The Canadian Paperwork Glossary
🏠 Tenancy (Ontario forms)
N1 Landlord form
Notice of Rent Increase. Must arrive at least 90 days before the increase, at most once per 12 months, and stay within the guideline (2.1% in 2026) unless the unit is exempt or the LTB approved more. Check yours with our rent increase checker.
N4 Landlord form
Notice to End a Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent. A warning, not an eviction — pay everything owed and it's void. Minimum 14 days' notice for monthly tenancies. Calculate your dates with the deadline calculator.
N5 Landlord form
Notice for interference, damage, or overcrowding. First N5s come with a 7-day correction window — fix the issue and the notice is void.
N11 Agreement
Agreement to End the Tenancy. Unlike notices, signing an N11 is your consent to leave — it can't be fought later. Never sign under pressure.
N12 Landlord form
Notice claiming the landlord, their family, or a purchaser needs your unit to live in. Requires 60 days' notice and one month's rent compensation. Bad-faith N12s can cost landlords dearly. Full N12 guide →
N13 Landlord form
Notice for demolition, conversion, or repairs so major the unit must be empty. 120 days' notice, and for repairs you can claim a right of first refusal to move back in.
L1 / L2 Landlord application
The applications a landlord files at the LTB to actually seek eviction (L1 = non-payment after an N4; L2 = other notices like N12). Filing starts a case; a hearing follows. Nothing ends your tenancy until the Board orders it.
T2 Tenant application
Your application about a landlord's conduct — illegal entry, harassment, cutting services, changing locks. Generally must be filed within one year of the events.
T5 Tenant application
Your application when a landlord's notice was given in bad faith (e.g., an N12 "family move-in" followed by a re-listing). Can be filed up to one year after you move out — remedies include rent differences and damages.
T6 Tenant application
Your application about maintenance and repairs the landlord won't do. Wins turn on organized evidence — see how to build an evidence bundle.
LTB Tribunal
Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board — the tribunal that decides residential tenancy disputes. Only the LTB (enforced by the sheriff) can evict; a landlord never can on their own.
AGI Concept
Above-Guideline Increase — a landlord's LTB application to raise rent beyond the yearly guideline, usually citing major capital work. Tenants can (and do) contest AGIs, often in groups.
Rent abatement Remedy
A refund of part of your rent for the period something was broken, unusable, or your rights were violated. Claim specific numbers: rent ÷ days × affected days × a percentage.
Cash for keys Concept
A voluntary deal where the landlord pays you to leave. Everything is negotiable — amount, moving date, a reference letter. Get any deal in writing before handing keys, and know it usually means signing an N11.
🧾 CRA & tax
Notice of Assessment (NOA) CRA
The CRA's receipt for your tax return: what you filed, what you owe or get back, and your RRSP room. Compare it against what you filed — differences mean the CRA changed something.
Notice of Reassessment CRA
The CRA changed a return you already filed — usually a slip mismatch. You have 90 days to formally object if you disagree. All CRA letters decoded →
Notice of Objection CRA
Your formal "I disagree" to an assessment or reassessment (form T400A / online). Filing on time freezes most collection on the disputed amount while the CRA reviews.
Review letter CRA
Not an audit — a routine request to prove one claim (medical, tuition, childcare). Send exactly what's asked by the deadline or the claim is disallowed and you're reassessed.
Taxpayer relief CRA
A request (form RC4288) to cancel interest and penalties for circumstances beyond your control — serious illness, disaster, CRA delay. It doesn't erase the tax itself, but can shrink the bill significantly.
Disability Tax Credit (DTC) Benefit
A credit for people with severe, prolonged impairments (form T2201, certified by a medical practitioner). Approval can unlock up to 10 years of retroactive refunds and other programs like the RDSP.
💰 Money & debt
Garnishment Debt
Money taken from wages or a bank account to pay a debt. Most creditors need a court order first; the CRA doesn't. Some income (like most benefits) is protected — and a payment arrangement usually stops it.
Limitation period Debt
The time limit to sue over a debt — 2 years from acknowledgment in Ontario (varies by province). After it passes, collectors can still ask, but usually can't successfully sue. Careful: a partial payment can restart the clock.
Small Claims Court Court
The simplified court for money disputes — up to $35,000 in Ontario. Designed for people without lawyers: fill-in forms, modest fees, settlement conferences before trial.
🤝 Getting help
Tenant Duty Counsel Free help
Free lawyers/paralegals available at (or before) LTB hearings to advise tenants — no appointment or income test for basic advice. If you have a hearing date, talk to them first.
Community legal clinic Free help
Government-funded clinics providing free legal help to lower-income people for housing, benefits, and debt problems. Find yours through Legal Aid Ontario or your province's legal aid program.
Sheriff (Court Enforcement Office) Enforcement
The only party who can physically enforce an eviction in Ontario — with an LTB order. A landlord changing your locks themselves is illegal, full stop.
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Join the waitlistThese definitions are general legal information for common situations, mostly Ontario-specific where forms are named — not legal advice. Rules differ by province and change over time; verify with official sources or a community legal clinic.