General information about Ontario law as of the date above, not legal advice. The law and the Board's forms change; check the sources at the end of the page.
You can give your tenant a notice by handing it to them or to an adult in the unit, by leaving it in their mailbox or where their mail is delivered, by sliding it under the door or through a mail slot, or by mail, courier or fax. Email counts only if the tenant agreed in writing to receive documents by email. A notice to end a tenancy cannot be posted on the door. This page is general information about the law as of 15 October 2026, not legal advice.
What ways does the law allow?
The Residential Tenancies Act lists the basic methods in section 191(1). You can:
- hand the notice to the tenant;
- hand it to an apparently adult person in the rental unit;
- leave it in the mailbox where the tenant’s mail is ordinarily delivered or, if there is no mailbox, at the place where their mail is delivered;
- mail it to the last known address where the tenant lives or carries on business.
The Act also allows any method in the Landlord and Tenant Board’s Rules of Procedure. Rule 3.1 adds sliding the notice under the door or through a mail slot while the tenant still lives in the unit, courier, and fax (under 20 pages, or longer with the tenant’s consent). It also allows email or the Tribunals Ontario Portal, but only where the tenant has agreed in writing.
The Board’s instructions for the N4, N5 and N12 list the same main methods. For fax, they say to send it to a fax machine where the tenant carries on business or to one in their home.
When does each method count as given?
This is the date you count the notice period from.
| Method | Counts as given |
|---|---|
| By hand, to the tenant or an adult in the unit | The day you hand it over |
| Mailbox, place of mail delivery, under the door, mail slot | The day you leave it. The Board’s instructions add no days |
| Mail, including registered mail and Xpresspost | The fifth day after mailing |
| Courier | The day after you give it to the courier. If that day is a Saturday, Sunday or another day the Board’s offices are closed, the next day that is not |
| Fax | The date on the fax confirmation |
| Email, with written consent | The day it is sent |
The mail rule is in section 191(3) of the Act. The others are in Rule 3.9. The five days for mail are calendar days, so weekends and holidays count. Do not confuse this with sending a document to the Board itself: a document mailed to the Board counts as filed on the fifth day that is not a holiday (Rule 4.8).
For example, a notice given to a courier on Friday 16 October 2026 counts as given on Monday 19 October 2026.
Can you serve a notice by email?
Only if the tenant has agreed in writing to service by email (Rule 3.1). Consent can be given at any time, and the tenant can withdraw it at any time by telling you in writing (Rules 3.5 and 3.6).
The Board has a Consent to Service by Email form, but you do not have to use it. Any written consent works. When you serve a document by email, include the name and phone number of a person to contact. If you used Ontario’s standard lease, section 3 lets you and your tenant agree to receive formal notices by email, where the Board’s rules allow it.
Check what the consent covers. The Board’s form has boxes for notices of rent increase, notices of entry, documents about a Board application (but not the application or Notice of Hearing itself) and other communication about the tenancy. It has no box for a notice to end a tenancy. The Board’s instructions for the N4, N5 and N12 do not list email either. If you are not sure the consent covers a notice to end the tenancy, giving it by a method the instructions list avoids the question.
Once a Board case has started, a party can ask the Board to allow email or another method (Rules 3.4 and 3.7).
Can you post a notice on the tenant’s door?
No, not a notice to end a tenancy. The Board’s instructions say you cannot give the N4, N5 or N12 by posting it on the door of the unit. The only document that can be served by posting it on the door is a notice of entry under section 27 of the Act, unless a Board member orders otherwise (Rule 3.2 and the Certificate of Service form). Sliding a notice under the door is a different method, and it is allowed while the tenant lives there.
How do you count the days?
Do not count the day the notice is given. Count the termination date. The Board’s instructions, its Rule 1.13 and section 89(3) of the Legislation Act, 2006 all count this way. The days are calendar days (Rule 1.12), and a notice can take effect on a weekend or holiday (Rule 1.15).
The Board’s N4 instructions give an example. A landlord who hands an N4 to the tenant on March 3 can use March 10 as the termination date, at least 7 days later. If the landlord mails it on March 3, it counts as given on March 8, and the earliest termination date is March 15.
Some notices also have to end on the last day of a rental period. In the Board’s N12 example, a monthly tenancy with rent due on the 1st, an N12 handed over on August 1 can end on September 30 at the earliest. Mailed on August 1, it can end on October 31 at the earliest.
The N4 date calculator does this count for an N4. The notice finder shows which notice fits your situation.
What if there is more than one tenant?
Give each tenant their own copy and name every tenant on the notice. The Board’s guideline says the notice must be given to each tenant living in the unit, or an application based on it must be dismissed. If you give it to the tenants on different days or in different ways, use a termination date that works for the copy given last.
What is a Certificate of Service?
It is the Board’s form that records how and when you gave a document, and to whom. The person who served the document signs it. Filing false or misleading information with the Board is an offence.
- With a notice to end a tenancy. You file the notice and its Certificate of Service with your application, such as the L1 after an N4 or the L2 after an N12. On the Portal, they are uploaded with the application or filed within 5 calendar days (Rules 4.4 and 4.5). See non-payment of rent and getting the unit back.
- When you serve an application yourself. Usually the Board serves the application and the Notice of Hearing (Rule 5.1). When you must serve them, you file the Certificate of Service within five days after serving (Rule 5.15).
- For an L10. You serve the application and Notice of Hearing on the former tenant at least 30 days before the hearing, and file the Certificate of Service at least 20 days before it (Rules 5.8 and 5.16). See a former tenant owes money.
Your evidence for a hearing is different. You give it to the other parties yourself, at least 7 days before the hearing, by a method in the Act or Rule 3. Uploading it to the Portal does not count unless they agreed in writing (Rules 19.1 and 19.1.1).
What if the tenant has already moved out?
Different methods apply to a tenant or former tenant who no longer lives in the unit. You can hand the document to them, mail it to where they now live, or hand it to an adult where they now live (section 191(1.0.1)). The Rules add leaving it where their mail is delivered, under the door or through a mail slot at their new home, and courier to that address. Email is allowed only if they agreed in writing during the tenancy and you can prove it reached them (Rule 3.3).
What should you keep as proof?
The Board’s instructions tell you to keep a copy of the notice you gave. Keep the copy exactly as given, the Certificate of Service, and whatever shows the date and method: the mailing or courier receipt, the fax confirmation, or the sent email with the tenant’s written consent.
The Board’s guideline says valid service depends on using a method the law allows, not on whether the tenant actually received it. If you used a method the Act and Rules do not allow, the notice still counts only if you prove its contents actually came to the tenant’s attention in time (section 191(2)).
Common mistakes
- Counting the day of service, or leaving out the five days for mail. The termination date is then too early.
- Posting the notice on the door instead of using a permitted method.
- Emailing without written consent, or relying on a consent that may not cover a notice to end the tenancy.
- Missing a tenant. Each tenant living in the unit needs their own copy.
- Sliding a notice under the door after the tenant has moved out. That method works only while they live there.
- No Certificate of Service, or a late one. The person who served the document signs it.