How Do You Prepare to Buy a First Home in Quebec?

A first purchase is prepared early, because several official rules keep the clock running for you. Room in the CELIAPP (the first home savings account, or FHSA) only starts once the account is opened, an RRSP contribution made in the 89 days before a RAP (the Home Buyers’ Plan, or HBP) withdrawal can lose its deduction, and a pre-approved rate only holds for 60 to 130 days. Here is the countdown, with the rule that sets each deadline.

Preparing to buy a first home: the timeline

No official source sets how long a search takes. APCIQ (the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers) publishes time on market: in the third quarter of 2026, a condo sold in Laval had stayed on the market for 58 days on average, a single-family home 37.

12 months before: the CELIAPP and your credit report

CELIAPP room starts when the account is opened. According to the CRA, in the year you open your first CELIAPP, your participation room is $8,000 and your carryforward is $0. Each following year adds $8,000, plus up to $8,000 of unused room, up to the $40,000 lifetime limit.

For a purchase planned for fall 2027, an account opened by December 31, 2026 creates $8,000 of room for 2026; if that room stays unused, the holder can contribute up to $16,000 in 2027. Opened in January 2027, the account allows only $8,000 that year. The CRA requires Schedule 15 with the return for the year the account is opened, even with no contribution. How much to contribute and which year to take the deduction are questions for your accountant.

Opening one requires being a resident of Canada, being at least 18, and not having lived, in the current year or the four preceding calendar years, in a home that you or your spouse owned.

Your credit report is free. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) points out that you can get your report at no cost from Equifax and from TransUnion, and that checking it has no effect on your score. An error can be disputed, and the bureau corrects it free of charge if the lender acknowledges it; otherwise, the information stays. No correction timeline is published: hence the 12 months. A security freeze must be lifted before you apply for credit, the FCAC adds.

9 months before: the cash, and the date it goes out

In the order the payments come due:

1. The deposit, if there is one: with the promesse d’achat or within 72 hours after the conditions are fulfilled (clause 4.3 of the OACIQ Promesse d’achat form).
2. At the notary’s: the fees for the deed of sale (clause 7.3), the property tax adjustments (clause 11.3) and, with less than 20% down, the provincial tax on the mortgage loan insurance premium, which the lender cannot add to the mortgage, according to the FCAC.
3. The welcome tax (clause 7.4), payable from the 31st day after the municipality sends the bill, under section 11 of the Act respecting duties on transfers of immovables.

No official source consulted sets the price of an inspection or of a notarial deed: ask for a written quote. The item-by-item budget is in the real cost of buying your first home.

The 2027 brackets will apply. If you start this timeline in October 2026, you will sign in 2027, the year the welcome tax thresholds rise to $64,400 and $322,600, according to the ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Habitation (Quebec’s municipal affairs and housing ministry). Applied to the median condos of the third quarter of 2026:

Prices: APCIQ barometer. Calculation: 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% by bracket (section 2 of the Act), on the higher of the price and the market value. Above $500,000, a municipality can apply a higher rate, up to 3%, a ceiling that does not cover Montreal. For your own price, the welcome tax calculator gives an estimate, which the notary confirms.

6 months before: the down payment and the 89-day rule

The minimum. According to the FCAC, the minimum down payment is 5% up to $500,000, then 10% on the next portion up to $1.5 million, and 20% of the price from $1.5 million. The lender will ask for proof of funds, sometimes your recent bank statements. Since December 15, 2024, according to the Department of Finance Canada, a 30-year amortization has been allowed for first-time buyers. That choice is made with the lender or the mortgage broker; the first-time buyer mortgage guide explains the stress test.

The RAP and its 89 days. The RAP lets you withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSPs, but the CRA limits the deduction for contributions made in the 89 days before the withdrawal. Money meant for the RAP therefore goes in now. Check the tax effect with your accountant.

Nothing comes out yet. Both the RAP and a qualifying CELIAPP withdrawal require a written agreement to buy, and the CRA specifies that a pre-approved mortgage is not one. Both can be used for the same home: see first-time buyer tax benefits.

3 months before: pre-approval and the contrat de courtage achat

Why not earlier. Pre-approval gives the amount you could borrow and guarantees a rate for 60 to 130 days, depending on the lender, the FCAC says; it does not guarantee approval. Obtained a year ahead, that guarantee expires well before the purchase.

The contrat de courtage achat. The OACIQ’s mandatory form (CCA, or CCADI for co-ownership) ends at 11:59 p.m. on the date written in it, or 30 days after it is concluded if no date is written. Unless otherwise stipulated, the buyer can terminate it without cause, subject to paying the costs incurred; if it is stipulated to be non-terminable, it can still be terminated for three days after the buyer receives the signed copy (section 28 of the Real Estate Brokerage Act). Without a contract, the OACIQ’s notice is blunt: the broker “does not represent and does not defend the interests of the BUYER.” The details are in the buyer brokerage contract in Quebec.

The promesse d’achat: three deadlines to watch

The offer binds you first. Under clause 14.1, the buyer is irrevocably bound until the time written in it; during that period, the OACIQ writes, you cannot withdraw your promise. A counter-proposal amounts to a refusal.

The inspection (clause 8.1) takes place within the number of days written, after acceptance. A problem that significantly reduces the value or increases expenses must be reported in writing, with the report attached, no later than the 4th day after that period, before 8 p.m.; otherwise, the buyer is deemed to have waived it.

Financing (clauses 6.2 and 6.3). The buyer delivers a lender’s commitment within the period written. A pre-approval is not that commitment, the OACIQ specifies, and it generally recommends at least 14 days, counted in consecutive calendar days from the day after acceptance. Without a commitment, the seller has five days to designate a lender or to render the promise null.

From acceptance to the keys, then the year after

Request the withdrawals now. For the CRA, a written agreement shows its signing date, the address of the home and the closing date, details that the accepted promesse d’achat contains. The CELIAPP is withdrawn with form RC725, if the home is acquired before October 1 of the following year and no more than 30 days before the withdrawal. The RAP requires one form T1036 per withdrawal, within the calendar year of the first withdrawal or the following January, and an acquisition before October 1 of the year after the first withdrawal.

At the notary’s. The buyer becomes the owner when the deed of sale is signed (clause 11.1). The mortgage must be granted by notarial act en minute, on pain of absolute nullity (article 2693 of the Code civil du Québec, Quebec’s Civil Code).

After the keys. Since the 2026 taxation year, Revenu Québec has offered a refundable tax credit for access to home ownership: 100% of the first $5,000 of welcome tax paid and 25% of the next $3,500, up to $5,875. The year that counts is the one in which your right is published in the Registre foncier (Quebec’s land register) and the home is fit to live in. The advance payment is requested through My Account (Mon dossier) no later than December 1 of that year, if the credit exceeds $1,000; otherwise, it is claimed in your income tax return. For the Laval condo in the table, the $4,665 stays under the $5,000 bracket: if the conditions are met, the credit covers it, after payment. Your accountant confirms eligibility.

The CELIAPP must be closed no later than December 31 of the year after the first qualifying withdrawal; the balance can generally be transferred to an RRSP. For a first RAP withdrawal made from 2026 to 2028, the 15-year repayment begins in the fifth year after, according to the CRA.

Frequently asked questions

When should I open a CELIAPP if I am buying in three years? As soon as you are eligible. Opening it without contributing already creates $8,000 of room for the year, and the account can stay open for up to 15 years.

How long does it take to prepare to buy a house? No rule sets a duration. The 12 months come from official deadlines: the calendar year of the CELIAPP, the 89 days of the RAP, the 60 to 130 days of a pre-approved rate.

Can I withdraw from the CELIAPP or the RAP as soon as I am pre-approved? No. Both require a written agreement to buy, and the CRA specifies that a pre-approved mortgage is not one.

To go further, read the inventory of measures for becoming a homeowner and first-time buyer tax benefits.

Aiming for a first purchase within 12 months? I can go over this timeline with you, from the brokerage contract to the promesse d’achat. Write to me. Service in French, English and Arabic.

Georges Matar

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

Contact Georges