From Late Rent to Evictions: 7 Ontario Tenancy Changes Coming in September

By Tahani Elghazaly
Published August 20, 2026

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A significant group of changes to Ontario's residential tenancy rules will take effect on September 21, 2026, affecting non-payment of rent, personal-use evictions, persistent late payments and the rights of tenants displaced by renovations. The amendments stem from changes to the Residential Tenancies Act under Bill 60 and Bill 97.

Here are seven changes tenants and landlords should know about:

The non-payment notice period drops to seven days

Starting September 21, the notice period associated with eviction for non-payment of rent will fall from 14 days to seven days for fixed-term and month-to-month tenancies, shortening the period before a landlord can move to the next stage of the eviction process if the arrears remain unpaid.

Persistent late payment gets a clearer definition

New regulations specify that persistent late payment includes circumstances where a tenant fails to pay rent within seven days of its due date on at least three occasions during any six-month period. Other circumstances may also qualify as persistent late payment.

Half of claimed arrears may have to be paid before other issues are raised

At certain Landlord and Tenant Board hearings involving eviction for non-payment, tenants seeking to raise issues that could otherwise have been brought through their own application will face new requirements, including payment of half the rent arrears claimed in the landlord's application. Regulations set the deadline at no later than seven days before the hearing, subject to the applicable rules and exceptions.

One month's compensation can be avoided in some personal-use evictions

Under the amendments, a landlord seeking to end a tenancy for personal residential use may avoid the usual one-month compensation or alternative-unit requirement when the tenant receives at least 120 days' notice and the other legal conditions are satisfied.

New notification requirements after renovations

Tenants who leave because of qualifying repairs or renovations and preserve their right of first refusal must be given written information about the expected completion date, any changes to that date and when the unit is ready for occupancy. The landlord must then provide at least 60 days for the tenant to exercise the right to return.

More time to file a claim when the right to return is denied

The filing deadline for a former tenant alleging that a landlord failed to honour the right of first refusal will extend to the later of two years after the tenant vacated the unit or six months after the repairs or renovations were completed.

A clearer bad-faith test for some personal-use evictions

New rules create a prescribed period for determining whether the person named in a personal-use eviction actually occupied the unit. In specified circumstances, if that person has not occupied the unit within 60 days, the law presumes bad faith unless the landlord proves otherwise.

Ontario's official orders set September 21, 2026 as the effective date for this group of amendments. Until then, the existing rules continue to apply, including the current 14-day N4 timeline.