2. Collect evidence to present at the hearing
Question & Answer
I’m taking my landlord to the LTB. How do I prepare for my hearing?You and your landlord can both present at the hearing.
There are different kinds of evidence.
Documents
Some examples of documents are:
- emails
- receipts
- bank statements
- inspectors' reports
- photographs and videos
- your rental agreement
If you plan to bring documents to the hearing, you must give copies to your landlord and the Landlord Tenant Board (LTB) before your hearing.
Write a note of who you gave the copy to, what day you did this, and how you gave the document. Keep this note in a safe place along with any proof you have of giving the document, such as a courier slip.
There is a deadline to send documents. If you miss the deadline, you should send your documents anyway, but explain why they were late.
There are many ways you can send documents to your landlord and the LTB:
| How to send | Deadline | Notes |
| 7 days before the hearing date
Example: If the hearing date is October 22, the last day you can send evidence on time is October 15. |
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| Tribunals Ontario Portal | 7 days before the hearing date |
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| Regular or | 12 days before the hearing date
Example: If the hearing is on October 22, the last day you can send evidence on time is October 10. |
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| Courier | 8 days before the hearing date
*There are special rules when you send evidence the day before a statutory holiday. |
|
| Mailbox, mail slot, or sliding it under the door | 7 days before the hearing date |
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| In person | 7 days before the hearing date |
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| Fax | 7 days before the hearing date |
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| If you have more than one page of documents, you must number each page and include a table of contents.
Your table of contents is a list of your documents. In this list, include:
|
When you send a document to the LTB, you must include:
You can learn more about sending documents in the LTB's Practice Direction on Evidence and How to Serve a Landlord or Tenant with Documents. |
Reply evidence
There is a later deadline for reply evidence or responding evidence. Reply evidence is something you send in to respond to new information your landlord includes in their evidence. You get a separate deadline because you might not know about the new information until the landlord gives you their evidence.
The deadlines for reply evidence are:
- 5 days before the hearing, instead of 7 days
- 6 days before the hearing, instead of 8 days
- 10 days before hearing, instead of 12 days
Preparing your evidence
If you have documents or photos, either your own or from your landlord, it's a good idea to save them in one place. For example, you can create a folder on your computer or phone. If you have an in-person hearing, you should print 3 copies of each document to bring to the hearing.
At a remote hearing, the LTB does not allow screen sharing so everyone must look at their own copy of the document or recording on their own device.
If your evidence is a video or sound recording, you must make sure that you will be able to play the recording at the hearing. If you have an in-person hearing, contact the LTB in advance to ask what types of media and formats they can play at the hearing. You might have to ask for a computer to be available at the hearing or bring your own computer.
Witnesses
Witnesses are people who come to the hearing to tell what they know about what happened. This is another way of giving evidence. At the hearing, witnesses must promise to tell the truth.
You and your landlord can also be witnesses at the hearing.
If there is someone else who you want to be a witness, you can ask them to come to the hearing. If they don't agree or if you are not sure they will come, you can ask the LTB to issue a summons. A is a document that tells a witness that they must come to the hearing.
Usually, the police, building inspectors, and other officials can't go to a hearing as witnesses unless they are given a summons.
If you need a summons, you should ask the LTB for it as soon as you can. You must give the summons to the witness in person. And you have to pay the witness when they come to the hearing.
Remember, if your witness agrees to come to your hearing voluntarily, you don't need a summons and you don't have to pay them.
