How to take a landlord to the Landlord and Tenant Board in Ontario: picking the right tenant form, filing online, and what happens at the hearing.
Applies in: Ontario
The Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) is the Ontario tribunal that decides most residential tenancy disputes under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 — it is a tribunal, not a court, and its process is designed for people to use without a lawyer. As a tenant, you start a case by filing the right T-form: T1 for money the landlord owes, T2 for tenant rights, T5 for a bad-faith eviction, or T6 for maintenance. File online through the Tribunals Ontario Portal, serve the landlord, disclose your evidence by the deadline on your Notice of Hearing, and attend the hearing — most are by video. This guide is the Ontario filing walkthrough only: for the Canada-wide picture of which tribunal handles disputes in each province, see our landlord-tenant procedure grid.
Board cases are won on records, not recollections, so build the file before you file the form:
If you are responding to a landlord's application rather than starting your own — for example, you received an eviction application — you do not need to file a separate form. You will receive a Notice of Hearing and can present your case at the hearing directly.
The Board's forms are published by Tribunals Ontario, and filing the wrong application type is a common reason cases stall. The tenant forms are:
| Form | Use it when |
|---|---|
| T1 — Tenant Application for a Rebate of Money the Landlord Owes | The landlord collected money they should not have, or failed to pay money they owe you — for example, an illegal charge, an illegal rent increase you already paid, or rent paid during an illegal lockout. Current or former tenants can apply; prospective tenants only in limited cases. |
| T2 — Application about Tenant Rights | The landlord harassed you, entered illegally, withheld a vital service, changed the locks, or substantially interfered with your reasonable enjoyment of the unit. The Board can order the conduct to stop, order a rent abatement, and order compensation. |
| T3 — Tenant Application for a Rent Reduction | The landlord reduced or discontinued a service or facility, or municipal taxes and charges decreased. Current tenants can apply on either ground; former tenants only for a service or facility lost while they were still tenants. |
| T5 — Tenant Application about a Bad Faith Eviction | You believe you were evicted under false pretences — for example, an eviction for the landlord's own use that never happened. |
| T6 — Application about Maintenance | The landlord has failed to maintain the unit — mould, pests, broken heat, water damage, or unsafe conditions. Under the Act the landlord must keep the unit in a good state of repair, even if the problem existed when you moved in. |
You can file more than one form at the same time — for example, a T2 and a T6 together if you have harassment and maintenance problems — and one fee waiver request can cover both. Read the instructions for your form before you complete it: the information you fill in is read electronically, so follow the instructions carefully, fill in the complete address of the rental unit including the unit number and postal code, and list any additional tenants on the Schedule of Parties form. The most the Board can order based on a tenant's claims is $35,000.
Most tenant applications must be filed within one year of the event you are complaining about. A T1 to recover money collected improperly must be filed within one year of the collection. The same one-year window applies to a T2, a T5 and a T6. If the conduct is ongoing — the heat is still off, the harassment is still happening — the clock runs from the most recent occurrence, but do not rely on that: file as soon as the problem is clear and your written request to the landlord has gone unanswered. Board staff check that an application has been filed on time when it arrives, and an application filed late can be refused or dismissed.
The Board's forms and filing page sets out four routes:
If you are responding to a case on the portal rather than starting one, you need the file number and the unique one-time 5-digit PIN emailed and mailed to responding parties. If you lost the PIN, contact the Board at LTB@ontario.ca or 416-645-8080 / 1-888-332-3234 (toll free) for a new one.
Once the Board receives your application, staff check the form and supporting documents and confirm it was filed on time. If they find mistakes, the application may be refused or dismissed, or you may be contacted by phone or email to fix the errors — so check that the contact information on your form is current.
The Board then schedules a hearing and sends both parties a Notice of Hearing. Most hearings are held by video. The notice states the deadline for disclosing your evidence: you must give the landlord and the Board a written description of each issue and copies of your supporting evidence by that deadline. Read the Practice Direction on Evidence for how and when to submit evidence — late evidence can be refused. Note also that documents you submit to the tribunal are available to the public on request, subject to limited exceptions under the Board's Access to Records Policy.
At the hearing, both sides have a chance to be heard. Present the timeline, the written requests you sent the landlord, and the evidence you disclosed — dates, photos, receipts — rather than relying on general complaints. The Board can order the landlord to make repairs, stop the conduct, reduce the rent, repay money collected improperly, abate rent for the period the problem existed, or pay compensation. If the Board makes an eviction order in a landlord's application, it is enforced through the Court Enforcement Office, not by the landlord. Keep copies of the order and any deadlines in it: if the landlord does not comply, the order is the document you enforce.
Board staff can explain the process, the forms, and the deadlines, but they cannot give legal advice or tell you which form to file — that decision is yours, and this guide is general information, not legal advice for a specific tenancy. The Board also cannot hear every housing problem: some disputes, including claims above $35,000, belong in court. If your situation involves a lockout, a threat, or an immediate safety risk, do not wait for a hearing date to get help — contact a community legal clinic or, in an emergency, the police.
The official pages do not state the current filing fee for a tenant application, so no dollar figure is given in this guide — the fee is shown when you file, and a fee waiver is available if you meet the Board's financial eligibility requirements. They also do not state current waiting times for a hearing, so no timeline is given here. The $35,000 limit on what the Board can order on a tenant's claims is stated in the Board's published form instructions. Confirm the fee, the form version, and the filing route on the Board's forms page before you file, since fees and forms are revised from time to time.
It depends on the problem. File a [T1](https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Tenant%20Applications%20%26%20Instructions/T1.pdf) to recover money the landlord owes you, such as an illegal charge or rent collected during an illegal lockout. File a [T2](https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Tenant%20Applications%20%26%20Instructions/T2.pdf) about tenant rights — harassment, illegal entry, withheld vital services, or interference with your reasonable enjoyment. File a [T5](https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Tenant%20Applications%20%26%20Instructions/T5.pdf) if you believe you were evicted in bad faith. File a [T6](https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Tenant%20Applications%20%26%20Instructions/T6.pdf) for maintenance and repair failures such as mould, pests, or no heat. You can file more than one form at the same time if you have more than one problem.
Most tenant applications have a one-year time limit: you must apply within one year of the event you are complaining about, or within one year of the landlord collecting money they should not have collected. You can mention things that happened outside that window, but you may not get compensation for them. If the problem is ongoing, the clock runs from the most recent occurrence.
The fastest route is the Tribunals Ontario Portal: create a Public Secure account, select the form, complete it step by step, and pay the fee on the portal by Visa or Mastercard credit or debit card. You can also file by mail or courier to the Board at 15 Grosvenor Street, Ground Floor, Toronto, ON M7A 2G6, or in person at one of 80 ServiceOntario locations. Some applications can also be filed by email — the Board's forms page lists which ones.
A filing fee applies to tenant applications, and the amount is shown when you file — the official pages do not state the current fee, so confirm it on the Board's forms page or in the portal before you pay. If you meet the Board's financial eligibility requirements, you can request a fee waiver by completing the [Fee Waiver Request form](https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Other%20Forms/Fee%20Waiver%20Request.pdf) and sending it to the Board with your application. One waiver request can cover more than one application filed together.
No. Tenants file their own applications every day, and the Board publishes step-by-step instructions for each form. Board staff can explain the process and the forms, but they cannot give legal advice. If your case is complex — for example, a large compensation claim or a bad-faith eviction — a community legal clinic can advise you for free, and you can also bring a representative to the hearing.
Depending on the application, the Board can order the landlord to make repairs, stop the conduct you complained about, reduce the rent, repay money collected improperly, abate rent for the period the problem existed, or pay compensation. The most the Board can order on a tenant's claims is $35,000, and a claim above that belongs in court instead. An eviction order, where one is made, is enforced through the Court Enforcement Office — never by the landlord.