Representing tenants at Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board
Karb Law acts for tenants of rental housing in Ontario before the Landlord and Tenant Board. That means two kinds of file. In the first, the tenant brings the application: repairs that were never done, a landlord who enters without notice, heat or water cut off. In the second, the landlord has applied to end the tenancy for unpaid rent, and the tenant wants the Board to hear about the repairs or the harassment at the same hearing.
Angelina Shuster is a paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Ontario. Under By-Law 4 a licensed paralegal may represent a party before any tribunal set up under Ontario or federal legislation, and the Board is one of them. This page is general information about the Board's procedure and is not legal advice. Reading it creates no paralegal-client relationship.
Who the Board lets speak for a tenant
A tenant can act alone at the Board or appoint someone. The Board's brochure on who can be a representative lists the people allowed:
A lawyer or a paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Ontario and in good standing. Adjudicators and mediators may ask for the licence number, and the licensee is bound by the Law Society's rules of conduct.
A friend or neighbour who is not paid, is not in the business of legal services, and has acted in no more than three matters that year.
A family member who is not paid and is not in the business of legal services.
Students, volunteers and staff of a legal clinic funded by Legal Aid Ontario.
An unlicensed representative needs the tenant's signed written permission, given to the Board before or at the hearing. A friend or relative can also come as a support person and sit with the tenant, but cannot make submissions without becoming the representative.
Which application fits the problem
The Board decides tenant complaints through set forms, and each form only reaches certain problems. The three routes below are taken from the Board's own instructions for the T6 and T2 applications and its brochure on issues raised at a rent hearing.
- T6
Maintenance and repairs
- Covers
- A landlord who has not repaired or maintained the unit or the building, or has not met health, safety, housing or maintenance standards.
- Who can file
- A current or a former tenant. If the problem has since been fixed, the application has to be made within one year of the date it was fixed.
- What the Board can order
- A rent abatement, an order to do the repairs by a set date, repayment of reasonable out-of-pocket costs, a freeze on rent increases until serious work is finished, or an end to the tenancy. The total cannot exceed 50,000 dollars.
- T2
The tenant's rights during the tenancy
- Covers
- Illegal entry, locks changed without new keys, substantial interference with reasonable enjoyment, harassment, coercion or threats, and heat, fuel, electricity, gas or water withheld.
- Also covers
- Property sold or disposed of during the 72 hours a tenant has to collect it after a Sheriff's eviction, and a care home tenancy agreement missing required information.
- What the Board can order
- A rent abatement, an order to stop the conduct, a fine payable to the Board, moving and storage costs, and, after a lock change, the right to move back in if the unit is still empty.
- s.82
Raised at the landlord's rent hearing
- Covers
- When the landlord has filed an L1 or L9 for unpaid rent, the tenant may raise any issue that could have been its own application, such as maintenance or harassment.
- Conditions
- Written notice of each issue and copies of the evidence, delivered on a timetable set out in the next sections of this page.
- What the Board can order
- The same kinds of remedy, for example an abatement that reduces the arrears, or an order for repairs.
Some problems fit more than one route, and a T2 and a T6 can be filed about the same tenancy. Harassment connected to a ground in the Human Rights Code, such as disability or family status in housing, can also be a matter for the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.
The countdown before a hearing about unpaid rent
Section 82 of the Residential Tenancies Act lets a tenant answer an application for unpaid rent with the tenant's own issues. The Board's brochure, last updated 21 September 2026, sets this timetable:
- 7 daysbefore the hearing
The tenant gives the landlord and the Board a written description of each issue and a copy of every document, photo and other piece of evidence.
- 5 daysbefore the hearing
The landlord gives the tenant and the Board any documents and evidence in reply.
- Hearing dayat the Board
The adjudicator hears the landlord's claim and the tenant's issues together. Issues that were not delivered on time are not heard.
A rule added in September 2026 applies to landlord applications filed on or after 21 September 2026. To raise section 82 issues at such a hearing, the tenant also pays the landlord at least half of the rent arrears claimed, no later than 7 days before the hearing. The payment goes to the landlord, not to the Board in trust, and a receipt is kept. The brochure says these requirements can only be waived where the Human Rights Code requires it.
The full text of the brochure is on the Tribunals Ontario site, and the Act itself is on Ontario e-Laws.
What the firm does on a tenant's file
When the tenant applies
- Reads the tenancy agreement, the notices and the messages exchanged with the landlord, and matches each complaint to the reason boxes on the T2 or T6.
- Builds the timeline: when the landlord was first told, what was done, and what is still outstanding.
- Prepares and files the application through the Tribunals Ontario Portal, with the fee or a fee waiver request.
- Serves the landlord and files the certificate of service.
- Organizes the photos, repair requests, receipts and witness evidence into a hearing package.
- Attends mediation, if both sides take it up, and the hearing.
When the landlord applied
- Reads the N4 notice and the L1 application for the amounts claimed and the dates on them.
- Lists the repair and harassment issues the tenant wants heard, with the evidence for each.
- Delivers the written description and the evidence to the landlord and to the Board inside the deadline.
- Reads what the landlord sends back and prepares the questions for the landlord's witnesses.
- Represents the tenant at the hearing, including on any payment plan the Board is asked to consider.
The Board deals with a represented party through the representative, who handles the communications with the Board and the landlord from filing to the order. Disputes about the wording of a lease or another written agreement, outside the Board, are covered under contracts.
The papers that start a tenant file
- The tenancy agreement
- Or the first rent receipt, if there is no written lease. It names the parties and the rent the Board will work from.
- Every notice and Board document
- An N4, N5, N12 or other landlord notice, and any application or notice of hearing. The dates on them set the deadlines.
- Dated photos or video
- Of the leak, the mould, the broken lock or whatever the complaint is about.
- Messages with the landlord
- Texts, e-mails and letters asking for repairs or objecting to entry. The T6 asks when the landlord was first told.
- Receipts and rent records
- What the tenant paid to fix or replace things, and the rent paid with dates, which matters most when arrears are claimed.
The office is at 10211 Yonge Street in Richmond Hill. To start, send the notice or a short description of the problem through the free assessment form or contact the office. The firm page shows who works on these files, and the other tribunal and court work is listed under practice areas.
Frequently asked questions
Can a paralegal represent a tenant at the Landlord and Tenant Board?
Yes. The Board's own brochure lists a paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Ontario and in good standing as a permitted representative, and By-Law 4 allows licensed paralegals to appear before Ontario tribunals.
What is the difference between a T2 and a T6 application?
A T6 is about maintenance: repairs not done or standards not met. A T2 is about the tenant's rights during the tenancy, such as illegal entry, changed locks, harassment or vital services being withheld.
How long does a tenant have to file a T6 after a repair is finished?
The Board's instructions say that if the problem has been fixed, the application has to be made within one year of the date the problem was fixed. Current and former tenants can both apply.
Can a tenant raise repair problems at the landlord's hearing for unpaid rent?
Section 82 of the Residential Tenancies Act allows it. The written issues and evidence go to the landlord and the Board at least 7 days before the hearing, and for landlord applications filed on or after 21 September 2026 the tenant also pays the landlord at least half of the claimed arrears by then.
Is there a limit on what the Board can award a tenant?
Yes. The Board's instructions for both the T2 and the T6 say the most it can order on a tenant's claim is 50,000 dollars, and a larger claim belongs in court.
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