Common situations
- Unpaid rent or additional rent, and the landlord’s response
- Lockouts and disputes over the landlord’s right to re-enter
- Distress (seizure of the tenant’s goods for rent)
- A tenant leaving before the end of the term, or going bankrupt
- Disputes over operating costs, repairs and the use of the premises
- Assignment or subletting without the landlord’s consent
- Claims against personal guarantors and indemnifiers
- Urgent motions to restore or prevent possession
How these disputes work
Commercial leases in Ontario are governed mainly by their own terms, by the general law of contract, and by the Commercial Tenancies Act. Residential tenancy rules and the Landlord and Tenant Board do not apply. Two points come up often:
- Remedies can be inconsistent with each other. A landlord may have to choose between treating the lease as continuing and ending it, and the choice affects what can be claimed later.
- Self-help has rules. Re-entry and distress are available only in defined circumstances and must be carried out properly.
Urgent relief
When a lockout, a threatened termination or the removal of goods would cause harm that money cannot repair, either side can ask the court for an urgent injunction. The court considers whether there is a serious issue to be tried, whether irreparable harm would result, and the balance of convenience. The party asking usually must undertake to pay damages if the order proves unjustified.
What happens next
- Read the lease and any amendments, guarantees and default notices.
- Confirm the timeline: what is owed, what notices were given, and what each side has done since the default.
- Choose the remedy carefully, because some steps cannot be undone.
- Act promptly, especially where a business may close or goods may be removed.