The N12 Form: Landlord's Own Use Eviction in Ontario

This article addresses Form N12 under Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, the notice a landlord uses when the landlord, a close family member, a caregiver, or a purchaser plans to move into a rented unit. It also covers the good faith rule that protects tenants and notes how landlord's own use evictions work in British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec. It does not address Ontario's N13 notice for demolition, conversion, or major repairs, which is covered separately.

A landlord who wants a rental unit back so the landlord, a spouse, a child, a parent, a caregiver, or a purchaser can move in must serve Form N12 under section 48 or section 49 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA). The notice requires at least 60 days and, in most cases, one month's compensation, and the person moving in must genuinely intend to occupy the unit for at least a year.

What Form N12 Covers

Form N12 is the official Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) notice titled "Notice to End your Tenancy Because the Landlord, a Purchaser or a Family Member Requires the Rental Unit." A landlord serves it when ending a tenancy for one of two grounds under the RTA: the landlord's own use under section 48, or a purchaser's use under section 49.

Section 48 applies only where the landlord is an individual. Since September 1, 2017, a corporate landlord cannot serve an N12 for its own use. This is a common mistake worth checking on any N12 received from a numbered company or property management corporation.

Who Can Move Into the Unit

Under section 48(1) of the RTA, the person moving in must be one of a specific, closed list: the landlord, the landlord's spouse, a child or parent of the landlord or the landlord's spouse, or a caregiver providing health care, rehabilitative, therapeutic, or daily living assistance to one of those people. A landlord's sibling, cousin, or other relative outside this list does not qualify, no matter how the notice is worded.

For a purchaser's use under section 49, the same categories of person apply to the purchaser rather than the landlord. The N12 form has separate boxes for each ground, and the specific person intending to move in must be named on the notice.

Notice Period and Compensation

An N12 must give the tenant at least 60 days, with the termination date falling on the last day of a rental period or, for a fixed-term lease, the last day of the term. The landlord cannot pick an earlier date just because the tenant might be willing to leave sooner.

The landlord must also compensate the tenant, on or before the termination date, with an amount equal to one month's rent, or offer another rental unit that the tenant finds acceptable. If the landlord does not pay this compensation or provide the alternate unit, the Board will not issue an order ending the tenancy, even if every other requirement is met.

A landlord filing the follow-up application (Form L2) must include an affidavit or signed declaration from the specific person who intends to move in, confirming they require the unit for their own personal use for at least a year. This has been required at the time of filing, not just at the hearing, since September 1, 2021. The landlord must also disclose any other N12 or N13 notices given for any rental unit in the previous two years, so the Board can look for a pattern.

The Good Faith Requirement

Good faith is the central issue in almost every contested N12 hearing. In Salter v. Beljinac, 2001 CanLII 40231 (ON SCDC), the Divisional Court held that the good faith test asks only whether the landlord sincerely intends to occupy the unit for residential purposes, not whether that intention is reasonable or well-motivated. A landlord's underlying reason for wanting the unit back, such as wanting to live closer to family or avoid a difficult tenant relationship, generally does not defeat a genuine intention.

That said, the Board can still look at a landlord's conduct and history to decide whether the stated intention is real. Occasional or infrequent use of the unit does not count as residential occupation, and a unit that sits vacant after the tenancy ends is a warning sign the Board considers. A pattern of N12 notices followed by re-renting at a higher rate, rather than the family member ever moving in, points away from good faith.

Bad Faith Evictions and the T5 Application

A tenant who moves out because of an N12 keeps a remedy if the eviction turns out not to have been genuine. Within one year of moving out, the former tenant can file a T5 application (Tenant Application About Tenant Rights) alleging the landlord served the notice in bad faith.

The RTA treats certain conduct as evidence of bad faith, including advertising the unit for rent, renting it to someone else, listing it for sale, demolishing it, or converting it to a non-residential use, at any point from the notice through the year after the tenant left. If the Board finds bad faith, it can order the landlord to pay increased compensation, moving and storage costs, an administrative fine, and general compensation of up to twelve months' rent, and it can order that the tenant be allowed to move back in if the unit is available. This is why the N12 is a common vector for what tenants and advocates call renovictions and other bad-faith evictions, where a stated ground is used to remove a tenant without any real intention of following through. See renoviction and bad-faith eviction for a closer look at that pattern and how to respond to it.

A Change on the Way: Bill 60 and the 120-Day Notice

Ontario's Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, received royal assent in November 2025 and adds a new subsection 48.1(2) to the RTA. Under that provision, the one month compensation requirement will not apply to a section 48 notice if the notice gives the tenant at least 120 days before the termination date, once this schedule of the Act is proclaimed into force.

As of this writing, the Landlord and Tenant Board has confirmed some Bill 60 changes take effect through 2026 but had not yet published full details on this specific compensation exception. The good faith requirement, the affidavit rules, and the bad faith remedies described above are not affected by this change. Anyone relying on the N12 compensation rule, on either side of a tenancy, should confirm the current requirement directly with Tribunals Ontario before acting.

Landlord's Own Use Rules Outside Ontario

Every Canadian province sets its own rules for a landlord who wants a rental unit back for personal use, and none of them match Ontario's N12 process exactly. For the full picture of how Canadian eviction notices compare more broadly, see eviction notices.

British Columbia

British Columbia's Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) requires a landlord or a close family member moving in to give three months' notice, using Form RTB-32L, which can only be generated through the RTB's online web portal. The tenant is entitled to one month's rent compensation, or may withhold that amount from the last month's rent instead.

The person moving in must occupy the unit for at least twelve months. If they do not, the RTB can order the landlord to pay the tenant up to twelve months' rent, and the landlord carries the burden of proving the unit was genuinely used for the stated purpose. BC's Residential Tenancy Compliance and Enforcement Unit also investigates repeated or serious non-compliance separately from a tenant's own compensation claim.

Alberta

Under Alberta's Residential Tenancies Act, a landlord ending a month-to-month tenancy because the landlord or a relative wants to move in must give three months' written notice. Alberta defines "relative" broadly to include people related by blood, marriage, adoption, or an adult interdependent relationship. Provincial guidance does not set out a compensation requirement for this ground, unlike Ontario and BC. Disputes go to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service or the courts.

Quebec

Quebec calls this process reprise de logement, or repossession of a dwelling, and it works differently again. A landlord who owns the building can repossess a unit for the landlord's own residence, or for a close relative if the landlord is that person's main source of support, by giving six months' notice before the end of a lease longer than six months, or one month's notice before the end of a shorter lease.

The tenant then has one month to respond, and staying silent counts as a refusal, sending the matter to the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL). The TAL can order the landlord to pay the tenant's moving expenses and other reasonable compensation, and a tenant who later discovers the landlord acted in bad faith has up to three years to apply for further compensation.

If You Receive an N12

Reading the form carefully is the first step. Confirm the notice cites section 48 or 49, names the specific person moving in, gives at least 60 days, and states the termination date correctly. Confirm the compensation, one month's rent or an acceptable alternate unit, has actually been offered or paid.

An N12 does not end a tenancy by itself. The landlord must still apply to the Board using Form L2, and only the Board can issue an order, which only the Sheriff's office can enforce. A tenant can dispute the application at the hearing and raise a lack of good faith directly. For a broader look at tenant protections in the province, see Ontario tenant rights, and for tenant rights across the country, see Canada tenant rights or Canadian law by province.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Ontario's Form N12 process under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, and a brief comparison to landlord's own use rules in British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Eviction rules change over time, including the Bill 60 amendments described above, which had not fully taken effect when this article was last verified. A tenant or landlord facing an actual N12 notice should confirm current requirements with the Landlord and Tenant Board or the applicable provincial tenancy office and consult a licensed lawyer or paralegal for advice on their specific situation.