Ontario LTB Form A4: Correct a Municipal Rent Reduction
Understand when to request a different rent reduction after municipal property taxes change.
A4 lets a landlord or tenant ask the LTB to vary a rent reduction associated with a municipality’s property-tax change or notice. It is not the application for an ordinary annual rent increase. The deadline is the later of two dates in the official instructions.
This guide explains the application; it does not file it for you or guarantee an outcome.
When can you use A4?
- The municipality excluded certain charges that should be considered in the rent-reduction calculation.
- The reduction should use the building’s actual annual rent revenue rather than the municipality’s standard formula.
- The percentage stated in the municipal Notice of Rent Reduction contains an error.
- Municipal property taxes were revised after the notice was issued.
Calculate the filing deadline
Under the published A4 instructions, the application must be filed by the later of (1) 90 days after the municipality issued the Notice of Rent Reduction (or tax notice where no rent-reduction notice was required), and (2) March 31 of the year after the reduction took effect. Keep the notice issue date and effective date; do not substitute your own date of discovery.
How to fill out A4
- Part 1: choose landlord or tenant, identify the property, all affected units/parties and related cases.
- Part 2 — property tax details: enter the base and reference years, their property-tax amounts and the corresponding municipal documents.
- Part 3 — reason: select the precise claimed error or changed charges; explain it and provide the tax records and calculations supporting your claim.
- Part 4 — annual rent revenue: complete this when seeking a calculation using actual complex-wide rent revenue; it is required for the rent-revenue formula reason.
- Part 5 — sign and file: include the municipal Notice of Rent Reduction where relevant, evidence and the fee: $53 tenant or $201 landlord.
Worked example: which deadline wins?
A municipality issues a rent-reduction notice on October 1, 2026 and the stated reduction takes effect December 31, 2026. The 90-day date is December 30, 2026, while the other date is March 31, 2027. In this simplified example the later date—March 31, 2027—controls. Confirm the actual notice dates and special facts.
Which evidence makes the difference?
Bring the municipal notice, tax bills for the base and reference years, reassessment decisions and the calculation of annual rent revenue if relying on that reason. The LTB decides what reduction is appropriate; filing A4 does not itself reverse the municipal notice.
Common mistake
Do not file A4 as if it were L5 (an above-guideline rent increase). And do not count only 90 days when March 31 of the following year is later.