Guidance and advice on housing

Last updated November 21, 2024

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Are you a tenant who has received a notice of eviction or repossession of a dwelling from your landlord? Are you facing a significant rent increase or an unsanitary situation? Find out what to do and how to get help and advice.

Before terminating your lease

If you’re thinking of leaving due to housing issues, we encourage you to think carefully, as affordable housing is scarce in Montréal.

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Have you received an eviction notice from your landlord to subdivide, enlarge or change the use of your home? Please be aware that until 2027, landlords will no longer have the right to undertake such actions and send a notice of eviction for these reasons.

You do not need to reply to your landlord if you receive a notice of eviction. You are protected by law. You have the right to stay in your home.

In the following situations, your landlord can file a complaint with the Tribunal administratif du logement to end your lease and request your eviction:

You are more than 21 days late in paying your rent.
You regularly pay your rent late.
You disturb your neighbours’ peace and quiet.

If the TAL determines that you are at fault, you will then receive a notice of eviction.

Have you received a notice of repossession? The owner has the right to take back his or her dwelling if it is for his or her own housing, housing a member of his or her immediate family or a close person for whom he or she provides primary support.

You can notify your landlord in writing that you refuse to leave your home. If you do not, it still means that you refuse to leave it.

Your landlord then has one month to apply to the Tribunal administratif du logement for permission to repossess the dwelling. If he or she is then allowed to do so and you need to leave, you can ask your landlord to reimburse expenses related to your move.

Are you 65 or older, on a modest income, and have lived in your home for at least 10 years? Your landlord can’t take back the dwelling. You are protected by law.

However, there are 2 exceptions to the law that allow your landlord to take back your home:

Your landlord is 65 or older and wants to take back the dwelling to live in or house a person 65 or older.
Your landlord is 65 or older, lives in your building and wants to take back the dwelling to accommodate a person under age 65, such as one of his or her children or a relative for whom he or she provides primary support.

If the building you live in is for sale, you have the right to stay in your home. Your rent will remain unchanged. You do not have to sign a new lease.

Have you received a notice of rent increase? You have 1 month to take action. Students can:

Accept the increase and keep your place.
Decline and search for another place to stay.
Refuse the increase but specify that you intend to stay in the dwelling.

Your landlord can then either negotiate the price of rent with you or appeal to the Tribunal administratif du logement.

The landlord has 1 month to ask the Tribunal administratif du logement to set the price of rent for the dwelling. In the meantime, the current amount of your rent does not change.

If you do not answer, the lease will be automatically renewed with the rent increase.

If you are on a low income and spend too much of your budget on housing, you could benefit from financial assistance through the Shelter Allowance program.

Have you discovered mice, rats, bed bugs, cockroaches or mould in your home? Does your home have a major leak from the roof, a broken window, faulty electrical installations or a falling staircase?

Inform your landlord immediately.

If he or she has done nothing after a reasonable period of time, call 311.

If your landlord asks you to leave the property temporarily for renovations:

You can accept and ask your landlord to pay you an amount to live elsewhere during the renovations. If you are unable to reach an agreement with your landlord, you can turn to the Tribunal administratif du logement to determine how long you will need to be relocated for renovations as well as the amount that your landlord will have to compensate you.
You can refuse: In this case, the landlord must prove to the Tribunal administratif du logement that the renovations are necessary.

At the end of the renovation project, your home must be in the same condition and the landlord must charge the same amount for rent.

What to do if your housing situation changes

Contact your landlord

In all cases, it is best to focus on dialogue with your landlord and give him or her time to intervene if there is a problem.

Keep a record of all your exchanges, preferably in writing and dated. After a phone conversation, for example, you can write a summary and send it to him or her.

Enforce your rights as a tenant

To better understand the law, visit the Éducaloi Web site.

Visit the Regroupement des comités logement et de l’association des locataires du Québec Web site to find the housing committee in your neighbourhood and learn more about defending your rights.

You can also contact the Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain to learn more about your rights as a tenant.

Find a new home

Have you decided to move? You can refine your search using these tools:

OMHM search function

Use the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM) search tool to search for housing according to your budget.

Your family, friends and colleagues can also help.

Rent registry

Want to know the rent prices across a neighbourhood to compare with the dwelling you found? Check out the “Vivre en Ville” rent registry. Thanks to public contributions, the registry lists more than 22,000 Montréal rent prices.

Found a place?

With a view to preventing excessive increases in rent, the lease includes clause G, which shows the amount paid by the previous tenant.

If the amount is not entered, you can ask your landlord to add it. You can also report it to the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL) within a maximum of 2 months.
If the amount is shown and you believe the rent increase to be too high, you have 10 days to challenge it at the Tribunal du logement.
If the previous amount is incorrect, you have 2 months to contest it by opening a case with the Tribunal du logement.

Resources in case of discrimination

Before you sign a lease, the landlord has the right to ask you for information about your identity, behaviour and payment habits.

Has a landlord refused you as a tenant? If you have been refused because of your income, your religion, your sexual orientation, your age, the fact that you have children or because you are enrolled in a social assistance or employment insurance program, it is discrimination.

You can file a complaint with the Commission des droits de la personne et de la jeunesse.

The landlord may prevent you from getting a dwelling for a valid reason. For example, if in the past you have been unable to pay your rent, if you have damaged the premises or if you have behaved violently towards your neighbours, those would be considered valid reasons.

Get emergency assistance

Reference service for households without a place to stay

Have you been looking for a place to live and still can’t find one? For emergency assistance, call 311.

Our team will check to see whether they can refer you to the relocation assistance service of the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM), which can assess the situation and support you in your efforts.

211 for additional assistance

If you need additional help, such as feeding yourself, getting dressed, finding a job, or taking care of your mental health, call 211 Grand Montréal. The service is offered in 200 languages.