Bill 60 and Bill 97, Six Months In: What Landed July 1 — and What September 21 Brings

Update, 26 Sep 2026: The second wave this article looked ahead to took effect on September 21, 2026 — see the LTB's September 21, 2026 operational update. An N4 given on or after that date needs 7 days' notice (it was 14 for monthly and yearly tenancies), and a personal-use N12 served on or after that date with at least 120 days' notice owes no compensation and no offer of another unit; a purchaser's N12 is not covered. The N12 timing decision described below has passed: for a personal-use N12 served now, both routes sit side by side — at least 60 but fewer than 120 days' notice under the existing compensation rules, or at least 120 days' notice without them. The update does not list the fixed-term auto-conversion changes mentioned below, and nothing in it changes the rule that a fixed-term lease continues month to month when its term ends unless it is renewed or properly ended. Previous versions of the updated LTB forms, including the N12, N13 and L1, won't be accepted from November 30, 2026.

As of July 20, 2026. Ontario's biggest tenancy-law overhaul in a generation turned out to be two laws in one. While most of the industry watched for the headline changes — the 7-day N4, the no-compensation N12 — a quieter wave of amendments came into force on July 1, 2026, and it's already binding: review windows halved, repayment plans valid only on the Board's own form, above-guideline service compressed, a new tenant right to cool their own home, and fines doubled.

The loud wave lands September 21. And if you've seen coverage saying the 7-day N4 is live now, you've seen the confusion this piece exists to settle: the Landlord and Tenant Board's June 30 operational update is explicit about which changes belong to which date, and everything below is keyed to it. The confusion was understandable — Bill 60 received royal assent on November 24, 2025, Bill 97 dates to 2023, and the proclamation split their tenancy provisions across two dates months later. Understandable — and now settled.

Two waves, one referee: what the June 30 LTB update settled

Start with the document that ends the arguments. On June 30, 2026, the Landlord and Tenant Board published an operational update on the amendments arriving through the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act (Bill 60) and the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023 (Bill 97), stating plainly that some changes would come into effect on July 1, 2026, and others in September 2026 — and the second wave took effect on September 21, 2026. That single sentence is the referee — and guides written before it, across the industry, often compressed the two waves into one.

It's worth understanding why the split happened, because it will happen again: bills amend statutes, but proclamation brings the amendments into force — and governments routinely stage proclamations so tribunals can update forms, train staff, and publish guidance between batches. The July batch is the machinery — deadlines, forms, service rules the Board could operationalize quickly; the September batch touches notice periods and eviction routes, where day-one form versions and public guidance matter more. Reading the assent date as the in-force date is the oldest mistake in legislative coverage, and this overhaul just taught it to a whole industry at once.

The waves in one glance. In force since July 1: the 15-day review window, the mandatory Payment Agreement Form, above-guideline service at 7-plus-5 days, the tenant air-conditioner right, and doubled fine maximums. Taking effect September 21: the 7-day N4 for notices given on or after September 21, 2026, the no-compensation route for a personal-use N12 served with at least 120 days' notice, the N13 renovation-notice duties and their rebuttable presumption, the half-the-arrears rule for L1 applications filed from that date, and a new test for persistent late payment. The durable habit this settles: when coverage and statute seem to disagree, the tribunal's operational updates are the referee — bookmark the page and read it before you read anyone's summary, including ours.

What landed July 1 — and what three weeks have taught

1. The 15-day review window. The deadline to request a review of an LTB order dropped from 30 days to 15 — the compression most likely to bite habits before it bites cases. An order that arrived July 8 closed its review window on July 23 under the new rule, while the old-habit landlord still believed they "had a month." The lesson costs nothing: diarize the review deadline the day the order arrives, every order, no exceptions.

2. The mandatory Payment Agreement Form. Since July 1, any repayment plan filed with the LTB must be on the Board's official Payment Agreement Form under section 206 of the RTA — informal payment-plan letters no longer qualify. The template that worked in June bounces in July, and if the form reaches the Board too late, the hearing simply proceeds. But there's an upgrade inside the requirement worth knowing: the Board's form supports the consent-order path — resolving arrears without a hearing — and can carry a section 78 clause, which lets a landlord return for an eviction order without serving a new notice if the tenant breaches the agreement. Used properly, the signed form is stronger than the informal letters ever were. File it promptly, by email or through the Tribunals Ontario Portal — the Board itself notes that a form arriving close to the hearing date may not be processed in time, in which case attend the hearing as scheduled. And one scope note that catches people: the form serves rent-arrears applications — the L1 and L9 — not applications it's been combined with, so a mixed file needs the arrears portion handled on the form and the rest argued normally.

3. Above-guideline service at 7-plus-5. For L5 applications, supporting documents must now be served within 7 days (down from 14), with the certificate of service filed within 5 days after. A small calendar rebuild — and a mandatory one.

4. The air-conditioner right — in its first summer. Under new section 36.1 of the RTA, tenants may install a window or portable air conditioner after giving written notice, provided the installation is safe and causes no damage. Where hydro is included in the rent, the landlord may charge a seasonal electricity amount — actual or reasonably estimated — and the LTB's own brochure, Rules for Air Conditioners, governs the details. The practical lesson three weeks in: leases written before July 1 with blanket A/C bans are already stale, and the right process is short — confirm safe installation, document it, and put any seasonal amount in writing. The wrong process now prices at the new maximums. It's also worth saying what the right process looks like from the tenant's side of the door, because the smoothest July stories run that way: written notice arrives, the landlord confirms the installation plan is safe — bracket, drainage, window integrity — documents the confirmation, and, where hydro is included, states the seasonal amount in writing with its basis. Ten minutes of process; a cool apartment; a file that defends itself. The A/C right is the first wave's best rehearsal for the second, because it rewards exactly the reflexes September will demand.

5. Doubled fines. Maximum penalties for RTA offences — bad-faith evictions, illegal lockouts, interference with reasonable enjoyment — doubled on July 1 to $100,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations. Those are maximums, not typical outcomes, and they print here as exactly that. The practical translation is simpler than the numbers: process hygiene just became the cheapest insurance in the business.

The mistakes already appearing

Three weeks is enough to see the pattern, and the pattern is humbling in the best way: the first wave's early failures are calendar and template failures, not legal ones. The missed review — thirty-day habits meeting the fifteen-day rule. The bounced letter — payment plans filed on the old template that no longer qualifies. The stale lease clause — blanket A/C bans meeting section 36.1 in the hottest weeks of the year. The unrebuilt AGI calendar — fourteen-day muscle memory against a seven-day rule. None of these are exotic, and that's the first wave's real lesson: this batch rewards administrative discipline, not legal sophistication. The landlords having a smooth July aren't the ones with the best counsel; they're the ones with the best calendars.

The nine-week window — and the one decision that expires

The time between waves is not a waiting room; it's a preparation window — and one decision inside it carries an actual expiry date. The N12 timing model: today, a personal-use eviction runs the standard route — 60 days' notice plus one month's rent as compensation. Since September 21, 2026, a second route has been open: a personal-use N12 served on or after that date with at least 120 days' notice owes no compensation and no offer of another unit — though a purchaser's N12 is not covered. For anyone with a personal-use file on the horizon, the choice between serving now and waiting is live right now — and it stops being a choice on September 21, when the second route exists whether you planned for it or not.

The model in round numbers, illustrative only: rent $2,000 a month, lease ending January 31. Route A — serve now: possession roughly 60 days out, at a cost of one month's compensation, $2,000. Route B — wait, serve after September 21 aligned to lease end: possession at the end of January, compensation $0, calendar longer. The crossover is entirely your dates: if your plans hold to lease end anyway, Route B saves the month; if possession timing dominates — a family member arriving, a sale condition, a renovation window — Route A buys speed for exactly one month's rent. Run your own dates. And to be plain: this is general information about how the two routes are structured, not legal advice for your file — get advice on your specific situation before serving anything.

The rest of the window's list, briefly: rent tracking tight enough to serve a compliant N4 on day 8 the moment the 7-day rule arrives; an N13 communication-log template built before the renoviction rules land; and your renewal strategy read against the fixed-term changes before your next lease-end cycle reaches them.

Nine weeks sounds like more time than it is. Subtract a vacation, a turnover, and the ordinary Tuesdays of running rentals, and the preparation window is maybe six working weekends. The list above fits comfortably in one of them — which is precisely the argument for doing it this week instead of the week of September 14, when every landlord forum in the province will be discovering the deadline together.

What September 21 changes on day one

The loud wave, precisely. The 7-day N4 — the notice period for non-payment drops from 14 days to 7, which changes when you can file, not when you're heard: the honest cap on expectations holds, because LTB processing still runs roughly 3 to 7 months against a backlog around 41,000 cases, improved from about 53,000 — the trend is real, and the trend is the number to watch. The 120-day N12 route opens, as modelled above. Renoviction documentation rules land — the written communication log becomes the file's spine. And the fixed-term auto-conversion changes arrive, reshaping renewal strategy.

Day-one discipline, learned from every forms transition before this one: on the morning of September 21, pull every notice and application you use fresh from the Tribunals Ontario forms pages — not from your saved folder. Version errors on day one are the classic own-goal, and the Board's pages are the only place the current versions live.

How we're covering this — and what's next

A note on this piece's own expiry date, because news content owes you one: everything above is accurate as of July 20, 2026, keyed to the LTB's June 30 operational update — and it expires by design on September 21, when our day-one coverage of the second wave replaces it. Between now and then, the always-current sources are the Board's own pages: the operational updates for what's in force, and the forms pages for what to serve. For the durable deep dives, our guides carry the detail this briefing compresses: the N4 guide, the rent-increase guides (the guideline runs 2.1% for 2026 and 1.9% for 2027), the standard lease, and the software evaluation guide for the tooling side of readiness.

Key takeaways

1. Two waves, one referee: July 1's procedural wave is in force; the 7-day N4 and the no-compensation personal-use N12 (at least 120 days' notice) followed on September 21, 2026 — per the LTB's June 30 and September 21, 2026 operational updates, which outrank every summary including this one.
2. The first wave rewards calendars, not counsel: 15-day reviews diarized on arrival, the Board's Payment Agreement Form only, AGI service rebuilt at 7-plus-5.
3. The A/C right is in its first summer — read the LTB's brochure, fix the stale lease clause, and put any seasonal electricity amount in writing.
4. Maximums doubled to $100,000 and $500,000 — printed as maximums; process hygiene is now the cheapest insurance in the business.
5. The N12 timing choice is live now and expires September 21 — one month's compensation against sixty days of calendar; model your own dates before the window models them for you.
6. Day one of the second wave: fresh forms from Tribunals Ontario, rent tracking ready for day-8 service, and the N13 log template already built.

The quiet wave is the law; the loud one has a date

Six months after royal assent, that's where Ontario's overhaul stands — half arrived, half scheduled, and the whole thing far more about calendars and forms than the headlines suggested. The landlords having a smooth summer are the ones who diarized the fifteen days, swapped the letter for the Form, and read the air-conditioner brochure before the first written notice arrived. The ones who'll have a smooth autumn are deciding their N12 timing now, tightening their rent tracking for day 8, and planning to pull fresh forms on the morning of September 21. The nine weeks between the waves belong to whoever uses them — and as of July 20, 2026, there are exactly nine left. Updated coverage lands here the day the second wave does.

Related resources

• How to Use the N4 Notice in Ontario — the form at the centre of September's change, done properly today.
• Ontario Rent Increases: The Complete N1 Guide — the guideline, the notice, and the 90-day clock.
• The Ontario Standard Lease — where the A/C clause lives, and what it can and can't say.
• Property Management Software: What to Look For — the tooling side of two-wave readiness.

Frequently asked questions

Is the 7-day N4 in effect now?

Yes — for notices given on or after September 21, 2026, the N4 notice period is 7 days (it was 14 for monthly and yearly tenancies), per the LTB's September 21, 2026 operational update; an N4 given before that date keeps the period it was given under. What's in force since July 1: the 15-day review window, the mandatory Payment Agreement Form, 7-day AGI document service, the tenant A/C right, and doubled fine maximums.

What is the mandatory Payment Agreement Form?

Since July 1, 2026, any repayment plan filed with the LTB must be on the Board's official Payment Agreement Form under section 206 of the RTA — informal payment-plan letters no longer qualify. The form supports a consent order without a hearing and can include a section 78 clause, letting a landlord return for an eviction order without a new notice if the tenant breaches. File it promptly by email or through the Tribunals Ontario Portal.

Can my tenant install an air conditioner now?

Since July 1, 2026, yes — under section 36.1 of the RTA, tenants may install a window or portable unit after written notice, provided installation is safe and causes no damage. Where hydro is included in rent, the landlord may charge a seasonal electricity amount, actual or reasonably estimated. The LTB's Rules for Air Conditioners brochure governs the details — and leases with blanket A/C bans predate the right.

Should I serve an N12 now or wait until after September 21?

It's a real decision with a deadline. The standard route today is 60 days' notice plus one month's compensation; after September 21, a 120-plus-day route aligned to lease end opens with no compensation. The crossover depends on your lease-end date, your rent, and how firm your plans are — model both against your actual dates, and get advice on your specific file. This is general information, not legal advice.

Do the changes make evictions faster?

The September N4 change shortens when you can file, not when you're heard — LTB processing still runs roughly 3 to 7 months against a backlog around 41,000 cases, improved from about 53,000. The first wave's changes are about process discipline, not speed: shorter review windows, mandatory forms, tighter service timelines.