15 things that are illegal for a Quebec landlord to do while you're renting an apartment

Your landlord can't require you to pay additional fees or deposits

In many cities around the world, it’s expected that tenants pay security deposits or even key deposits when signing a new lease. Paying the first and last months’ rent is also a common practice outside of Quebec.

While many landlords still try to ask for extra money upfront when negotiating a rental agreement, this is totally illegal in the province of Quebec. The most they can ask for is the first month’s rent in advance. Just make sure you have receipts and confirmation in writing that you have agreed to this transaction.

You don’t have to give a new landlord just any private information

Landlords are absolutely allowed to run a credit check on you before you sign the lease. It makes sense – they want to know that you’ll reliably pay your rent. To do that, they are allowed to request proof of ID, your birth date, and your current address.

What they can’t ask for are credit card numbers, bank account numbers, your social insurance number, your driver’s license, your passport or visa information, or proof of health insurance like your RAMQ card.

Your landlord can not require you to provide post-dated cheques

Many old-school landlords still prefer to be paid with cheques. This is sort of mind-boggling, since most businesses wouldn’t even accept payment by cheque if you tried. Some of these landlords will also try to request multiple post-dated cheques in advance to ensure that you’ll pay your rent on time. While their motivations may be understandable, post-dating rent cheques in Quebec is totally illegal.

A landlord cannot hold you to illegal clauses in your rental agreement

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, landlords sometimes have illegal clauses tucked into the fine print of their rental agreements. When renters discover this, they may feel that they are obligated to tolerate the illegal demands, since they’ve already signed the lease.

This is not the case. If there’s something illegal in your rental agreement, your landlord can not legally hold you to that clause. It’s useful to read your rental agreement carefully and research any clauses that feel hinky to you, just so that you don't accidentally adhere to illegal demands unnecessarily.

Your landlord can not use anything but an official Quebec lease document

Landlords must produce an official Quebec lease document for you to sign. They can’t just print some generic form off of the internet and expect it to be legally valid. Quebec lease documents are available at pharmacies for a small fee that you are not expected to pay. And despite what some landlords might insist, you can absolutely request that your lease document be in English.

A landlord cannot rent apartments that are unsafe or uninhabitable

This one is a biggie. As anyone who’s lived in a big city knows, many landlords will show you a unit that looks like it’s been shot through a cannon and try to pass it off as a luxury suite. This may be seen as good ol’ fashioned salesmanship, but in many cases, it’s actually illegal.

You are legally entitled to a structurally sound apartment with hot running water and doors and windows that lock properly. You’re also due an apartment that is free of mould, fungus, insects, and vermin.

If a potential new apartment has any of these issues, it’s a good idea to send photos to to a city inspector. If your current landlord neglects any of these issues, you can contact the Régie du logement du Québec.

Your landlord cannot neglect repairs that are absolutely necessary

While tenants are on the hook for minor maintenance and repairs in their units, landlords must ensure that urgent repairs that put a tenant at risk — think broken pipes or a damaged front door — are performed within a reasonable amount of time.

If a landlord fails to do this, tenants can get permission from the Régie du logement du Québec to handle the repairs themselves. The Régie will then contact the landlord with an order to reimburse the tenant any costs incurred in the process.

Your landlord can not enter your apartment without your permission

While your landlord has a key to your apartment, they can’t just let themselves in whenever they want. They must get your verbal or written consent to enter the unit at least 24 hours before they intend to do so.

If you’re not renewing your lease and the apartment is up for rent, your landlord is allowed to ask to enter your apartment with less than a days’ notice. The only time a landlord can come in without prior consent is in an emergency, at which point you’re probably glad that they’re busting in anyway.

You are entitled to a living space free of chronic disturbances

In this case, "disturbances" can mean anything that makes it hard to live reasonably harmoniously in your unit. Loud neighbours, issues with the plumbing, and regular appliance malfunctions all fall under this definition. In this instance, the law literally protects your peace.

A landlord can not alter the purpose of an apartment

Until your lease is up and you have decided not to renew, your landlord can’t suddenly turn up and declare that your unit is being converted into an office space, for example. They also have to ensure that the unit can be used as an apartment for the duration of your lease. If the apartment has deteriorated to the point that it’s no longer habitable, it’s on you to inform your landlord so they can deal with it.

Your landlord can not modify your lease without notifying you of the change in writing

It’s lowkey concerning that this even has to be put into provincial law. That said, if your landlord wants to alter the terms of your lease, revoke a parking spot, or make any other change to your living arrangement, they must provide a signed and dated document with the proposed changes, as well as how much time you have to reply. You are allowed to refuse the changes, provided you do so in the allotted time.

As a tenant, you can refuse your landlord’s request to increase your rent

When renewing your lease, your landlord will almost certainly tell you that they are increasing the rent. This is negotiable, provided that the building was constructed more than five years before the rent increase request. The easiest option is to haggle them down to the minimum annual increase recommended by the Tribunal administratif du logement.

You can also flat-out refuse to increase your rent while still renewing your lease. At this point, the landlord has one month to have the Régie du logement review the situation.

Whatever you choose to do, it’s worth noting that there is currently no hard cap to how much a landlord can legally increase the rent on a unit in Quebec, and landlords are business owners trying to turn as large a profit on the building as possible. Assuming the building is more than five years old and you plan to renew your lease again, it’s usually worth it to negotiate increases. Rent increases can easily build up on each other significantly otherwise.

Your landlord can’t just ghost you

Landlords need to be available to their tenants. Whether in-person, by phone, or by email, tenants are entitled to responses from landlords within a reasonable amount of time.

If your lease is almost up and your landlord is completely M.I.A., your lease is automatically renewed under the same terms. By law, your landlord has to give you notice in advance of the end of a lease if they want to make changes: three months if the lease is for a year or longer, four to seven weeks if the lease is for less than a year, or 10 to 19 days if the lease is for a single room.

Your landlord cannot cancel your lease for no good reason

As many Montrealers learned during the lockdown mass layoffs, landlords can’t evict their tenants without due cause. Even failure to pay rent doesn’t necessarily allow your landlord to terminate your lease early. You or your landlord can only cancel a lease early under four situations.

If you have been given a low-rental rental unit, your lease can be cancelled. The same is true if the tenant is elderly and moving into a long-term care facility, or if a disability has impaired the tenant’s ability to live in the unit. The lease can also be canceled if the safety of the tenant or of a child living with the tenant is at risk.

Your landlord can not evict you at the end of your lease without just cause