Québec lease for rental properties

Once you have chosen a place to live, you must sign a lease. This is an important formality, as the lease constitutes a contract that determines the landlord and tenant’s respective responsibilities and commitments.

Before signing a lease, read the entire document carefully. Make sure that all of the conditions discussed with the landlord are contained in the lease, particularly any repairs the landlord agreed to do and the date on which they are to be done.

It is also important to make sure that the dwelling indicated in the lease is in fact the one you visited and agreed to rent.

It may happen, after visiting a dwelling and expressing interest in renting it, that the landlord will ask you to fill out a form in which you provide information necessary for the landlord to check your tenant record (behaviour in a previous dwelling, capacity to pay the rent). This document is an “offer to lease”. It often contains a clause giving the landlord a few days to verify your credentials before accepting you as a tenant.

Given that the landlord’s consent leads to the signing of a lease, it is very important not to sign several “offers to lease” at a time and wait for an answer before embarking on another process with another landlord. This way, you will avoid being bound by more than one lease.

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	Verbal agreement In the case of a verbal agreement, you have the right to demand written confirmation of this agreement. If the landlord does not wish to use the official form issued by the Régie du logement, he or she must submit to the tenant, within 10 days following the date of the agreement, a document containing the following information: the landlord’s name and address your name the rental amount the exact address of the dwelling you have rented the obligatory annotations required by law.

When the landlord uses the official form issued by the Régie du logement, it must be completed in French, unless the parties agree to do otherwise. It must indicate:

• the landlord’s name, address and telephone number
• the exact address of the dwelling (number, street, apartment number) as well as its description
• the date on which you will take possession of the rental premises
• the duration of the rental period, which may be fixed (6 months, 12 months) or indeterminate (date rental period starts, no termination date)
• the amount of rent to be paid by the tenant on the first day of each term (month, week)
• the services and accessories included in the rental amount: heating, hot water, water heater rental, gas, etc.
• if the municipal taxes for water, garbage collection, recycling, etc. are the responsibility of the tenant
• the lowest rent paid in the 12 months preceding the beginning of the lease
• the landlord and tenant’s respective commitments, most of which are determined by law

The landlord must provide the tenant with a copy of the lease within 10 days following its signature. The lease must also indicate if the dwelling is located in a new building or one recently converted into housing, since the Régie de logement cannot determine the rental amount for the first five years in these cases.

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	Under the Civil Code of Québec, the landlord cannot, notably, refuse a dwelling to an individual or impose costlier conditions solely because the tenant is pregnant or has one or several children, unless the refusal is justified on the basis of the size of the dwelling. The Québec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms also stipulates that it is forbidden to refuse access to a dwelling for discriminatory reasons based on race, colour, sex, pregnancy, religion, ethnic or national origin, social status, etc. If you have reason to believe that you have been refused a dwelling due to discrimination, contact the Régie du logement du Québec, or the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse du Québec.

Useful links

• Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse du Québec
• Québec Portal - Guide Vivre en logement
• Régie du logement du Québec
  • Information leaflets
  • Obligations and rights
  • The lease