Substantial Compliance (Affidavit N12)

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Date Retrieved:	2024-05-21
CLNP Page ID:	2365
Page Categories:	[Hearing Process (LTB)]
Citation:	Substantial Compliance (Affidavit N12), CLNP 2365, <>, retrieved on 2024-05-21
Editor:	Sharvey
Last Updated:	2024/04/02

Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17

212 Substantial compliance with this Act respecting the contents of forms, notices or documents is sufficient. 2006, c. 17, s. 212.

TSL-75466-16 (Re), 2016 CanLII 71279 (ON LTB)

6. The applicable statutory notice provisions above are mandatory in nature and require strict compliance (Re Bianchi et al. and Aguanno et al., 1983 CanLII 1967 (ON SC)). In Re Bianchi, supra, the termination date was not at the end of the term as mandatorily required by the Act, so the Divisional Court found the notice defective. Here, the identification of the rental unit is, similarly, a mandatory requirement of the Act.

7. I considered s. 212 of the Act, which provides that substantial compliance with the Act respecting the contents of forms, notices or documents is sufficient. However, in my opinion, while the application of s. 212 to situations of non-compliance with non-mandatory requirements of the Act may be appropriate, a parallel application of that section to mandatory legislative requirements amounts to an error in law, could not have been an exercise contemplated by the drafters of the legislation and would lead to absurd results. For example, in the instant case, given that at the time when the N4 notice was served, the unit was not designated as “2A”, the application of s. 212 would allow the Landlord to bring the unit into harmony with the N4 notice after the notice was served.

CET-28082-12 (Re), 2013 CanLII 4275 (ON LTB)

6. However, in some circumstances, it is possible to find that a notice that is not in the approved form substantially complies with the requirements of the Act. This is pursuant to section 212 of the Act. This substantial compliance does not apply to the email.

7. Subsection 43(1) of the Act sets out the mandatory requirements of a notice to terminate a tenancy. The notice must identify the rental unit. The Landlord’s email does not identify the rental unit. It must be signed by the person giving the notice. The Landlord’s email is not signed. Therefore, the email does not substantially comply with the requirements of the Act.

8. As a result, the first requirement of subsection 57 (1) (a) of the Act has not been met. The Landlord did not give the Tenants an N12 notice of termination or any valid notice of termination.