Investment
Adding an Accessory Dwelling Unit in Quebec: The Framework
An empty basement, an attached garage used as a shed, a lot deeper than the others on the street. The reflex is to …
You are buying a duplex or a triplex in Montreal or Laval to live in it. The dwellings are occupied, the leases renew on their own, and the Code civil du Québec leaves you one door: repossession of a dwelling. Here is who may exercise it, within what deadlines, against whom it is prohibited, and what it costs when a tribunal finds it was done in bad faith. General information: check your own case with a legal adviser.
An owner who moves in buys leases along with the walls
A tenant loses nothing because the building changes hands. Article 1936 of the Code civil gives every tenant a personal right to maintain occupancy: the tenant may be evicted only in the cases provided by law. Article 1937 closes the discussion about the sale. The alienation of an immovable comprising a dwelling does not allow the new landlord to resiliate the lease: the lease is continued, it may be renewed like any other lease, and the new landlord has towards the tenant the rights and obligations resulting from it. On signing day at the notary, you become a landlord on terms written by somebody else.
Occupancy is not only a wish: it is often the condition of the financing. CMHC requires that the property be intended to be occupied by the borrower or by a relative provided for in the program, with minimum equity of 5% on the first $500,000 of lending value and 10% on the remainder in a 1 or 2 unit building, and 10% from 3 or 4 units. That rule is what puts a plex within reach of a first-time buyer, and it is also what obliges you to settle the occupancy question before the offer. Your borrowing capacity calculation and the first income property guide cover the rest of the structure.
Who may repossess a dwelling, and to house whom
Article 1957 is limitative. The landlord of a dwelling, if the owner of it, may repossess it to live in it himself, or to house his ascendants or descendants in the first degree, or any other relative or person connected by marriage of whom he is the main support. He may also repossess it to house a spouse of whom he remains the main support after a separation from bed and board, a divorce or the dissolution of a civil union. A brother, a sister, a friend, a nephew: only if you are their main support, and you will have to establish it.
Undivided co-ownership blocks almost everything. Article 1958 prohibits the owner of an undivided share from repossessing a dwelling unless there is only one other owner and that owner is his spouse. Éducaloi puts it bluntly: adding a third co-owner, even at 1%, extinguishes the right, and a corporation on title produces the same result. Buying a triplex with a friend and each repossessing a dwelling does not hold.
One last limit often surprises people in a plex. Article 1964 prevents a landlord from availing himself of repossession, without the tenant’s consent, if he owns another dwelling that is vacant or offered for lease on the date set, of the same kind, located in the vicinity and at an equivalent rent. The empty ground floor unit can therefore stop you from repossessing the one upstairs.
The notice deadlines for repossession in a plex
Everything turns on a calendar, not on a conversation. Article 1960 sets the deadlines, and article 1961 the content of the notice: the date set for exercising the repossession, the name of the beneficiary and, where applicable, the degree of relationship or the connection with you. The notice must also reproduce the content of article 1959.1, the one that protects certain tenants. The Tribunal administratif du logement (Quebec’s rental board) publishes a model notice of repossession and a model tenant reply, suggested and not mandatory.
| Lease | Notice of repossession to give |
|---|---|
| Fixed term of more than 6 months | at least 6 months before the end of the lease |
| Fixed term of 6 months or less | at least 1 month before the end of the lease |
| Indeterminate term | 6 months before the date of the repossession |
Now run that against the Quebec July 1 cycle. A lease ending June 30 requires a notice sent no later than the December 31 before it. But the notice comes from the landlord who owns: you are one only as of the deed of sale. Taking possession in the spring of 2026 therefore opens no door for July 2026; the first useful window closes on December 31, 2026, for a repossession on June 30, 2027. That is surprise number one for a first-time plex buyer, and it can be planned for before the offer.
What the tenant may answer, and what you must prove at the TAL
The tenant’s silence does not help you. Within a month of receiving the notice, the tenant must inform you of the intention to comply with it or not. If the tenant fails to do so, article 1962 deems the tenant to have refused to vacate the dwelling. Refusal is the default outcome, not the exception.
Faced with a refusal, article 1963 leaves you one month to apply for the tribunal’s authorization. At the hearing the burden rests on you: you must show that you truly intend to repossess the dwelling for the purpose mentioned in the notice, and that it is not a pretext for other purposes. Nobody can guarantee you in advance that the tribunal will accept it, and no broker should.
If the tribunal dismisses your application after the renewal deadlines have expired, article 1969 provides that the lease is renewed, and you may apply to have the rent fixed within a month of the final decision. The same article applies if you do not exercise the repossession on the date set.
The tenants against whom repossession is prohibited
This is where the law changed, and it is categorical. Article 1959.1 prohibits a landlord from repossessing a dwelling or evicting a tenant where that tenant or the tenant’s spouse, at the time of the repossession, is 65 or over, has occupied the dwelling for at least 10 years, and has income equal to or less than 125% of the maximum income for eligibility for low-rental housing. The 65 threshold replaces the former 70 threshold since the Loi limitant le droit d’éviction des locateurs et renforçant la protection des locataires aînés (the act limiting the landlord’s right to evict and strengthening protection for senior tenants), assented to on June 6, 2024. The income ceilings are published by the Société d’habitation du Québec, which released the 2026 figures.
Three situations reopen the door, and only those three: you are yourself 65 or over and want to live in the dwelling, the beneficiary of the repossession is 65 or over, or you are an owner occupant aged 65 or over who wishes to house, in the same building as you, a beneficiary under 65.
Do not confuse this with eviction, which targets something else: subdividing a dwelling, substantially enlarging it or changing its use. That eviction has been prohibited for three years since June 6, 2024. Repossession to house yourself remains possible, but a plan built on transforming the units is frozen until June 2027.
The indemnity, bad faith, and use of the dwelling after repossession
Repossession does not open the same indemnity as eviction. When the tribunal authorizes a repossession, article 1967 allows it to impose the conditions it considers just and reasonable, including payment to the tenant of an indemnity equal to moving expenses. For an eviction, article 1965 is far heavier: reasonable moving expenses, plus one month’s rent per year of uninterrupted lease, never under 3 months nor over 24 months, and the tenant may claim more on establishing a prejudice that justifies it.
The real financial risk lies elsewhere. Article 1968 lets the tenant recover the damages resulting from a repossession, whether the tenant consented to it or not, unless the landlord proves that it was made in good faith: the proof is yours to make. If the tenant shows bad faith, the tenant may also claim punitive damages. And article 1970 prohibits leasing or using the repossessed dwelling for a purpose other than the one for which the right was exercised, without the tribunal’s authorization. Repossessing a unit to live in it, then re-renting it for more, is not a grey area.
Before you offer on a plex: the leases, the rent on paper, the notices already sent
Three documents decide your timeline. I ask for them before any promesse d’achat.
- Every signed lease. Term, end date, tenant names, services included. The end date commands your notice period, and therefore your move-in date.
- The rent actually written in the lease, not the one on the listing sheet. A new tenant has rent-fixing remedies if the rent declared at signing does not match the lowest rent of the preceding 12 months.
- Every notice already sent: modification, repossession, eviction, and the tenant’s reply. A notice of repossession must name its beneficiary, and the one the seller sent for himself does not designate you.
Add how long each tenant has been in place, useful under article 1959.1. A tenant of 65 who has lived there for 12 years is not a detail of the showing, it is possibly the end of your plan to move in. The other checks specific to an income property are in the Laval triplex guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
I take possession on July 1. Can I move into the upstairs unit the same day? Only if it is free, or if the tenant leaves voluntarily and the agreement is in writing. Otherwise the notice must precede the end of the lease by six months, and you are a landlord only as of the deed of sale.
My brother and I are buying a duplex. Can we each repossess a dwelling? No. Article 1958 reserves repossession in undivided co-ownership for the case where there is only one other owner and that owner is your spouse.
The tenant is 68. Is repossession prohibited outright? No, the three conditions of article 1959.1 are cumulative: 65 or over for the tenant or the tenant’s spouse, at least 10 years of occupancy, and income equal to or less than 125% of the eligibility threshold for low-rental housing. The exceptions tied to age may also come into play.
How much will I have to pay the tenant? For a repossession, the tribunal may impose an indemnity equal to moving expenses, and the conditions it considers just and reasonable. A negotiated agreement is common, but it is not presumed: it is written down.
To go further, read Plex or condo in Montreal and Managing rental properties in Montreal and Laval.
Aiming for a plex to live in? Write to me: we read the leases, the end dates and the notices already sent before we set your move-in date.
Georges Matar
Residential Real Estate Broker · RE/MAX DU CARTIER INC.
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