Real Estate 101

Language and Your Transaction in Quebec

By Georges Matar · July 5, 2026 · 7 min read

A real estate transaction in Quebec runs on documents: a brokerage contract, declarations by the seller, a promise to purchase, annexes, a deed of sale, a deed of hypothec. The language each one is drawn up in is not a matter of preference. It is set by law, and the rules changed in 2022. Here is what they require, document by document, and what changes when your broker works in your language.

OACIQ forms exist in French and in English

The OACIQ has developed about fifty mandatory or recommended forms, unavoidable in a residential transaction: the brokerage contract to sell or to purchase, the Declarations by the seller of the immovable, the Promise to purchase, the Counter-proposal, the Amendments form, and Annexes F, R and RC.

On oaciq.com, these forms are published in French and in English. They are not published in Spanish or in Arabic. That is the first thing to know: the document you sign will be in French or in English. What can happen in another language is the explanation, the question and the answer.

The regulation provides for this. Section 46.7 of the Regulation respecting brokerage requirements, professional conduct of brokers and advertising (C-73.2, r. 1) requires the broker, before having a completed mandatory form signed, to let the parties read its terms and conditions and to provide all explanations and answers to the questions they ask. Section 86 adds that the broker must reasonably inform all parties of the rights and obligations arising from the documents he has them sign.

That right to read and to ask is worth only what you can make of it. That is exactly where language comes in.

What the Charter of the French language has required since 2022

The Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec (2022, c. 14, often called Bill 96) added section 55.1 to the Charter, and it targets residential real estate directly. The following must be drawn up in French:

a contract for the sale or exchange of part or all of a chiefly residential immovable comprising fewer than five dwellings, or of a fraction of a chiefly residential immovable covered by a declaration of co-ownership;
a promise to enter into that contract, so the promise to purchase;
the preliminary contract under article 1785 of the Civil Code, the new construction one;
the information memorandum under article 1787.

These documents may be drawn up exclusively in a language other than French if such is the express wish of the parties. French is therefore the default, English remains possible, but both parties have to want it and say so.

Section 55 covers contracts of adhesion, those whose essential stipulations were imposed or drawn up by one party and were not negotiable (article 1379 of the Civil Code). They must be drawn up in French, and the parties may be bound by a version in another language only if, after the French version has been remitted to the adhering party, such is their express wish. No party may require any sum whatsoever from the other for the drawing up of the French version.

In divided co-ownership, article 1070.1.1 of the Civil Code adds that the syndicate’s register and the documents kept at the disposal of the co-owners must be in French: that is the language of the records to ask for before making an offer on a condo.

The notarial deed, and what the land register accepts

The deed of sale is a notarial act and falls under section 55.1: French by default, another language if the parties expressly want it.

That choice has a consequence. Article 3006 of the Civil Code, amended in 2022, provides that documents accompanying an application for registration, if drawn up in a language other than French, must themselves be accompanied by a translation authenticated in Québec. Éducaloi puts it plainly: you have to supply the official French translation of an English contract of sale of a residence in order to register the sale in Quebec’s land register. English is permitted, but it adds a translation, a cost and a delay.

The notary is nobody’s notary in particular. The Notaries Act says so in section 10: a notary is a legal adviser and also a public officer. Section 11 sets out the mission: verify the identity, quality and capacity of the parties, ensure that they express their consent in a free and enlightened manner, advise the parties and act impartially towards them. The Chambre des notaires describes that duty to advise as the obligation to enlighten the parties on the nature and consequences of their acts.

Say it when you choose the notary, not on the morning of the signing: ask the office which languages it can explain the deed in, and ask for the draft a few days ahead. The rest of the process at the notary is covered elsewhere on the site.

The lender’s documents

The deed of hypothec is signed at the notary’s office, at the same meeting as the deed of sale, and follows the same rules. The lender’s own documents are a separate file: the financing offer, the cost of borrowing disclosure, the insurance tied to the loan. Practices vary from one institution to another, and nothing guarantees that a given lender produces its documents in one language rather than another. The question belongs at pre-approval, not at the end.

A loan document whose clauses are not negotiable matches the definition of a contract of adhesion in article 1379, and section 55 covers those contracts: if the question arises in your file, put it to your notary. For the loan itself, the person to talk to is the lender or an AMF certified mortgage broker, because a real estate broker is not a mortgage broker. The first time buyer’s mortgage guide covers the rest.

Translator, interpreter, and the bilingual cousin

Quebec law calls for authenticated translation in specific places. Beyond article 3006, article 140 of the Civil Code requires it for acts of civil status and juridical acts made outside Quebec and drawn up in a language other than French: a marriage certificate, a marriage contract, a power of attorney signed abroad.

A relative translating on the spot is not the same thing, for three reasons.

He is not neutral. He is sometimes a party to the purchase himself, or about to become one. Article 2819 of the Civil Code says something about this: persons who have an interest in the act may not be witnesses to a notarial act.

The natural reflex is to summarize, not to translate. A summary drops the deadlines, the conditions and the exact words, and those are what create the obligations.

He has no professional obligation, no liability insurance and no professional order behind him. The broker and the notary do.

What works better: get the documents ahead of time rather than on site, and ask the professionals to work in a language you read.

What a broker who speaks your language actually changes

Greater Montreal is multilingual, and service here is given in French, English and Arabic. That changes neither the law nor the language of the forms. It changes three things.

Questions get asked. Section 46.7 gives you the right to read the form and to ask before you sign. A question put in your own language is a complete question, not an approximation.

Conditions get explained before signature, not after. A financing condition, an inspection condition, a response deadline, an annex clause: these are mechanisms with dates, and understanding them afterwards is not much use.

You can describe what you actually want. A search criterion, a budget constraint, a neighbourhood or timeline requirement comes out better in the language you think in. That is what ends up in the brokerage contract to purchase and in the clauses of the promise.

None of this is a guarantee of a result: it is comprehension time recovered at the stage where it still helps. See also the five questions to ask before hiring a broker and the difference between broker, agent and REALTOR.

If you are a newcomer

The guide for newcomers covers the full path. Two points get added to it.

Documents from abroad go through article 140: birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce judgment, power of attorney. Gather them early, before the signing date is set.

And a rule often mistaken for a language question: permanent residents have the same rights as citizens to acquire an immovable. A federal act currently prohibits certain non-Canadians from buying certain residential properties of 1 to 3 dwellings located in a census metropolitan area or a census agglomeration, with exceptions, until 1 January 2027. Have your situation checked by a lawyer or a notary.

Would you rather work in French, English or Arabic? Get in touch in the language of your choice: we read the brokerage contract and the promise to purchase together before you sign.