Commercial Holdover in Ontario: Two Different “Double” Penalties, Two Different Triggers
When a commercial tenant stays past the term, there is no automatic month-to-month and no LTB. Ontario gives landlords two statutory “double” penalties with different triggers — plus a court route to actually get the space back.
A commercial tenant is holding over after the lease ended — which “double” penalty applies, and how do I get them out?
Commercial holdover in Ontario is not a Landlord and Tenant Board matter, and nothing renews automatically. Commercial leases run on the Commercial Tenancies Act (CTA, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.7), which by s.2 does not apply to anything the Residential Tenancies Act covers. The CTA carries two separate “double” penalties, and they do not trigger the same way. s.58 imposes double the yearly value — but only after the landlord gives written notice to deliver up possession and the tenant wilfully holds over. s.59 imposes double the rent, and it is triggered by the tenant’s own notice to quit, with no landlord notice required. To recover the premises you apply to the Superior Court on affidavit for a writ of possession under Part III.
Sources: Commercial Tenancies Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.7, ss.2, 58, 59, 74–78 (e-Laws current version, consolidation period from 2022-12-08); compare Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, s.38. Verified 2026-08-17.
I am Arthur Zhao. Picture a small retail unit: the five-year lease ended on the 31st, the tenant is still trading on the 1st, and the landlord’s first instinct is the one carried over from residential renting — “I’ll take them to the LTB.” That instinct is wrong twice over. The Landlord and Tenant Board has no jurisdiction here, and nothing rolled the lease into a tidy month-to-month.
Commercial holdover lives in a different, older statute plus a layer of common law. The question I hear next is almost always the same — “so can I just charge them double?” — and it is already the wrong question, because the statute hands landlords not one “double” but two, sitting side by side with completely different triggers. One turns on a written demand for possession the landlord has to serve first; the other turns on a notice the tenant served on themselves. Skip the written step and the heavier penalty is simply unavailable. This piece separates the two, then walks the court route to getting the keys back.
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🚨This is a real-estate practitioner’s explainer, not legal advice. Commercial holdover carries real consequences — double penalties, a writ of possession, litigation costs — so before you act, get an Ontario lawyer to read your lease and apply the exact wording to your facts.
Start here: this is not an LTB problem
Ontario splits tenancy law cleanly in two. Residential tenancies run on the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and are decided at the Landlord and Tenant Board. Commercial tenancies run on the Commercial Tenancies Act (CTA), and s.2 says in plain words that the Act does not apply to tenancies the RTA covers. The two regimes do not overlap.
Practically, the fast administrative tribunal you may know from residential renting simply is not available. The Ontario government itself notes it does not get involved in commercial landlord-tenant disputes: claims up to $50,000 go to Small Claims Court, larger ones to the Superior Court of Justice. Every tool you have comes from the CTA and the common law — not from the residential playbook.
Residential vs commercial: what happens when the term ends
The two “doubles” are not the same clause
⚠️s.58 has a prerequisite landlords keep missing: you must first give notice in writing to deliver up possession. A phone call or a text will not do it. Without that written demand, even an obvious holdover will not support the double-yearly-value penalty — so keep proof of what you served and when.
The penalty is money — getting the keys back is Part III
A double penalty is leverage, but it does not remove the tenant. To recover possession you use the summary process in Part III of the CTA — a purpose-built track, not an ordinary lawsuit. Here is the skeleton:
Apply to a Superior Court judge on affidavit
The judge sets a hearing; the tenant gets at least 3 days’ notice
The judge issues a writ of possession (Form 3)
💡 My own take: the single most common way a commercial landlord damages their own case during holdover is by continuing to accept rent. It feels like limiting the loss, but at common law it can be read as consenting to a new tenancy — which undercuts the wilful overholding that s.58 depends on. If you need to collect for the tenant’s use and occupation, have a lawyer label it and paper it correctly first.
Why “just keep collecting rent” can backfire
After a commercial term ends, if the landlord accepts money from a holdover tenant, the common law may treat it as evidence of a new tenancy — commonly a monthly periodic tenancy, and in some cases, where the lease wording is unhelpful, even a yearly tenancy requiring a full year’s notice to end. Accepting rent can also be read as the landlord consenting to the overholding; once consent is found, the tenant is no longer holding wilfully, and the s.58 element falls away.
This is the most fact-sensitive layer in the whole topic. Whether a holdover becomes a tenancy at sufferance, at will, or a periodic tenancy turns on the exact conduct and the lease language, and the case law is not something to summarise from memory. Do not assume you can pocket several months of rent and still claim the double penalty — that is precisely the question to put to a lawyer before you act.
For commercial tenants: overholding is not a free buffer
If you are the tenant, do not treat holding over as a costless grace period. Once the landlord serves a written demand for possession and you wilfully stay, you are exposed in principle to the double yearly value under s.58; if you gave your own notice to quit and then failed to leave, the double rent under s.59 is in play. Add the landlord’s legal costs of a Part III application and the bill dwarfs the cost of negotiating a short bridge. If you need more time, the safe move is a written holdover arrangement with an agreed rent — not silent occupation.
- Commercial Tenancies Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.7 — ss.2, 58, 59, 74–78 (e-Laws current version)
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17 — s.38 deemed monthly renewal (for contrast)
- Government of Ontario — Renting commercial property in Ontario (no LTB, Small Claims $50,000 threshold, one month notice)
When a Commercial Tenant Stops Paying: A Landlord’s Distress and Re-Entry Remedies in Ontario →Buy or Lease Your Business Premises? Commercial Condo vs Leasing →Personal Guarantee & Indemnity: A Small-Business Tenant’s Biggest Risk →First-Time Renter Guide →
Frequently Asked Questions
My commercial lease ended and the tenant will not leave — can I go to the LTB?
No. The Landlord and Tenant Board only handles residential tenancies under the RTA. Commercial tenancies are governed by the Commercial Tenancies Act, and s.2 excludes anything the RTA covers. Your route is the courts: Small Claims Court up to $50,000, the Superior Court of Justice above that. Ontario’s government does not involve itself in commercial disputes (Source: ontario.ca; CTA s.2).
Does a commercial lease automatically become month-to-month when it ends?
No. That auto-renewal is a residential feature — RTA s.38 deems an expired fixed term to continue monthly. The CTA has no equivalent. When a commercial term ends you enter common-law overholding, and whether it becomes a tenancy at sufferance, at will, or a new periodic tenancy depends on what the parties do next — especially whether the landlord keeps accepting rent (Source: CTA; RTA s.38 for contrast).
Is the s.58 “double” twice the monthly rent or twice the annual rent?
The statute says “double the yearly value” of the land, apportioned for the period held over — not simply twice the monthly rent. Many summaries approximate it as “double the rent,” but strictly the s.58 base is the land’s yearly value, and the actual figure is usually something a court determines. That is why you want a lawyer to run it against the case law (Source: CTA s.58; I could not locate first-hand case law quantifying “yearly value” — see the note at the end).
Can I just change the locks and put the tenant out myself?
Self-help is high-risk and not advisable. The CTA gives a formal route: apply to the Superior Court on affidavit, and after the hearing the Sheriff enforces a writ of possession (ss.74, 76). Changing the locks yourself can invite counterclaims for wrongful re-entry or for the tenant’s lost or damaged property — the time you save rarely covers the exposure. Talk to a lawyer first (Source: CTA ss.74–76; this is not legal advice).
My lease sets holdover rent at 150% of base rent — do s.58 and s.59 still matter?
They come from different places: the 150% (practitioners often negotiate 115%–150%) is a contractual holdover rent, while s.58 and s.59 are statutory penalties. Whether a contractual holdover clause can be claimed on top of the statutory double turns on the lease wording and the facts, and I could not find a source that settles it — so this is exactly what a lawyer should assess against your specific lease (Source: holdover-rate ranges from law-firm commentary, OFF-WHITELIST; stacking with the statutory penalty is unsettled).
Arthur Zhao
Real Estate Broker · FRI · ABR · SRS · PSA · MCNE · E-PRO · CLHMS & GUILD Elite · REAIS
VP & Branch Manager, Bay Street Group Inc.
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