Ontario Bill 60 Explained: What Actually Changed for Tenants and Landlords

If you follow Ontario landlord-and-tenant news, you have seen "Bill 60" referenced in dozens of headlines, press releases, and landlord-group newsletters in the past twelve months. Some call it the biggest change to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) in a decade. Others — mostly tenant advocacy groups — call it a rollback of tenant protections. Both sides are right about parts of it and wrong about parts of it.

This is the practical version: what Bill 60 actually does, which parts are in force, which parts are still waiting for Cabinet to proclaim them into effect as of April 2026, and how both sides should be thinking about it right now.

Important disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The RTA is complex and Bill 60 implementation is partial and evolving. For advice specific to your situation, consult a licensed lawyer, paralegal, or community legal clinic. BeProSe is not a law firm.

What Bill 60 Is

Bill 60, the Residential Tenancies Modernization Act, 2025 was a provincial government bill that received Royal Assent in the fall of 2025. It amends the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 in several ways, some significant and some technical.

Like most Ontario statutes, Bill 60 has two tiers of provisions:

Sections that came into force on Royal Assent — these are law now.
Sections that come into force on a day to be proclaimed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council — these are not law yet. The government can proclaim them at any time, but until Cabinet issues the proclamation order, the old RTA still applies for those sections.

The distinction matters enormously. A landlord who acts on the assumption that a not-yet-proclaimed section is already in force is acting unlawfully. A tenant who thinks a protection was repealed when it has not yet been repealed may give up rights they still have.

As of April 19, 2026, significant portions of Bill 60 remain unproclaimed. Anyone making decisions based on Bill 60 should first check the current status on the government of Ontario's e-Laws site (ontario.ca/laws) to confirm whether the specific section they are relying on is in force.

The Political Context

Bill 60 was introduced against a backdrop of:

LTB backlogs that had pushed average eviction wait times to six-plus months
A rental housing market in which rent increases well above the guideline (on vacancy decontrol) had become politically unsustainable
Landlord association complaints that the N4 process was too slow to address non-payment
Tenant advocacy group complaints that "renovictions" via N12 and N13 were being misused to force out long-term tenants

Bill 60 was the government's attempt to address both sets of complaints simultaneously — which is why it contains measures that cut in both directions and why neither landlord groups nor tenant groups are entirely happy with it.

What's In Force Right Now (April 2026)

1. The 2026 Rent Increase Guideline: 2.1%

This is not strictly a Bill 60 change — the rent increase guideline is set annually by regulation under s. 120 of the RTA — but it was announced alongside Bill 60 and is often conflated with it.

The 2026 rent increase guideline is 2.1%. This is the maximum a landlord can increase rent, in most cases, for tenancies governed by the RTA, for rent increases taking effect between January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2026. Above-guideline increases (AGIs) remain possible under s. 126 for capital expenditures, security costs, and certain other categories.

For units first occupied after November 15, 2018, the guideline still does not apply — those units remain exempt from rent control. Bill 60 did not change this exemption.

2. N12 Compensation Clarification

The RTA already required landlords who give an N12 (termination for landlord's own use) to pay the tenant one month's compensation before the termination date (s. 48.1, introduced in 2017). Bill 60 amends this section to:

Clarify that the compensation is calculated based on the last month's rent actually paid, not on a lower "guideline-frozen" amount the landlord argues should apply
Add explicit remedies where a landlord fails to pay compensation, including LTB authority to order compensation plus a penalty amount

This change is in force. Landlords serving N12s today must pay the full last-month's-rent compensation before the termination date. Tenants who receive an N12 and are not paid compensation should flag this at any subsequent LTB hearing — it is grounds for dismissal of the L2 application.

Bill 60 also tightens the bad-faith penalty framework. If a landlord serves an N12 claiming personal use and the unit is later re-rented to someone else, the tenant has a tighter window and clearer statutory damages under amended s. 57.

3. LTB Procedural Modernization

Bill 60 includes several provisions that formalize practices the LTB was already using informally:

Videoconference as the default hearing format is now codified (previously it was Practice Direction)
Electronic service of LTB documents between parties is expressly permitted in more circumstances
Pre-hearing document portals and online submission timelines are given statutory footing

These changes are largely procedural and in force now.

4. Penalty Increases for RTA Offences

The maximum fines for RTA offences (s. 238) have been increased. Individual maximums are now higher, and corporate maximums are substantially higher. This affects prosecution of offences like unlawful entry, illegal rent increases, and reprisal against tenants.

What's Pending Cabinet Proclamation (Not Yet In Force)

1. The N4 "Compression" (Pending)

This is the single most-discussed and most-misunderstood part of Bill 60.

The amendment: Bill 60 amends s. 59 of the RTA to shorten the minimum notice period on an N4 (Notice to End a Tenancy Early for Non-Payment of Rent) — from 14 days to, in certain circumstances, a shorter period, and to compress the window within which a tenant can "void" the notice by paying arrears.

Current status as of April 2026: the N4 amendment provisions have not been proclaimed into force. The 14-day period remains the current law, as does the existing voiding framework in s. 74. Landlords serving N4s today must use the existing 14-day notice and the existing voiding rules.

Why the delay: the provincial government has indicated it wants to see LTB operational capacity improve before shortening notice periods, as the whole point of the shorter notice is to accelerate the downstream L1 process. Tenant advocacy groups have also threatened Charter challenges, which has contributed to the government's cautious pace on proclamation.

Practical consequence: do not act on the compressed N4 until it is proclaimed. A landlord who serves a "10-day N4" citing Bill 60 before proclamation is serving a defective notice. A tenant who receives a shortened N4 should immediately check e-Laws to confirm whether proclamation has occurred.

2. Expanded AGI Categories (Pending in part)

Bill 60 also expands the categories of expenditures that can support an Above Guideline Increase application under s. 126. Some of these changes are in force; some specific expansions (particularly around "climate resilience" retrofits) are pending further regulation.

3. Digital Lease Registration (Pending)

Bill 60 contains enabling provisions for a provincial lease registration system — a centralized database where leases would be filed. The enabling provisions are in force but the registration system itself does not yet exist and will not be operational until the government issues implementing regulations and builds the infrastructure. Expect this no sooner than late 2026 and potentially much later.

What Bill 60 Does NOT Do

A lot of the news coverage has conflated Bill 60 with other, separate provincial housing policies. For clarity:

Bill 60 does not end rent control for units first occupied before November 15, 2018. Those units remain subject to the annual guideline.
Bill 60 does not change vacancy decontrol. Landlords can still set rents at any level when a unit becomes vacant and a new tenant signs a lease.
Bill 60 does not abolish the LTB or create a new tribunal.
Bill 60 does not change the requirement to use the standard lease form (the Ontario Standard Form of Lease under O. Reg. 333/20) for new tenancies.
Bill 60 does not retroactively affect notices served before its provisions came into force. If an N4 was served before proclamation of the compressed N4 provisions, the old rules apply to that notice.

Practical Advice for Tenants

If you are a tenant in Ontario in 2026:

Your 2026 rent increase is capped at 2.1% (for units subject to rent control). A notice of rent increase must be given at least 90 days in advance (Form N1) and cannot take effect sooner than 12 months after your last increase or the beginning of your tenancy.
If you receive an N4 for non-payment, the notice period is still 14 days as of April 2026. You can still void the notice by paying all arrears (plus any NSF charges) before the termination date (s. 74(3)).
If you receive an N12 for landlord's own use, the landlord must pay you one month's compensation before the termination date. If they do not, flag this at any LTB hearing. Bill 60 amendments that are in force strengthen this requirement.
If the landlord later re-rents the unit after an N12 instead of moving in themselves (or their stated family member), you may have a bad-faith claim under amended s. 57 with tighter statutory damages.
Do not assume any shortened N-series notice is valid just because a landlord cites Bill 60. Check e-Laws for the current status of the specific section.
For a written lease, use or require the Ontario Standard Form of Lease (Form 2229E). This has not changed.

Practical Advice for Landlords

If you are a landlord in Ontario in 2026:

Use the guideline of 2.1% for any 2026 rent increase unless you are pursuing an AGI. Notice of rent increase must use Form N1 and be given at least 90 days before the increase takes effect.
Do not serve a shortened N4. The 14-day notice period in s. 59 remains in force until proclamation. A defective N4 is grounds for dismissal of your L1.
Pay the one month's N12 compensation before the termination date. The LTB is now dismissing L2 applications in which compensation was unpaid or late. This is one of the Bill 60 provisions in force.
Document good faith for any N12. The bad-faith penalty framework under amended s. 57 is narrow but expensive. If you serve an N12, keep contemporaneous documentation of your actual intention to occupy the unit (or a family member's intention, under the statutory list).
Review your insurance and capital reserve before pursuing an AGI. The expanded AGI categories are partially in force but some expansions are still pending regulation.
Subscribe to ontario.ca/laws updates or a professional landlord association newsletter for proclamation news. The gap between "Bill 60 passed" and "this section is in force" is a compliance risk.

Why the Proclamation Timing Is Uncertain

Provincial bills in Ontario frequently contain "come into force on a day to be named by proclamation" clauses. This gives the government flexibility to sequence implementation. Common reasons for delay:

Regulatory drafting — the substantive rules often require regulations to flesh out the statute. Those regulations take time to draft, consult on, and publish.
Administrative capacity — a new process (e.g., the LTB's handling of compressed N4s) may require training, portal updates, or new forms.
Political calculation — an unpopular section may be proclaimed after an election or never proclaimed at all. Bills have been passed in Ontario with sections that were never brought into force.
Legal challenges — if a tenant advocacy group or other party signals a Charter challenge, government may delay proclamation.

The N4 compression falls into several of these buckets at once. Proclamation is genuinely uncertain. Do not plan your rental business around a proclamation date that has not been announced.

How to Check What's In Force

For any RTA section, go to e-Laws (ontario.ca/laws), search for the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, and look at the annotation at the top of the section. e-Laws shows:

The current wording in force
Amendments that have been enacted but not yet proclaimed (typically noted in a footnote or a separate "pending" version)
The date of the last update

If a section has a "coming into force: on proclamation" footnote, that amendment is not law yet.

Alternatively, Ontario Regulation look-up via CanLII or the e-Laws consolidated list shows all proclamation orders. Search "Bill 60 proclamation" periodically if you are affected.

Next Steps

If you need to serve an N-series notice, respond to one, or file an application with the LTB, using the right form with the right notice period is essential — and in the current Bill 60 transition period, the form you need depends on what is actually in force the day you serve.

BeProSe generates Ontario tenancy documents (N4, N12, L1, L2, T2, T6, and the standard lease) with the current, in-force wording for April 2026. When proclamation changes, our forms update immediately. Your first document is free.

Generate a free Ontario tenancy document to see how it works.

Bill 60 is not the end of Ontario's landlord-tenant regime, and it is not a tenant-rights apocalypse. It is a mixed bag of provisions, implemented in stages, with some sections already changing outcomes at the LTB and others still waiting on Cabinet's desk. Both sides should take two minutes to check e-Laws before making decisions based on it.

BeProSe is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. The in-force status of Bill 60 provisions is current as of April 19, 2026 and may change. Always verify the current status of any statutory provision before relying on this article. Documents generated by BeProSe should be reviewed by a licensed lawyer or paralegal before filing. Last reviewed: April 2026.