One month's rent or a comparable unit, paid by the termination date — and a lot more if the stated reason turns out to be false.
Short answer
For an N12 (landlord or family member moving in), the landlord must provide compensation equal to one month’s rent, or another rental unit the tenant finds acceptable, "paid by the termination date" on the notice. The notice period itself must be at least 60 days and end on the last day of a fixed term or rental period. If a former tenant later proves bad faith through a T5 application, the remedies go well beyond that.
Section 48(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act is the actual hook: it permits a landlord to give notice of termination "if the landlord, in good faith, requires the unit for residential occupation for a period of at least one year" by the landlord, a specified family member, or a caregiver, per LTB Interpretation Guideline 12.
The Board’s test for "good faith" is: "whether it is more likely than not the landlord or family member will move into the unit within a reasonable time after the unit becomes vacant." The guideline is explicit that "the motives of the landlord in seeking possession of the rental unit are largely irrelevant" — only genuine intent to occupy is being tested, not why the landlord wants the tenant out.
The termination date on the N12 must be at least 60 days after the notice is given, and must land on the last day of a fixed term or, for a month-to-month tenancy, the last day of a rental period.
A former tenant who proves bad faith on a T5 application can obtain: the rent-increase differential for up to one year; moving and storage expenses; a rent abatement; "an administrative fine not exceeding the monetary jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court" — currently $35,000 in Ontario; "general compensation not exceeding one year of rent paid"; and potential unit repossession, per Guideline 12.
This is the exposure worth flagging to a landlord-seller before an N12 goes out — the one-month compensation is the baseline cost of a genuine move-in, not the ceiling on what a bad-faith notice can cost.
See also: the notice rules for showing a tenanted unit and status-certificate due diligence on a condo purchase.
A 30-minute call is enough to walk through N12 mechanics and the exposure a landlord-seller needs to understand.
