Buying a Cottage in Quebec: Well, Septic and Access

A cottage sells on a photo of the lake. What actually decides the file is not in that photo: the width of the protected shoreline strip, the capacity of the septic tank, the distance between the well and the leaching field, and the name of whoever clears the road in February. Here are the checks, in the order they make buyers walk away.

Buying a cottage in Quebec: the rive decides before you do

The rive, the protected strip along the water, is defined by regulation, not by the seller. The Règlement sur les activités dans des milieux humides, hydriques et sensibles (chapter Q-2, r. 0.2) defines the rive at its article 4 as the part of the land bordering a lake or watercourse, measured horizontally from the edge of the littoral, the bed of the lake or watercourse, inland. It is 10 m where the average slope is under 30%, or where, at 30% and above, the embankment is 5 m high or less. It becomes 15 m where the average slope is 30% or more and continuous, or where the embankment is over 5 m.

Inside that strip, cutting vegetation is prohibited. Article 26 leaves only two openings: the cutting required to carry out another activity, such as building a structure, and a view opening through the tree layer. That opening may not exceed 5 m in width or represent more than 10% of the total length of the rive on the lot, including openings already there. Fill and excavation are prohibited there as well, except where the activity necessarily requires it (article 19).

One detail that people who plan to rent discover late: article 52 prohibits, in a littoral and in a rive, siting a tourist accommodation establishment or converting a building into one.

And the municipality can be stricter. Article 3 of the same regulation sets aside section 118.3.3 of the Loi sur la qualité de l’environnement for a municipality that delimits a rive wider than the widths in article 4. Add the MRC, the regional county municipality: section 103 of the Loi sur les compétences municipales gives it jurisdiction over watercourses with regular or intermittent flow. The MRC des Laurentides, for one, exercises that through an intermunicipal agreement with each municipality.

The lake itself is not yours: article 919 of the Code civil du Québec places the bed of navigable and floatable lakes and watercourses, up to the high water mark, in the domain of the State, and article 920 lets anyone travel on it as long as they do not set foot on the banks.

Flooding, erosion and the mobility zone

The same regulation defines the mobility zone: the space within which the bed of a watercourse may shift under physical processes, including erosion and sedimentation. A building that is dry today can end up in the path of the bed.

In a flood zone, article 56 imposes adaptation measures on the siting, reconstruction, enlargement and relocation of a building: under the applicable protection objective, storage and parking only, and backflow valves on the drains. Article 55 adds that moving a building located in a rive must move it away from the littoral. Before you budget an addition, get written confirmation of what the map allows.

Well and fosse septique: sized for the occupancy you plan

The fosse septique

The Règlement sur l’évacuation et le traitement des eaux usées des résidences isolées (chapter Q-2, r. 22) calls an isolated residence a dwelling of 6 bedrooms or fewer. Its article 15 sets the minimum capacity of the fosse septique, the septic tank, according to that number.

The trap is in your project, not in the current installation. The last paragraph of article 2 tolerates the installation serving an already built structure as long as the wastewater is not a source of nuisance or a source of contamination of well water or surface water. But article 4 provides that, on an application for a permit for an additional bedroom, the municipality reassesses the applicable standards if the total daily flow exceeds the capacity of the system. One more bedroom in the basement can therefore trigger replacement of the whole installation.

Second clue: article 13 requires emptying at least once every 4 years for a tank used seasonally, and every 2 years for a tank used year round. Ask for the receipts, the municipal permit and the characterization study (article 4.1). The emptying rhythm tells you how the seller actually occupied the cottage.

The well and drinking water

The Règlement sur le prélèvement des eaux et leur protection (chapter Q-2, r. 35.2) imposes minimum distances at article 17: 15 m or more from a sealed wastewater treatment system, 30 m or more from a non-sealed system, or 15 m if the well is sealed in accordance with article 19.

Potability is not presumed. The Quebec government recommends having the water analyzed by an accredited laboratory: microbiological parameters at least twice a year, chemical contaminants at least once during the period the well is in use. On flow rate, I found no provincial standard requiring a yield test on an existing residential well: that is a check to negotiate, not an obligation.

The checks before buying vacant land run through these same regulations from the buildability angle, with wetlands and servitudes.

Four seasons or three: the road and the lender

Accessible year round is a financing criterion, not a listing phrase. The CMHC Second Home product sheet is blunt: the property must be habitable and ready for occupancy at all times and year round, and accessible year round, by bridge or ferry if it is on an island. The product covers an owner-occupied one-unit property, with a loan-to-value up to 95% and a down payment of 5% on the first $500,000 of lending value, then 10% on the rest. An owner-occupant borrower is limited to two CMHC-insured properties at any time. Run both payments together before you visit, with the mortgage calculator.

The road. Section 70 of the Loi sur les compétences municipales says that any local municipality may maintain a private way open to the public by the owner’s tolerance, at the request of a majority of the abutting owners or occupants. The verb is “may”: no municipality is ever obliged to. Ask in writing for the status of the chemin privé, the private road, the servitude published in the Registre foncier, the maintenance agreement and the snow clearing contract. A verbal understanding between neighbours does not survive a sale.

Insuring a cottage in Quebec: your home policy does not follow

The Bureau d’assurance du Canada, the industry association, describes three formulas: the seasonal dwelling, a basic contract with limited coverage; the owner-occupant formula, as for a principal residence; and the “fire and additional perils” contract grafted onto your house policy, with no civil liability.

For the owner-occupant formula, the insurer generally asks for four things: that you occupy the cottage regularly, for example twice a month year round, that the road be passable at all times, that you not rent it to third parties for more than 30 days a year, and that the cottage meet building standards. Theft and vandalism are not covered under a seasonal contract or a fire and additional perils contract, unless you add coverage.

That is why three seasons costs you twice, at financing and at insurance. Get a written quote before you lift your conditions, as you would for any hard to insure home.

Resale, capital gain and short term rental

A cottage can be a principal residence for tax purposes, but only one property at a time. Folio S1-F3-C2 of the Canada Revenue Agency lists the cottage among eligible housing units, requires that it be ordinarily inhabited in the year by the taxpayer, their spouse, former spouse or child, and states that even brief occupancy qualifies. For years after 1981, only one property per family unit may be designated as the principal residence for a given year. Designating the cottage therefore makes part of the gain on the house taxable, and the reverse is equally true. It is an accountant’s calculation, to be done before the purchase.

If your plan is to rent by the night, reread article 52 above. The short term rental rules explain registration with the CITQ, municipal zoning and the declaration of co-ownership, three authorizations that do not replace one another. And past 30 days of rental a year, the insurance formula changes.

Frequently asked questions

The seller says the septic system is compliant. What is that worth? Nothing without a document. Ask for the municipal permit, the characterization study and the emptying receipts. An old installation can be tolerated as long as it does not pollute, without meeting current standards.

I want to add a bedroom in the basement. A problem? Possibly. The municipality reassesses the applicable standards if the extra bedroom pushes the flow beyond the capacity of the system.

Can I cut a few trees to see the lake? A view opening through the tree layer, no more than 5 m wide or 10% of the length of the rive on your lot, existing openings included. Nothing more. The municipal by-law can be stricter.

The checks before you file your promise to purchase

Each line becomes a dated condition in the promise to purchase.

To go further, read the checks in a flood zone and what an owner actually deducts.

Looking at a cottage in the Laurentides or in Lanaudière? Write to me. We request the documents from the municipality and the MRC before your promise to purchase.

Georges Matar

Residential Real Estate Broker · RE/MAX DU CARTIER INC.

Contact Georges