The first thing worth mentioning is that giving a notice to a tenant by email is not a valid notice to terminate a tenancy. There are different legal notices of termination that must be used depending on the reason for termination. In order to evict a tenant based on major renovations, the first condition is that the renovations must be extensive enough to require a building permit. When this is the case, the landlord must provide the tenant with proper notice which is a Form N13. The notice period is 120 days after the notice is given, and must be the day the rental period ends or the end of the term if there is a fixed term. The other condition is that when the tenant is served with this notice, the tenant has the right to return to the unit once the work is completed provided he/she advised the landlord in writing of his/her intention to return to the unit. Once the tenant returns then the landlord will have to apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for approval to increase the rent above the guideline amount based on the capital expenditures. You can obtain more information and download the forms from the Board’s website at https://tribunalsontario.ca/ltb/forms/#landlord-forms.

As of July 21, 2020 the landlord is required to give the tenant one month’s rent as compensation if pursuing the N13 when there are less than 5 rental units (3 months if there are 5 or more units). The compensation must be given before the termination date on the notice.