The Landlord and Tenant Board () is an adjudicative

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a singl ...

operating in the province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

that provides dispute resolution of

landlord A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...

and tenant matters under the '' Residential Tenancies Act, 2006''. It is one of the 13 adjudicative tribunals overseen by the Ministry of the Attorney General that make up

Tribunals Ontario Tribunals Ontario () is the umbrella organization for 13 adjudicative tribunals under the Attorney General of Ontario, Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario. It was formed on January 1, 2019, from the merger of the Social Justice Tribunals ...

Process

Either landlords or tenants may file an application to the board. The parties can choose to first attempt to resolve the matter through

mediation Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...

. If the mediation is unsuccessful or if the parties choose not to attempt mediation, then an adjudication hearing is held in which a board member hears evidence from both parties before issuing an

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

. The Statutory Powers Procedure Act provides a general framework for the conduct of hearings before Ontario's administrative tribunals including the LTB. A landlord may apply to the board to increase a unit's rent above the province's

rent control Rent regulation is a system of laws for the rental market of dwellings, with controversial effects on affordability of housing and tenancies. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: *Price controls, limits on the rent that a landlord ...

guidelines or to evict a tenant. Tenants can dispute

eviction Eviction is the removal of a Tenement (law), tenant from leasehold estate, rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosure, foreclosed by a mortgagee (often ...

s, apply for rent reductions or rebates due to a landlord's failure to meet maintenance obligations, apply for

work order A work order is usually a task (project management), task or a job for a customer, that can be scheduled or assigned to someone. Such an order may be from a customer request or created internally within the organization. Work orders may also be crea ...

s or other orders, or grieve other violations of the ''Residential Tenancies Act''. In Ontario, a landlord cannot evict a tenant without a hearing before the board. Ontario-based newspapers have published stories about landlords being months in arrears for rent with no options available to reduce their losses while they wait for hearings. Continued delays in processing evictions has resulted in some landlords nearing bankruptcy and becoming homeless.

Legal representation

In Ontario, a person may be represented by an individual licensed by the

Law Society of Ontario The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; ) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LS ...

such as a lawyer or a paralegal. There are other exemptions for unpaid representatives such as direct employees of the landlord or in the case of a tenant a friend or family member. It is the obligation of the individual claiming the representation exemption to provide proof to the board of their legal authorization to represent a person or company in front of the board. Prior to a board hearing tenants are offered the opportunity to speak to tenant duty counsel which is usually provided by a community legal aid clinic funded through Legal Aid Ontario.

Jurisdiction

According to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA), the LTB has the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

to resolve all matters between landlords and tenants, to mediate or adjudicate eviction applications from non-profit housing co-operatives, and provide information to landlords, tenants about their rights and responsibilities under the RTA as well as information about LTB’s practices and procedure. Under the RTA, a tenant must be in possession of a rental unit prior to filing an application with the board. If a landlord would like to make a claim against a tenant after a tenant has vacated the rental unit, the landlord must file an L10 with the LTB.

Legal decisions

Some LTB decisions are published by CanLII. As of 2021, there were 19,621 decisions posted to CanLII. The LTB processes around 80,000 applications per year.Tribunals Ontario 2019-20 Annual Report retrieved 2021-05-28
/ref> A majority of those applications are non-payment of rent applications.

Publication of LTB decisions

Access to Adjudicative Records at the Landlord and Tenant Board is governed by the Tribunal Adjudicative Records Act, 2019, S.O. 2019, c. 7, Sched. 60, and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.31. According to ''Toronto Star v. AG Ontario, 2018 ONSC 2586 (CanLII)'' decisions of the Ontario landlord and Tenant Board are not subject to the privacy considerations as personal information under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.31.

References

External links

* {{ONGovDept 2007 establishments in Ontario Courts and tribunals established in 2007 Ontario government tribunals Landlord–tenant law Ontario law Real property law of Canada