Ontario LTB guide
The N5: interference, damage, or overcrowding
By Steve Stavros Liadakis, Ontario landlord for 30+ years · Updated September 25, 2026
The N5, Notice to End your Tenancy for Interfering with Others, Damage or Overcrowding, is the notice for behaviour problems that aren't about money. It's also the notice landlords most often get wrong.
The short version
In Ontario, the N5 covers behaviour problems that aren't about money: substantial interference with others, damage beyond normal wear and tear, and overcrowding. A first N5 must give a termination date at least 20 days after it's served, and the tenant has 7 days to void it by stopping the conduct, paying or fixing the damage, or reducing the number of occupants. If the problem recurs within 6 months, a second N5 has a 14-day termination date and cannot be voided. Either way, ending the tenancy still requires an L2 application to the Board, and vague notices are the most common reason N5s fail there.
On this page
What the N5 covers
- Substantial interference with other tenants' reasonable enjoyment, or with your lawful rights: constant noise, harassment of neighbours, conduct that disrupts the building.
- Damage caused willfully or negligently by the tenant, their guests, or another occupant, beyond normal wear and tear.
- Overcrowding, more people living in the unit than health, safety, or property standards allow.
The first N5: the tenant gets a second chance
- The termination date must be at least 20 days after you serve the notice.
- The tenant has 7 days to void it: stop the conduct, pay or fix the damage, or reduce the number of occupants.
- If they void it, the tenancy simply continues, and that's the system working as designed.
The second N5: no second chance
If the problem recurs within 6 months of the first N5, you can serve a second one. This one has a 14-day termination date and cannot be voided. After it's served you can apply to the Board without waiting.
Details win or lose the N5
The most common reason N5s fail at the Board: vague allegations. "Tenant is noisy" isn't enough. The notice must give specific dates, times, and descriptions of each incident, detailed enough that the tenant knows exactly what to stop. Keep a dated log of complaints, photos of damage, and repair invoices from day one.
What a filled-in N5 looks like
Fictional details, but written the way a notice that survives a hearing has to be. Notice given 25 September 2026, termination 15 October 2026. The 20 days a first N5 requires.
For Interfering with Others, Damage or Overcrowding
- To (tenant name)
- Jordan Wallace
- From (landlord name)
- Maplewood Properties Inc.
- Address of the rental unit
- 58 Lakeview Cres, Unit 1, Toronto, ON M4E 2W7
- Termination date (yyyy/mm/dd)
- 2026/10/15
1. On 6 September 2026 at about 11:40 pm, music was played at a volume audible in the units on either side for roughly two hours. The tenants of Unit 2 and Unit 3 each complained in writing the following morning.
2. On 19 September 2026 between about 1:15 am and 2:00 am, shouting in the shared hallway woke the tenants of Unit 2 and Unit 3, who again complained in writing.
If the conduct described above stops within 7 days of receiving this notice, the notice is void and the tenancy continues.
The reasons box is the whole ballgame. “Tenant is noisy” would fail; dates, times, and what actually happened is what lets the tenant know precisely what to stop, which is the legal test. Everything above is also the sort of thing you should already have logged: complaint emails, dated notes, photographs.
After the notice
If the first N5 isn't voided (or after a second N5), apply to the Board with an L2 application. There will be a hearing, and your evidence, the log, the photos, the invoices, is what carries it. Remember that only the Sheriff can ultimately enforce an eviction order; see our eviction process guide for the full path.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Writing the reasons vaguely. "Tenant is noisy" or "constant problems" proves nothing. Each incident needs its date, its time and what actually happened, in enough detail that the tenant knows exactly what to stop.
- Reaching for the 14-day notice first. The short, non-voidable N5 is only available when you have already served one in the previous six months and the problem came back.
- Setting a termination date less than 20 days out on a first notice, or forgetting the extra days when the notice goes by mail.
- Applying to the Board before the 7-day voiding window has closed. On a first N5 the tenant has that week to fix the problem, and if they do, the notice is spent.
- Treating damage as an N5 when the tenant has offered to pay for it. Paying or repairing within 7 days voids the notice, which is the outcome the law intends.
- Keeping no contemporaneous record. Dated notes, photos, repair invoices and other tenants' written complaints are what carry the case at a hearing, not recollection.
Frequently asked questions
What is an N5 notice in Ontario?
The N5, Notice to End your Tenancy for Interfering with Others, Damage or Overcrowding, is the Ontario notice for behaviour problems that aren't about money. It covers three grounds: substantial interference with other tenants or the landlord, damage beyond normal wear and tear, and overcrowding.
How much notice does an N5 give the tenant?
A first N5 in Ontario must have a termination date at least 20 days after the notice is served. A second N5, served when the problem recurs within 6 months of the first, has a 14-day termination date.
Can a tenant void an N5 in Ontario?
A first N5 can be voided: the tenant has 7 days to stop the conduct, pay or fix the damage, or reduce the number of occupants, and the tenancy then continues. A second N5 served within 6 months of the first cannot be voided.
Can I serve a second N5 if the behaviour continues?
Yes. If the problem recurs within 6 months of the first N5, an Ontario landlord can serve a second N5 with a 14-day termination date. It cannot be voided, and after serving it you can apply to the Board without waiting.
Why do N5 notices fail at the LTB?
The most common reason N5s fail at Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board is vague allegations. The notice must give specific dates, times, and descriptions of each incident, detailed enough that the tenant knows exactly what to stop.
What happens after an N5 is served?
If a first N5 isn't voided, or after a second N5, the Ontario landlord applies to the Board with an L2 application and there is a hearing where the evidence carries the case. Only the Sheriff can ultimately enforce an eviction order.
Prepare your N5 with Keystead
Keystead knows whether you are on a first N5 or a second one, because it checks the last six months for you, then applies the right termination date: 20 days and voidable, or 14 days and not. It insists on the dates, times and details that decide these cases at the Board, and produces the notice and its Certificate of Service, digitally signed. Your maintenance photos and documents stay attached to the tenancy as the evidence behind it.
Start a free trialThis guide is general information, not legal advice, and rules change. Confirm the current requirements with the Landlord and Tenant Board or a licensed paralegal before you act.
Keep reading
All guides →How to fill out an N4
Ending a tenancy for non-payment of rent: the amount, the termination date, serving it, and what happens next.
The eviction process
Notice, application, hearing, order, Sheriff: the five legal steps and a realistic timeline.
How to end a tenancy
Which LTB notice to use (N4, N5, N8, N11, N12, N13), applying to the Board, and why self-help evictions are illegal.