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Do the new own-use eviction rules apply when I am the buyer?

Both routes are served on the same form, which is why the change is being read as applying to everyone. It does not. The distinction decides what a buyer owes a tenant, and when.

The short answer

Robin Patel, a REALTOR® in the Greater Toronto Area, explains that Ontario changed its own-use eviction rules on 21 September 2026, but the changes reach a landlord ending a tenancy for themselves, not a purchaser buying the property to live in. A buyer on the purchaser route is governed by the older provisions, unchanged.

Written forBuyers in the GTA purchasing a tenanted property they intend to live in themselves, or to put a close family member in, and anyone who has read about the 2026 eviction changes and assumed they apply to a purchase.

The short version

  • Ontario separates a landlord ending a tenancy for their own use from a purchaser requiring the unit for theirs. Both are served on the same notice form, but they are different provisions.
  • The 21 September 2026 changes apply to the landlord route. The Landlord and Tenant Board states twice that they do not apply to a notice served for a purchaser's use.
  • On the purchaser route, compensation of one month of rent or another unit acceptable to the tenant is required regardless of how much notice is given.
  • That compensation is owed by the landlord who serves the notice, which on a sale is the seller, and it does not become the buyer's obligation.
  • Older versions of ten Board forms, including the own-use notice, are not accepted as of 30 November 2026.

Two routes that share one form

Ontario treats these as separate things. A landlord who wants to end a tenancy because they, or a close family member, will move into the unit is on one route. A buyer who is purchasing the property and requires the unit for themselves or a close family member is on another. The second only exists because there is an agreement of purchase and sale.

The reason the distinction gets lost is that both are served on the same notice form. A person reading the form, or reading about the form, has no way to tell from it which of the two provisions is in play. The form is shared; the law behind it is not.

That matters right now because the rules changed on 21 September 2026 for one route and not the other, and almost everything written about the change describes it as though it applied to both.

The form is shared; the law behind it is not.

The two changes that do not reach a purchaser

The first change is an occupancy deadline. On the landlord route, the person who is moving in must normally take occupancy within sixty days of the date given in the notice, and if they do not, a bad-faith presumption arises where the tenant brings an application. The presumption can be rebutted at the hearing, but it starts against the landlord.

The second change is about compensation. On the landlord route, a notice giving at least a hundred and twenty days, ending on the right day, now allows the landlord to avoid paying compensation or offering another unit. With shorter notice the older compensation rules still apply.

Neither of these reaches a purchaser. The Board states it twice and in plain terms: the changes do not apply to a notice served for a purchaser's use of the property. A buyer who has read about the hundred and twenty day option and planned around not paying compensation has planned around a rule that is not theirs.

Neither of these reaches a purchaser.

What still applies on the purchaser route

Compensation is required, and there is no notice length that removes it. The tenant is owed one month of rent, or the offer of another unit acceptable to them, and that is owed regardless of how much notice was given. The Board cannot order the eviction until it has been paid.

The obligation belongs to the landlord who serves the notice. On a sale that is the seller, as the current landlord, acting once an agreement of purchase and sale is in place. It is not the buyer's to serve and the compensation is not the buyer's to pay, which is covered in more detail on the selling and investing pages.

Good faith also still applies, and it is assessed on more than the intention stated at the time. Conduct and changes of circumstance after the notice was served can be considered, so a plan that quietly changes after closing is not a private matter.

Compensation is required, and there is no notice length that removes it.

The form itself has a deadline

Separately from all of the above, the Board updated a set of its forms in September and set a date after which the older versions stop being accepted. The own-use notice is one of them.

Older versions of those forms are not accepted as of 30 November 2026. A form downloaded earlier in the year, or kept on file from a previous transaction, may be the wrong version by then, and a notice on a superseded form invites a fight that has nothing to do with the merits.

The remedy is unglamorous and takes a minute: download the form fresh from the Board on the day it is being prepared, rather than reusing a copy. That is worth doing on every notice, not only this one.

a notice on a superseded form invites a fight that has nothing to do with the merits

This guide explains how the process works in general terms. It is not legal, tax or mortgage advice, and program rules, thresholds and dollar amounts change. Confirm anything that affects your money with your real estate lawyer, your mortgage professional and your accountant before you rely on it.

Written by

Robin PatelSalesperson · The Agency Toronto

Updated

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A machine translation, not Robin’s words. For anything that decides money, ask him in Gujarati or Hindi directly.

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Common questions

Do the new Ontario own-use eviction rules apply to a purchaser?
No. The Landlord and Tenant Board states that the changes effective 21 September 2026 do not apply to a notice served for a purchaser's use of the property. They apply to a landlord ending a tenancy for their own use. The two are separate provisions served on the same form.
Does a buyer have to compensate the tenant when buying for their own use?
Compensation of one month of rent, or the offer of another unit acceptable to the tenant, is required on the purchaser route regardless of how much notice is given. It is owed by the landlord who serves the notice, which on a sale is the seller, and the Board cannot order an eviction until it has been paid.
Who serves the notice when a buyer wants the unit?
The current landlord serves it, which on a sale means the seller, acting on the purchaser's behalf once an agreement of purchase and sale is in place. A buyer cannot serve it themselves before closing, so vacant possession is something negotiated with the seller rather than arranged afterwards.
Are old Landlord and Tenant Board forms still accepted?
Older versions of ten forms updated in September 2026, including the own-use notice, are not accepted as of 30 November 2026. Download the current version from the Board on the day the notice is prepared rather than reusing a saved copy.
Next step

Bring the questions this raised.

Every guide ends somewhere that only applies to your situation. Robin will go through that part with you directly, in Gujarati, Hindi or English, before you are committed to anything.