for repairs or renovations: up to three months' rent in a building with 5 or more units, up to one month's rent in a smaller one. It can be less if you move back in.
  • The Board cannot order you out until what you are owed has been paid.

If you already moved out

If you moved out because of an N12 or N13 that was not given in good faith, you can ask the Board for compensation with form T5. Apply within one year of moving out.

If your landlord gave you an N12 to move in themselves or their family, the Board presumes bad faith if, from the notice until a year after you left, they advertised the home for rent or for sale, rented it to someone else, demolished it or started converting it to another use.

Since September 21, 2026, the Board also presumes bad faith if the person named on that kind of N12 did not move in within 60 days of the move-out date on the notice, or of the day you left if that was later. In both cases the landlord can try to prove otherwise. If your notice is older, ask a legal clinic which rules apply.

If your N13 was for renovations, tell your landlord in writing, before you move out, that you want to move back in. You can then move back at the same rent. Since September 21, 2026, your landlord must also tell you in writing when the work should be done, and give you at least 60 days to move back in once it is.

If you help tenants

For legal clinics, lawyers, licensed paralegals and community workers: the same plain words, with the references.

  • The rule. Section 71.1 of the Residential Tenancies Act. An L2 based on an N12 or N13 must give details of every N12 and N13 the landlord gave to any tenant, for any rental unit, in the two years before it is filed. In Miller Estate v. Arguelles, 2026 ONCA 518, the Court of Appeal held that leaving one out is a defect the Board cannot excuse or fix by amending the application at the hearing. Shafiq v. Ramsay, 2026 ONCA 517, applied it.
  • How the log matches. An address matches however it is typed: English or French order, with or without the unit, the city or the postal code. A landlord's name matches whatever the capitals, punctuation, word order, titles such as Mr. or Mrs. in a person's name, middle initials or company ending, such as Inc., Ltd. or Ltée, and the short form Ont. reads as Ontario. Addresses match within one city. Names match in every city where this page exists.
  • What a log is. What a renter told FairRent, and nobody checks it. It holds no name and no address, so there is nothing more behind a match than the result shows. Treat a match as a lead: what to ask neighbours and former tenants, which Board records to request, and what to ask the landlord about at the hearing.
  • With a tenant. Fill in the form together, with their notice in front of you, and copy the landlord's name exactly. The result shows the day it was checked, so you can print it for your file. If a tenant you help agrees, log their notice, even after they have moved out, as long as it was given in the last three years. It may be the notice the next tenant of that landlord needs.

Free help

These organizations are independent of FairRent and do not endorse it.

Sources

This page is general information, not legal advice. For your situation, contact a community legal clinic, a lawyer or a licensed paralegal.

N12 and N13 notices in Ottawa: your rights and your landlord's past notices | FairRent Canada