The N12: ending a tenancy for your own use

Who can require the unit?

You can serve an N12 if the unit will be used by the landlord, the landlord's spouse, a child or parent (or the spouse's child or parent), a person providing care services to one of those people, or a purchaser (or their close family) who has agreed to buy the property.

Notice and timing

Give at least 60 days' notice, and the termination date must be the last day of a rental period (or the end of a fixed term). Getting that date right means satisfying both rules at once, 60 days and a period end, which is the arithmetic Keystead does for you. Whichever way you prepare the notice, keep proof of how and when you served it.

Good faith and 12 months

The person moving in must genuinely intend to live in the unit for at least 12 months. An N12 used to get a tenant out for another reason (to re-rent at a higher price, for example) is bad faith and can backfire badly.

Since September 21, 2026, the person named on the N12 must normally move in within 60 days of the termination date. If they don't and the tenant files a T5 (bad-faith) application, the Board presumes the N12 was given in bad faith, and it is up to you to show otherwise. This doesn't apply to a purchaser's N12.

Compensation, and the 120-day option

Normally you must pay the tenant one month's rent (or offer them another acceptable unit) as compensation, and it has to be paid before the termination date. If you don't, the N12 isn't valid.

For an N12 served on or after September 21, 2026 for you or your family, you no longer have to pay compensation or offer another unit if you give at least 120 days' notice. Give less than 120 days and the compensation rule above still applies. A purchaser's N12 is not covered by this change: it always needs the compensation.

What a filled-in N12 looks like

A worked example with fictional details. Notice is given on 25 September 2026 for a termination date of 30 November 2026, 66 days, and the last day of a rental period, which the N12 requires.

This example gives 66 days’ notice, so compensation is owed. With at least 120 days’ notice for the landlord’s own use, it wouldn’t be. When it is owed, the compensation line is the one people miss: one month’s rent must actually be paid before the termination date, not merely promised on the form. An N12 served without it fails at the hearing, and the good-faith requirement means the person named above genuinely has to move in.

If the tenant doesn't leave, or disputes

The tenant can challenge the N12 at the LTB. If they stay past the termination date, you apply with an L2 and the Board decides. If the Board later finds the N12 was in bad faith, the landlord can face significant penalties and the tenant may be awarded remedies.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Paying the compensation late, or not at all, when it is owed. One month's rent must reach the tenant on or before the termination date. Miss it and the notice is not valid, however good the rest of your case.
• Relying on the 120-day rule for a purchaser. It covers you and your family only; a purchaser's N12 still needs the compensation.
• Moving in late. If the person named doesn't move in within 60 days of the termination date, the Board presumes bad faith on a T5.
• Setting a termination date that satisfies only one of the two rules. It must be at least 60 days out and the last day of a rental period, and it can never fall before the end of a fixed term.
• Serving an N12 when the real aim is a higher rent. That is bad faith, and the Board can order a year's rent in compensation plus the tenant's moving costs and the difference in rent elsewhere.
• Naming someone who will not actually live there for a year. The intention has to be genuine at the time you serve, and the Board will test it.
• Using a purchaser's N12 on the wrong building. That reason is only available where the complex has three residential units or fewer.
• Filing without the affidavit. An L2 based on an N12 needs a sworn statement from the person moving in, alongside proof the compensation was paid where it was owed.

Frequently asked questions