What is an N4 notice in Ontario?

The N4, formally the Notice to End a Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent, is the form an Ontario landlord serves on a tenant who has not paid rent. It is published by the Landlord and Tenant Board, and it has to be that official form: a letter of your own wording, however firm, does not do the job.

The N4 sets a termination date. If the tenant pays the full amount owing before that date, the notice is void and the tenancy continues as normal.

How it works

• You complete the official N4 with the tenant's name, the address, the rental periods in arrears, and the amount owing for each.
• The tenant is given a period to pay. For a monthly or yearly tenancy that is commonly 14 days; for a daily or weekly tenancy it is shorter. Confirm the current figure on the LTB form itself, because the rules are amended from time to time.
• If they pay in full, the notice is void.
• If they do not, the N4 is what lets you apply to the Board (an L1 application) for an order. The Board decides. You do not.

Where ProperLease fits

ProperLease does not generate the official N4 form today. The notice templates in the app are generic, professionally worded documents that name your jurisdiction, not the tribunal's own form. Get the N4 itself from the Landlord and Tenant Board.

What ProperLease does give you is everything the N4 needs and everything the Board will ask about: the exact arrears by period, the dated record of reminders and written notices you sent before you escalated, and the lease that sets the rent.

What to do in ProperLease

1. Open Payments and confirm the arrears by period. The N4 is completed per rental period, so the ledger has to be right.
2. Open Notices and send a Late Rent Notice first if you have not already. It becomes the dated warning that preceded the statutory step.
3. Check Notifications for the full audit trail of what you sent and when.
4. Complete the official N4 from the Landlord and Tenant Board and serve it by a method the Board accepts.