LTB Tenant Applications: How to File a T2, T6, T1 or T5

To take a landlord to Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), pick the right tenant form (T2 for tenant rights like illegal entry or harassment, T6 for repairs, T1 for money owed back, T5 for bad-faith evictions), file it on the Tribunals Ontario Portal, and pay $48 online (or $53 by other methods), unless you qualify for a fee waiver. The LTB then schedules mediation or a hearing, usually by Zoom or phone, where you present your evidence.

You don't need a lawyer to file, and free help is available. Here's the whole process, start to finish.

Key takeaways

• Most tenant problems fit one of four forms: T1, T2, T5 or T6.
• Deadlines are short: generally one year for T1, T2, T6 and most T5s.
• Fees: $53, or $48 on the Tribunals Ontario Portal. Low-income tenants can ask for a waiver.
• Hearings are mostly virtual, by Zoom or phone.
• Evidence must be shared in advance: at least 7 days before the hearing (5 for responding evidence).
• Free help: community legal clinics, Tenant Duty Counsel, and the LTB's own phone line and online tool.

This article is general information, not legal advice. For your situation, contact the Landlord and Tenant Board or a community legal clinic (Legal Aid Ontario can refer you to one at 1-800-668-8258).

Before you file: can the LTB help?

The LTB handles disputes between landlords and tenants under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA). It can't help with:

• Disputes with roommates. If you're co-tenants, you work it out yourselves or go to Small Claims Court. Our guide to dealing with a bad roommate covers your options.
• Rentals where you share a kitchen or bathroom with the owner who lives there. The RTA usually doesn't apply. See living with your landlord in Ontario.
• Most problems before a lease begins, with one exception: if you signed a lease and paid a rent deposit but the landlord didn't let you move in, you can file a T1 to get the deposit back.

It also helps to try a written request first. It's often the fastest fix, and it becomes evidence if you do file.

Which form do you need?

You can combine issues: a single situation might involve a T6 for the broken heating and a T2 for the superintendent's harassment. For specific problems, see our guides to landlord repairs, landlord entry rules and N12 and N13 evictions.

Fees and fee waivers

LTB fees are non-refundable, so check your form carefully.

Fee waivers

You can ask the LTB to waive fees if you're an individual and either:

• your household's main income is from Ontario Works, ODSP, Old Age Security with the Guaranteed Income Supplement, War Veterans Allowance or the Canada Pension Plan, or
• your gross monthly household income is below the LTB's limit for your household size (the limits are set out with the Fee Waiver Request form and the LTB's fee waiver practice direction).

Complete the Fee Waiver Request form and file it with your application. The LTB may ask for financial documents. Asking costs nothing, and once a waiver is granted, it covers the LTB's fees for that application from then on.

How to file

On the Tribunals Ontario Portal (recommended)

You can file T1, T2, T5 and T6 applications online:

1. Create or sign in to your Tribunals Ontario Portal account.
2. Follow the step-by-step application.
3. Pay the fee online by card.
4. Use the portal to check your file, upload evidence, message the other party and try the online dispute resolution tool.

Other ways to file

• By mail or courier to the LTB at 15 Grosvenor Street, Ground Floor, Toronto, ON M7A 2G6, with payment as described in the form instructions (the LTB has a Credit Card Payment Form for this).
• In person at a ServiceOntario location that accepts LTB documents. ServiceOntario staff can't give legal or procedural advice.
• By email for some forms, including T3, T7, A1 and A2, after paying online.

Whatever the method, the form must be complete. LTB staff check applications, and mistakes can lead to refusal or dismissal.

After you file: mediation and hearings

The LTB usually sends both sides the application and a notice of hearing with the date, time and format. Sometimes it orders you to serve the documents yourself; if so, follow the instructions exactly.

Try to settle

On the portal, the online dispute resolution tool lets you and your landlord negotiate. A Dispute Resolution Officer can help, and if you reach a deal it can become a consent order or a mediated agreement. Mediation is voluntary: if it doesn't work, you go to a hearing.

The hearing

• Format: most hearings are by Zoom video or phone. Written hearings are possible, and in-person hearings happen only for approved accommodation requests.
• Arrive early: log on or call in at least 15 minutes before. If you're not there when your case is called, it can proceed without you.
• The adjudicator is neutral and can't give you legal advice. It's up to you to explain your case and show your evidence.
• You can bring a support person, or a representative who speaks for you.
• Language: hearings run in English or French, and you can ask for a sign language interpreter as an accommodation. For other languages, you usually need to bring your own interpreter, such as a bilingual friend or a professional.

Evidence that wins cases

Evidence can be documents, photos, videos, emails, texts and social media posts. The adjudicator decides what's accepted.

• Deadline: give all your evidence to the landlord and the LTB at least 7 days before the hearing, or 5 days for responding evidence, unless the LTB says otherwise. Under the LTB's Rules, these are calendar days.
• Upload it on the portal for portal applications, and serve the other side too, unless they've agreed in writing to receive it through the portal.
• Organize it: a dated timeline, your written requests, the landlord's replies, photos, receipts, city work orders and witness names.
• Witnesses: if someone won't come voluntarily, you can request a summons, but you'll have to pay witness fees.

After the hearing

You'll get a written order. You can ask for written reasons at the hearing or within 30 days. If you think there was a serious error, you can request a review within 15 days (shortened from 30 on July 1, 2026; fee $58). An appeal to the Divisional Court must be filed within 30 days and only on a question of law.

If your landlord files against you

If your landlord applies to evict you for unpaid rent, you can raise maintenance or tenant-rights issues at that hearing, but under rules that took effect September 21, 2026, you must give the landlord and the LTB a written description of the issues (and your evidence) at least 7 days before the hearing and, for applications filed on or after that date, pay the landlord at least half of the arrears claimed at least 7 days before the hearing. Get advice early.

Where to get free help

• Community legal clinics: free advice and sometimes representation for low-income tenants. Call Legal Aid Ontario at 1-800-668-8258 (416-979-1446 in the GTA).
• Tenant Duty Counsel Program: run by ACTO and funded by Legal Aid Ontario, it gives unrepresented tenants remote advice on or before their hearing day, with priority for eviction cases.
• Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations (Toronto) tenant hotline: 416-921-9494.
• The LTB: 416-645-8080 or 1-888-332-3234, plus Navigate Tribunals Ontario, its free online tool.
• Steps to Justice: plain-language legal information for Ontario.

Filing checklist

• Problem reported to the landlord in writing first
• Right form chosen, within the deadline
• Fee paid, or a Fee Waiver Request attached
• Timeline and evidence organized and shared at least 7 days ahead
• Hearing link tested, joining 15 minutes early
• Legal clinic or Tenant Duty Counsel contacted

Bottom line

The LTB is built for people without lawyers. Pick the right form, file on time, organize your evidence, and lean on free help like legal clinics and Tenant Duty Counsel. Most tenant applications cost $48 online, and nothing at all if you qualify for a fee waiver.

Good documentation also starts on day one. On ColivEase, every listing is reviewed by a person, roommates can get an optional ID verification badge, and teams of roommates can apply together, which keeps who's renting what clear from the start. Find roommates and homes on ColivEase.