Buyer's Guide

Bidding Wars in Montreal: How They Work

By Georges Matar · June 13, 2026 · 7 min read

In Quebec, what people call a bidding war has a more precise name on the forms: a multiple promise to purchase situation. The difference is not cosmetic. There is no auction, no leaderboard, no price to beat announced out loud. There are written rules, a mandatory form, and a seller who decides alone at the end.

The 2026 market is not the 2021 market

According to the QPAREB (APCIQ), 2,853 residential sales closed in the Montreal CMA in August 2026, down 13% year over year, with 20,128 active listings, up 18% (press release of September 4, 2026). The association still notes that the single-family segment remains in sellers’ favour in most sectors of the CMA. Its median price in the CMA was $650,000, up 3%, with an average selling time of 42 days.

So overbidding still happens. It just is not automatic any more.

What the listing broker must do

The seller’s broker must present his client with any transaction proposal as soon as possible after receiving it. That is section 102 of the Regulation respecting brokerage requirements, professional conduct of brokers and advertising. Section 101 forbids him from unduly delaying the presentation of a proposal obtained by another licensee. The OACIQ adds that promises are presented without regard to the chronological order in which they were received, the identity of the buyers or their brokers, or the circumstances surrounding their submission.

Here is the counter-intuitive part: the strategy of collecting every promise to purchase at one set date and time is, according to the OACIQ, contrary to that obligation. If you are handed a deadline, ask why it exists.

What he may say, and what he may not

Section 96 of the same regulation is the decisive one: the broker must disclose to a collaborating broker the existence of any transaction proposal, accepted or not, but he may not disclose its content.

So you will learn that other promises exist, and how many. You will not learn their price or their conditions. That confidentiality applies to every buyer, including one who is not represented: the seller’s broker cannot advise him on the amount to write. In the brief it filed with the Ministère des Finances on September 8, 2021, the OACIQ states that confidentiality is a privilege that belongs to the buyer, and that only the buyer can release his broker from it.

The seller never has to take the highest offer

The seller has the right to refuse a promise to purchase even when the price and conditions match his expectations, as his brokerage contract provides. His broker may then claim remuneration for his services under clause 7.1.2 of that contract. The broker also may not reduce that remuneration to help one offer along: it would favour one promising buyer over the others.

The seller may accept, refuse, or counter. Clause 14.1 of the Promise to purchase form leaves no room: any counter-proposal by the seller has the same effect as a refusal, and no reply within the deadline makes the promise null. Price is therefore one variable among several. The closing date, the deposit, the conditions you keep and the deadlines all weigh in.

Improving your offer: the right tool

Once signed, your promise cannot be edited. To improve it before it is accepted, refused or expired, your broker fills out the mandatory Enhancements prior to acceptance form. It is not a counter-proposal. The OACIQ advises against stacking several of them, because a new enhancement does not cancel the previous ones. And above all, this line from its professional practices guide: not enhancing the promise to purchase must always be one of the options presented to the buyer.

The price revision clause, better known as the escalation clause

The idea circulates: a clause that would automatically beat the best offer by a few thousand dollars, up to a ceiling.

Having checked, the OACIQ publishes no form and no model clause of that kind. Among its roughly fifty forms, only two move a price: the Counter-proposal and the Enhancements prior to acceptance. An escalation clause would therefore have to be typed by hand into clause 12.1, Other declarations and conditions.

That is where section 96 empties it of meaning. The trigger would be the content of a competing promise, content nobody is allowed to show you. You would be committing to a price set by a document you will never see. It is not a clever tactic. It is a blank cheque.

The asking price is not the market value

The asking price is a marketing decision. Market value is an analysis. Under section 76 of the regulation, a broker may express an opinion on the value of an immovable only if it is based on and supported by generally accepted practice. In residential, the usual method is the comparative market analysis.

The OACIQ is just as explicit about the other end of the problem: setting a price significantly below market value and below the comparables used, in order to create competition, is not allowed. It is written on its page for sellers, updated December 17, 2025.

The lender’s appraisal can break the deal

Your lender does not finance a price, it finances a value. CMHC defines lending value as the lowest of the following: the property’s market value, its purchase price, or its construction cost. If your overbid exceeds the value retained, you cover the gap in cash, on top of your down payment.

The OACIQ also specifies that a loan undertaking subject to lender conditions, such as a prior appraisal of the property that could affect the loan, is not the unconditional undertaking required by clause 6.2 of the promise to purchase. A mortgage pre-approval is not one either. Without that undertaking on time, clause 6.3 lets the seller designate a lender to you, or render the promise null.

The conditions people are tempted to drop

Section 8 of the Promise to purchase form carries a warning in capitals: a promise without an inspection clause is appropriate only in particular circumstances, for instance when the building is to be replaced or heavily renovated. A buyer who waives it initials a statement acknowledging that his broker informed him of the risks.

Section 81 requires the broker to recommend a complete inspection by an insured professional or building inspector who follows a recognized practice standard and delivers a written report. In its September 2021 brief, the OACIQ noted that waivers of the pre-purchase inspection had increased greatly during the overheating period, and proposed making the inspection mandatory through a Civil Code reform.

Before you waive it, read what an inspection costs and when to do it and prepare your showing with this checklist.

What you can require of your own broker

Since June 10, 2022, double representation is prohibited in residential and verbal brokerage contracts are worthless: to be represented, you sign a brokerage contract to purchase. It gives you specific rights. Section 5 requires your broker to verify the information he gives you and to always be able to demonstrate its accuracy. Section 84 requires him to take steps to discover the factors that could adversely affect you. And the OACIQ sums up the assignment: the buyer’s broker must help his client set the price to offer by presenting him with an analysis of comparable properties.

Ask for it in writing, with the sales retained, the adjustments applied and the date of the data. A ceiling built that way holds, even at 11 p.m., even when you are told there are six other promises. And if yours is refused, the next two weeks decide the rest: how not to overpay next time.

Have a specific property in mind and want a defensible ceiling? Write me and we build the comparative analysis before the first number goes on paper.