· Recovering unpaid rent · 6 min read
Tenant Moved Out Owing Rent? How to Still Get an Order in Canada
Your tenant left without paying. You can usually still get an order, but your deadline started on move-out day. Pick your province for the full step-by-step guide.
Published by StrikeLM
By StrikeLM. Deadlines and tribunal links checked on October 11, 2026, against each province's official tribunal pages. General information, not legal advice.
When a tenant moves out owing rent, most small landlords assume the money's gone. Usually it isn't. In every province, the landlord and tenant tribunal can still order a former tenant to pay, as long as you file in time and can deliver the paperwork to them.
The rules change a lot from province to province, so we've written a full guide for each of the four largest. Start with yours.
Pick your province
- Ontario: [Filing an L10 at the Landlord and Tenant Board](/blog/articles/tenant-moved-out-owing-rent-ontario). Fees, serving a former tenant, the hearing, deposit deductions, and Small Claims enforcement.
- British Columbia: [Getting an RTB monetary order](/blog/articles/tenant-moved-out-owing-rent-bc). The 15-day deposit rule, the conference call hearing, and filing the order in Provincial Court.
- Alberta: [The RTDRS Landlord's Application for Damages](/blog/articles/tenant-moved-out-owing-rent-alberta). The 10-day deposit statement, the phone hearing, and enforcing through the Court of King's Bench.
- Quebec: [Claiming unpaid rent at the TAL](/blog/articles/tenant-moved-out-owing-rent-quebec). Notification, lost rent and the duty to re-rent, and wage seizures without a bailiff.
Why the order is the whole game
Your ledger shows what the tenant owes. An order makes them owe it in a way the law can act on. With an order, you can garnish wages, seize a bank account, register against property, and hand the file to an agency with something real behind it. Order-backed credit reporting also starts there.
A former tenant with no order against them can ignore every letter you send. Once there's an order, ignoring it gets expensive for them.
Why the move-out date matters so much
Every province puts a clock on your claim, and in most of them it starts around the day the tenant left or the tenancy ended. Some provinces also start a much shorter clock for the deposit.
| Province | Deadline to file | Deposit clock |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 1 year after the tenant moved out | Last month's rent deposit is deducted on the order |
| British Columbia | 2 years after the tenancy ends | 15 days after the later of the tenancy ending or getting the forwarding address in writing |
| Alberta | 2 years after you knew or should have known of the loss | 10 days after the tenant gives up possession |
| Quebec | 3 years is the general rule, confirm with the TAL | No deposits allowed |
Write the move-out date down today, with proof: a text, the key return, an inspection report, dated photos. Your provincial guide explains exactly how each deadline is counted.
The hard part is usually the address
Each tribunal needs proof that the former tenant received your application. That means finding where they live now. Check for a forwarding address, then try the email and phone number you have, then a mutual contact.
When there's truly no address, most tribunals have a way to approve another method, and each provincial guide walks through it. Keep a dated log of every attempt. It's what the tribunal will ask for.
Five things to pull together this week
Whatever province you're in, the same core file wins these cases:
- The signed lease
- A dated ledger showing every charge and every payment
- Proof of the day the tenant left
- Photos and invoices for any damage
- The tenant's current address, or a log of how you tried to find it
Your provincial guide adds the forms and extras that tribunal expects.
Collection agencies, in brief
After you have an order, an agency can track the tenant down and handle the calls for a cut of what it recovers. Canadian contingency rates we found published run roughly 20% to 50%. Selling the debt outright pays far less, often pennies on the dollar.
Landlords who've used agencies point out that the agency's screening is useful by itself. Before it takes your file, a decent agency checks whether the tenant can be found and whether they have a job worth garnishing. If it passes on your file, take that as a warning about enforcement in general.
Provinces license agencies and set their own contact rules, so check the licence in your province before you sign anything. Each provincial guide covers its own lookup and rules. For a side-by-side look at the options, see [collection agency vs. credit reporting for unpaid rent](/blog/articles/collection-agency-vs-credit-reporting-unpaid-rent).
Other provinces and territories: call your tribunal
We haven't written full guides for these yet. The deadlines and service rules differ, so call the office this week and ask two questions: how long you have to file against a former tenant, and how to serve someone who has moved.
- Saskatchewan: Office of Residential Tenancies, 1-888-215-2222
- Manitoba: Residential Tenancies Branch
- Nova Scotia: Residential Tenancies Program
- New Brunswick: Tenant and Landlord Relations Office
- Prince Edward Island: Rental Office
- Newfoundland and Labrador: Landlord and Tenant, Digital Government and Service NL
- Yukon: Residential Tenancies Office, 867-667-5944
- Northwest Territories: Rental Office
- Nunavut: Nunavut Rental Office, 1-844-975-6314
What StrikeLM does with your order
StrikeLM works in every province, after the tribunal rules. Hand over the order and either proof of ownership or the lease. Eligible order-backed arrears reach Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada in 24 hours or less. One submission is $99 CAD plus tax, paid once. Without an order, there's nothing to submit.
Equifax and TransUnion decide whether and when the entry appears, and nobody can promise the tenant will pay. StrikeLM isn't a collection agency. Add-ons, if you want them: CollectorPro, $29/mo, and CollectorPro+, $49/mo. If you're still at the hearing stage, read [how to prepare for a rent arrears hearing](/blog/articles/how-to-prepare-for-rent-arrears-hearing), and once you've won, [what to do after a rent arrears order](/blog/articles/what-to-do-after-rent-arrears-order).
Your next step
Open your province's guide above and check your deadline today. If you're already holding an order, StrikeLM sends it to both bureaus for a one-time $99 plus tax.
General information, not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm with your provincial tribunal before you file.