LTB evidence submission: videos, photos and large files

Every landlord has the video. The hallway full of smoke. The hole in the drywall. The 2 a.m. party that rattled the building's windows, filmed on a phone from the unit below. You know it proves your point. The question is whether the Member at your Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) hearing ever gets to watch it.

That depends less on what the video shows and more on how it travelled. A clip can arrive inside one giant ZIP file, in a format the LTB does not accept, uploaded but never given to the tenant, or sent the night before the hearing. Any of those can turn it into a very expensive home movie. This guide is about the plumbing: how to get videos, photos, audio and other digital files to the LTB and to the tenant in a form the Member can use, on time.

We have already written about what belongs in your LTB hearing evidence file: the chronology, the rent ledger, the notice and the index. Read that one for the contents. This one is about the delivery, especially the digital files that do not fit neatly on a printed page.

The two documents that govern digital evidence

Two official sources set the rules, and both were updated in September 2026.

• The LTB Rules of Procedure, Rule 19. This sets the deadlines and says how evidence must reach the other side.
• The LTB's Practice Direction on Evidence. This sets the technical requirements: formats, file sizes, the table of contents, and what to do when a file is too big.

The Practice Direction is clear that evidence includes "electronic items such as audio or video recordings, pictures stored in electronic format, emails, text messages, or social media posts." So your doorbell camera clip is evidence in the same way a signed lease is. It is also clear about the price of ignoring the requirements: materials that do not follow the Practice Direction or the Rules "may not be considered at your hearing."

One more point before the mechanics. Sending something to the LTB does not make it evidence. The Practice Direction says it is up to the Member hearing the application to decide whether to accept each item, and lists reasons a Member may refuse one, including that it is not relevant, is unduly repetitious, or was not provided by the deadline. Good delivery gets your video into the room. It does not guarantee the Member will rely on it.

Upload each item as its own file

The tempting move, when you have thirty photos and six videos, is to drag them all into one folder, compress it, and upload a single ZIP file. It feels tidy. It is not.

Start with the format list. The Practice Direction says files uploaded to the Tribunals Ontario Portal must be in one of these formats: AVI, DOC, DOCX, GIF, JPEG, JPG, MP3, MP4, MSG, PDF, PNG, TIF, TXT, XLS, XLSX, CSV, DAT or MOV. ZIP is not on the list. Neither is RAR or 7Z. The Practice Direction adds that files that do not meet the requirements "may not be accepted by the LTB and may be returned to the sender or disposed of." That is not a risk worth taking with the clip that carries your case.

Even apart from the format list, one file per item is simply easier for everyone. Think about the hearing itself. The Member asks, "Which video shows the damage to the bathroom door?" If your answer is "it is somewhere in the ZIP," you have already lost the room. If your answer is "Item 6, the file named 06 Bathroom door damage, March 3," the Member can open it in seconds, and so can the tenant.

Our practice is simple:

1. One item, one file. Each video, each photo set, each document is uploaded separately.
2. Number the file names to match your table of contents. Start each name with its item number, then a short plain description and a date. "07 Kitchen ceiling leak, Jan 12" beats "IMG_4471.MOV" every time.
3. Group photos that belong together. Twelve photos of the same damaged room can sit in one PDF, one photo per page, with each page numbered. Twelve unrelated photos should not.
4. Upload each file once. The Practice Direction says each document and attachment should only be filed once, and parties should not submit the same item more than once or in different formats unless the LTB directs it.

That last point catches careful people. Uploading the same video as an MP4 and again as a MOV "just in case" is the kind of caution the LTB has asked parties not to show.

Build a table of contents that names every file

The Practice Direction says everything you provide as evidence must be readable, have consecutively numbered pages, and "include a list or table of contents identifying each item in order, and by page number, if more than one item is being submitted."

For paper, that is straightforward. For video and audio, there are no pages, so make the table of contents do the work. For each digital item, list:

• the item number, matching the start of the file name;
• the exact file name as uploaded;
• what it shows, in one plain sentence;
• the date and approximate time it was recorded;
• its length, for video and audio;
• if only part of it matters, the time stamp where the relevant part starts ("relevant portion: 0:42 to 1:15"); and
• if you trimmed it, say so, and give the start and end time of the clip within the original recording.

That last line is a kindness to the Member and a favour to yourself. A 40-minute security camera recording where the important event lasts 20 seconds is a burden. Where you can, trim the clip to the relevant part and keep the full original safely stored, and be ready to provide it if the tenant or the Member asks. The Practice Direction also says the LTB may refuse to accept materials that are "unduly lengthy or repetitive," so trimming is not just good manners.

The table of contents is itself a document. Upload it as its own file, as item 1 or as an unnumbered cover document, and give the tenant a copy with everything else.

Formats from phones and cameras: what to check before you upload

Here is where real life meets the format list. Modern phones and cameras do not always save files in the formats the Practice Direction names. A few common examples to check on your own devices:

• Photos from phones. Some phones save photos in HEIC format, which is not on the Portal's list. JPG, JPEG and PNG are. Most phones let you export or share a photo as a JPG, and most computers can convert one.
• Voice memos and call recordings. Phone voice recorders often save audio as M4A files. The Portal list includes MP3, not M4A, so convert before you upload.
• Security and doorbell cameras. Some systems export in their own formats. Use the system's export option to save an MP4 or MOV copy, and check that it plays on an ordinary computer before you rely on it.
• Text messages and chats. Screenshots saved as JPG or PNG work, but a long conversation is usually easier to follow as a single PDF of screenshots in date order, with page numbers.
• Social media posts and web pages. The Practice Direction says the LTB will not access, review or admit into evidence material reached through links to social media or other external websites. If a tenant's online listing or post matters, save it as a screenshot or PDF and file that.

Whatever you convert, keep the original file untouched. If the tenant later questions whether a clip was altered, you want to be able to say exactly where it came from, when it was recorded and how the copy was made.

Size limits: the Portal, email and very large files

The Practice Direction sets different limits depending on how you file.

For L1, L2, L3, L4, L9 and L10 applications, the ones landlords file, the Practice Direction says evidence should be uploaded directly into the Portal. You log in, choose the file number, select "Documents, Evidence and Requests" and pick "Submissions" from the dropdown menu. If the LTB gave you a PIN for the Portal, you should use the Portal. Email and mail are for parties who cannot access it.

A 500 MB limit sounds generous until you meet a long video shot in high resolution. If a single file is too big, you have three honest options:

1. Trim it. Cut the clip to the part that matters. This is usually the best answer anyway.
2. Split it. Break a long recording into parts, name them "09a," "09b" and so on, and list each part in the table of contents.
3. Ask the LTB for another route. The Practice Direction says that if you cannot upload or email a file because of its size, you may ask the LTB for permission to send it through the Ontario Sensitive Content Management (SCM) system. Email the request to the LTB address shown on your Notice of Hearing. If the LTB grants it, you will get instructions by email.

What you cannot do is send a link. The Practice Direction says evidence cannot be sent to the LTB using cloud-based delivery platforms such as iCloud or Dropbox. A shared folder link is not a filing.

If none of the electronic routes work, the Practice Direction allows you to mail evidence to the LTB or file it in person at a ServiceOntario location that accepts LTB documents. Electronic evidence sent that way should be on a USB stick, in one of the accepted formats. The LTB keeps the stick, so never send your only copy.

Uploading is not serving: getting it to the tenant

This is the mistake that undoes more careful preparation than any other, and it is the one that matters most for large files.

Rule 19.1 says every party must give the other parties and the LTB a copy of all the documents, pictures and other evidence they intend to rely on, at least 7 days before the hearing (or the case management hearing). It also says the evidence must reach the other parties by a method of service in the Residential Tenancies Act or Rule 3. Then Rule 19.1.1 closes the obvious shortcut. Uploading evidence to the Portal "is not a permitted method of providing evidence to a party, other than to the LTB," unless that party has consented in writing to accept service through the Portal, and the written consent has been uploaded to the Portal.

So if your video is too large to email to the tenant, telling the tenant "it is on the Portal" is not enough on its own. It counts as service only if the tenant has signed a written consent to disclosure through the Portal and that consent is uploaded. Without it, you still have to serve the tenant another way.

Your options for serving the tenant with digital evidence:

• Portal, with written consent. The LTB publishes a one-page Consent to Disclosure through Tribunals Ontario Portal form. By signing it, the landlord and tenant agree to give each other all documents, evidence and submissions for that file number by uploading them to the Portal. The form says each tenant must sign a separate form if there is more than one, and that either side can later withdraw in writing. Upload the signed form under "Documents, Evidence and Requests," using the "Consent to Disclosure through TOP" option. Under Rule 3.9, a document served this way is considered served on the day it was uploaded.
• Email, with written consent. Rule 3.1 allows service by email if the person receiving it has consented in writing to service by email. Our resource page on the Consent to Service by Email explains that form. Email still has practical limits: a large video may simply bounce.
• A USB stick, by hand or by mail. The Practice Direction says electronic evidence that is not emailed should be given to the other party on a USB stick, in one of the accepted formats, unless the parties agree on another method or format. You can hand it to the tenant, or use another Rule 3 method such as mail or courier.

The Practice Direction also encourages parties to talk about how they will exchange evidence, so it arrives on time and in a format everyone can open. A short, polite message to the tenant asking whether they will sign the Portal consent, or would prefer a USB stick, costs nothing and often saves a fight at the hearing about whether the evidence was ever received.

The 7-day deadline, counted properly

The Practice Direction repeats Rule 19: all parties must provide a complete copy of the materials they intend to rely on at least 7 days before the hearing, or 5 days for responding materials, unless the LTB orders or directs otherwise. Responding materials are evidence that answers an issue raised by the other side's disclosure. Our evidence file checklist covers the 7-day and 5-day rules in full; this section is about counting them.

Three details decide whether your evidence is on time:

• The days are calendar days. Rule 1.12 says that where a Rule refers to a number of days, it means calendar days, and Rule 1.13 says you count by excluding the first day and including the last. The LTB's application and hearing process page says "7 business days" in one place and "7 days" in another. The Rules control, but if you plan to the earlier of the two readings, the difference can never hurt you.
• Service has a deemed date. Rule 3.9 sets when a document is considered served. By mail, it is the fifth day after mailing. By courier, the day after it was given to the courier, or if that day is a holiday, the next day that is not a holiday. By email, the day it was sent. By hand, the day it was handed over. By Portal upload with consent, the day it was uploaded. A USB stick you put in the mail five days before your deadline is cutting it very fine. Mail it well before that.
• Both deliveries count. Rule 19.1 requires the evidence to be provided to both the LTB and the tenant by the deadline, counting each from its deemed service date. Uploading on time but couriering the tenant's copy late is still late.

What happens if you miss it? Rule 19.7 says a party who does not comply with Rule 19 "may not rely on the evidence that was not disclosed as directed or ordered, unless otherwise ordered." The Practice Direction adds that the Member decides whether to accept late evidence and may consider how late it was, why the deadline was missed and whether the other party would be prejudiced. That is discretion, not a promise. Treat the deadline as real.

Playing a video at a virtual hearing

Most LTB hearings are held by videoconference on Zoom, according to the LTB's application and hearing process page. Participants can also join by telephone. That matters for video evidence.

The Practice Direction puts the job of playing a recording squarely on you. A party relying on an audio or video recording must be able to play it during the hearing in a way that lets all the participants and the Member hear or view it. It also says the LTB will not provide any hardware or software needed to play a recording.

In practice, that means:

• Test screen sharing with sound in Zoom before the hearing day, on the device you will actually use.
• Have each clip open and ready, cued to the relevant time stamp, so you are not scrolling through a camera roll while the Member waits.
• Have a backup plan if a participant is on the phone and cannot see the screen, such as being ready to describe what the clip shows, or the tenant confirming they have watched the copy you served.
• Keep it short. A Member who has to watch twenty minutes of an empty hallway is not having a good afternoon, and neither is your case.

A worked example (hypothetical)

Daniel owns a fourplex in Oshawa. He has filed an L2 based on an N5 for repeated noise and damage to a shared laundry room. His evidence includes a written incident log, eleven photos of the laundry room, two doorbell camera clips, a 38-minute recording from the building's hallway camera, and a voice memo a neighbouring tenant sent him.

His first instinct is to put everything into one ZIP file and upload it. Instead, he sorts it:

• Item 1: the table of contents, as a PDF.
• Item 2: the incident log, as a PDF with numbered pages.
• Item 3: the eleven laundry room photos, converted from HEIC to JPG and placed in one PDF, one photo per page, each with its date.
• Items 4 and 5: the two doorbell clips, exported as MP4, each uploaded separately.
• Item 6: the hallway recording, trimmed to the four minutes that matter, exported as MP4. He keeps the full 38-minute original stored safely.
• Item 7: the voice memo, converted from M4A to MP3.

He asks the tenant by letter whether they will sign the Consent to Disclosure through the Portal. The tenant does not reply. So Daniel uploads the seven files to the Portal, then hands a USB stick with the same seven files to the tenant at the unit well before the 7-day deadline, keeping a note of the date, the time and the contents. At the hearing he shares his screen, opens item 6 at the cued point, and the Member watches four minutes instead of thirty-eight.

Nothing in that example guarantees a result. The tenant can still dispute what the video shows, and the Member still decides what weight to give it. What Daniel has done is remove every procedural reason for the Member not to look at it.

A quick checklist before you press upload

• Every item is its own file, with no ZIP folders.
• Every file is in a format on the Practice Direction's list for the route you are using.
• File names start with an item number and describe the content in plain words.
• The table of contents lists every item, its file name, what it shows, its date and, for recordings, its length and relevant time stamps.
• Documents have consecutively numbered pages.
• Nothing is uploaded twice, and nothing relies on a web link.
• Files over 500 MB have been trimmed, split, or cleared with the LTB for SCM.
• The tenant is served by a permitted method, not just the Portal, unless a signed consent is uploaded.
• Both the LTB and the tenant have everything at least 7 days before the hearing, counting the deemed service date.
• You have tested playing each video, with sound, over Zoom.

If you are earlier in the story and still gathering material, our article on keeping a repair log shows how good records start long before anyone files anything. And if your evidence is about a tenant's conduct, our guide to the N5 notice for interference, damage and overcrowding explains what that evidence has to prove.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to use the LTB's Portal consent form?

No. The Consent to Disclosure through Tribunals Ontario Portal form says the consent must be in writing, "although you do not have to use this form." Whatever you use, Rule 19.1.1 requires the written consent to be uploaded to the Portal before a Portal upload counts as providing evidence to the tenant. The form is simply the easiest way to get the wording right.

What if the tenant withdraws their Portal consent?

The consent form says either person may later tell the other, in writing, that they want to stop receiving documents in the Portal. From that point, serve the tenant by another method under Rule 3. The form also says each person is responsible for checking the Portal to see whether documents have been uploaded, and while the consent stands, Rule 3.9 treats a document as served on the day it is uploaded.

Can I upload evidence for two applications at once?

Usually not. The Practice Direction says communications and materials relating to more than one application cannot be submitted together, and each application's materials must be filed separately. The exceptions are combined applications filed at the same time, such as an L1 and L2, and applications the LTB has ordered to be heard together.

My evidence email to the LTB will not send. What now?

This applies only if you cannot use the Portal. The Practice Direction says files larger than 35 MB should be broken into smaller attachments where possible, sent as separate, consecutively numbered emails ("1 of 3," "2 of 3"). It also notes that a failed send may be caused by your own email provider's limits. If the file is still too large, ask the LTB for permission to use the Ontario Sensitive Content Management system.

Do I need a Certificate of Service for my evidence?

Rule 3.8 says a Certificate of Service must be filed within 5 days of service where the Rules require it or the LTB directs it. Rule 19 does not itself require one for evidence. Even so, keep your own record of when, how and to whom you served each item, and what it contained. Our page on the Certificate of Service explains the form.

Does the LTB send my evidence to the tenant?

No. Usually the LTB serves the application and Notice of Hearing, unless it orders you to serve them. Rule 5.1 is plain that it "will not serve evidence that the parties intend to rely upon at the hearing." Getting your evidence to the tenant is your job.

When to get help

Digital evidence is often the strongest part of a landlord's file and the easiest part to lose on a technicality. If your hearing is coming up and you are not sure your files are in the right shape, or in the tenant's hands the right way, that is a good time to talk to us. Our LTB hearing representation page explains how we prepare and present a landlord's case, and you can contact us to discuss your file.

This article is general information about Ontario residential tenancy procedure for landlords and is not legal advice about your matter.