A notice ends a tenancy. It does not remove a person, and it gives you no right to touch a lock.

The gap is where most self-managing landlords lose money. They serve a valid notice, the date passes, the tenant stays, and they discover the second half of the process exists. In all three provinces the second half takes longer than the first.

Here is the whole path.

The universal rule

Self-help eviction is illegal everywhere in Canada. Changing locks, removing belongings, cutting power or heat, or physically removing anyone exposes you to damages, orders to restore possession, and fines. In Ontario, since July 1, 2026 the maximum fine is $100,000 for an individual and $500,000 for a corporation. In BC penalties reach $5,000.

A recent BC case shows the exposure. In *Lloyd v. Almeida (No. 2)*, 2026 BCHRT 12, a landlord who locked out an elderly tenant with disabilities, shut off heat and used surveillance faced roughly $100,000 in total awards, including $60,000 for injury to dignity.

Only a bailiff or sheriff removes a tenant, and only with a court-enforceable order.

Alberta

Two options for filing. The Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS) is the tribunal built for this. The Alberta Court of Justice hears the same matters with a full court record and a slower schedule. Both carry a $100,000 monetary limit.

Filing fees changed on April 1, 2026: the old flat $75 became tiered — $75 for claims of $7,500 or less, $150 above $7,500, and $100 for a counterclaim over $7,500 where an application between the same parties is already active. Fee waivers exist on three months of income documentation.

Documents go to the tenant at least three clear days before the hearing.

RTDRS orders termination of the tenancy, recovery of possession, rent arrears, damages, recovery of the security deposit, rent abatement, and compensation for overholding. It does not order specific performance, injunctions against future conduct, or defamation damages.

After the possession date on the order passes, a civil enforcement agency bailiff carries out the removal — not you, and not the police. Bailiffs are private agencies operating under the Civil Enforcement Act. Timelines vary with volume and the province does not publish them by application type. Budget for weeks, not days, and longer if the matter goes to court instead of the tribunal.

British Columbia

Two routes to an order of possession. Direct request is a documents-only process with no hearing, available where the tenant did not dispute the notice within their deadline, and for unpaid rent — this is the fast lane, and it is the reason the dispute deadlines matter so much. A participatory hearing by telephone is required where the tenant disputes. The RTB deliberately does not publish wait times, saying they change with volume — expedited hearings target 12 days, and six days in urgent cases.

After the order, serve it, then wait two days for the review-consideration window to close.

If the tenant stays, the RTB order alone is not enough — you apply to the BC Supreme Court for a Writ of Possession, then hire a court bailiff from the Attorney General's registry. This step surprises people, and it adds both cost and weeks.

Ontario

Filing fees: L1, L2, L3, L9 and L10 cost $186 through the Tribunals Ontario Portal, or $201 filed any other way. L4 is free on the portal. L5 for an above-guideline increase costs $233 for the first ten units plus $10 per unit, capped at $1,000.

The LTB does not publish official wait times by application type. The active caseload was 41,465 at March 31, 2025, down about 26% from the December 2023 peak. Practitioner estimates for 2026 put L1 applications at roughly four to six months to hearing and L2 applications at roughly six to nine months — treat those as estimates and plan for the longer end.

Hearings default to electronic, by video or phone. In-person, written and hybrid formats are available on request.

Section 83 is the part landlords underestimate. At every eviction hearing the Board must consider all the circumstances and decide whether to refuse or delay eviction, whether or not the tenant raises it. Refusal is mandatory where you are in serious breach of your own obligations, where the application is retaliatory, or where N12 or N13 compensation was not paid. Otherwise the Board has broad discretion to delay or attach conditions. Retaliation is defined widely — a tenant who complained to a municipal inspector, asserted a right under the Act, or joined a tenants' association is protected.

After the order: since July 1, 2026 you have 15 days to request a review, down from 30. An appeal to Divisional Court runs 30 days and is limited to questions of law. Enforcement runs through the Court Enforcement Office, the Sheriff, at roughly $318 to $333 plus mileage, typically scheduled one to six weeks out.

What decides these hearings

Adjudicators in all three provinces decide on the record in front of them. The landlords who lose are rarely wrong on the law — they are missing paper.

• Dated, timestamped communication — a repair request logged with a date beats a recollection of a phone call. Text message screenshots without dates are close to worthless.
• A ledger showing what was charged and what was paid — arrears claims fall apart on arithmetic more often than on law.
• Proof of service — a valid notice you cannot prove you served is a notice you did not serve.
• Photographs with dates — damage claims need before and after, not only after.
• Compensation receipts — in Ontario, unpaid N12 compensation ends the application on the spot.

The realistic planning number

For a straightforward non-payment matter where the tenant does not dispute, expect several weeks in Alberta and BC and several months in Ontario, from the day you serve to the day the unit is empty. Add substantially where the tenant disputes, where a hearing gets adjourned, or where enforcement queues.

Build the timeline into your cash flow the day you serve the notice — the lost rent during the process is usually larger than the arrears behind it.

LuxOasisOS timestamps every maintenance request, message and payment per unit, so the evidence package for a hearing is already assembled instead of reconstructed.