The Short Answer
For an N4 given on or after 21 September 2026, the termination date must be at least 7 days after the notice is given. It used to be 14 days for monthly and yearly tenancies. Daily and weekly tenancies did not change; they were already 7 days. An N4 given before 21 September keeps the old 14-day period. The tenant can still void the notice by paying in full by the termination date. Serving by mail or courier still adds extra days. And the shorter notice does not shorten the wait for a hearing: Tribunals Ontario reports only about half of cases finishing within its 90-day target.
Want this applied to your own property? Call the Kaizen Real Estate Team at (647) 370-8885.
What Changed, Precisely
Tenancy type | N4 notice before 21 Sept 2026 | N4 notice from 21 Sept 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Daily or weekly | 7 days | 7 days, no change |
Monthly, yearly and all others | 14 days | 7 days |
The change comes from Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, which re-enacted section 59(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act. The Landlord and Tenant Board confirmed the effective date in its operational update on 21 September 2026 and published an updated N4 form, version 2026/09.
Michael John Lau, a REALTORĀ® with the Kaizen Real Estate Team in Markham, Ontario and a two-time eXp ICON Agent, notes that most Markham rentals are monthly tenancies, whether a condo, a basement suite or a whole house. For nearly every Markham landlord, this is a real change.
Questions About Your Situation?
Every Markham property and every timeline is different. Call the Kaizen Real Estate Team at (647) 370-8885 and speak to a REALTORĀ® who works this market daily.
The Details That Trip People Up
The date you give the notice matters
The new period applies to notices given on or after 21 September 2026. An N4 served before that date keeps the 14-day period, even if you file with the Board afterward.
Mail and courier still add days
The new form says plainly: if you give the notice by mail or courier, you have to add extra days. A notice that is 7 days on paper but served by mail is not a 7-day notice. Check the form's instructions and the Board's rules on service before you count.
Use the current form
The updated N4 is on the Tribunals Ontario portal and website. Its wording states that the date must be at least 7 days after the notice is given. Several other forms were also replaced, and previous versions of those will not be accepted after 30 November 2026.
The tenant can still void it by paying
This did not change. If the tenant pays the full amount owing by the termination date on the N4, the landlord cannot apply to evict based on that notice. The tenant simply has half as long to do it.
And can still stop an eviction later
Separately, a tenant can still pay all arrears and costs before an eviction order is enforced. The shorter N4 does not remove that.
What Else Changed Around the N4
Half the arrears before raising other issues
For arrears applications filed on or after 21 September 2026, a tenant who wants to raise other issues at the hearing, such as repairs, must pay the landlord half the claimed arrears at least seven days before the hearing. It is paid directly to the landlord, not to the Board in trust.
For landlords, this changes the hearing. A tenant who does not pay half is generally limited to the arrears question.
Persistent late payment is now defined
Rent received more than seven days after the due date, at least three times within six months. A payment the landlord applied to other money owed, such as arrears, is not counted as late.
Before this, landlords could not predict what an adjudicator would treat as persistent. Now there is a clear line, which makes record-keeping more important than ever.
Payment agreements must use the Board's form
Since 1 July 2026, any repayment plan made under section 206 must use the LTB Payment Agreement Form.
The review window is 15 days
Also since 1 July 2026, a party has 15 days to request a review of an order, down from 30. The Board can extend it.
Neeraj Moolchandani on the Date That Decides Which Rule Applies
Neeraj Moolchandani, REALTORĀ® at Kaizen Real Estate, points landlords to the one date that matters: when the N4 was given. A notice given before 21 September 2026 keeps the 14-day period.
He also reminds landlords that serving by mail or courier adds days to the calculation. Neeraj recommends counting the dates twice and keeping proof of service, because a miscounted termination date can send a landlord back to the start.
What It Does Not Change: The Wait
This is the part landlords should be clear-eyed about. A shorter notice saves a week at the front of the process. The delay is at the Board.
Tribunals Ontario, fiscal 2025-26 (target 80%) | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|
Hearings scheduled within the target window | 78% | 78% | 81% |
Cases finished within the 90-day lifecycle | 51% | 53% | 52% |
Landlord and tenant advocates largely agree on this point, even though they disagree on the rest. The shorter notice alone will not get anyone a faster hearing.
A Practical Checklist for Markham Landlords
- Download the current N4 from the Tribunals Ontario website. Do not reuse a saved copy.
- Count the 7 days from the date of service, and add the extra days for mail or courier.
- Keep a dated ledger of every payment, including which amount each payment was applied to. The persistent-late rule depends on it.
- Talk to the tenant before you serve. In a market where asking rents have been falling and vacancy is higher than a year ago, a good tenant who is briefly behind is often worth keeping.
- If you agree on a repayment plan, use the Board's Payment Agreement Form.
- Mark the 15-day review deadline when any order issues.
- Get advice from a lawyer or licensed paralegal before filing, especially the first time under the new rules.
Reviewing Your Rental Property?
A shorter notice does not shorten the hearing wait. The Kaizen Real Estate Team helps landlords decide whether a property still fits their plan.
For Tenants Reading This
- An N4 now gives you 7 days to pay in full, and paying by the date on the notice still cancels it.
- If you have repair concerns, raise them in writing now. At an arrears hearing you will need to pay half the arrears first.
- Community legal clinics and tenant organizations can help, and deadlines are now shorter.
The full list of changes is in Ontario's new rental rules explained. If you are still deciding what kind of rental property to own, the detached versus condo investment comparison runs the monthly numbers.
Next Steps
- Markham investment property guidance ā how the numbers work on a rental today.
- Get a free property evaluation ā for landlords deciding whether to keep renting.
- Talk through a rental property question ā before the notice goes out.