Guidance and advice on housing

Last updated July 18, 2024
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Are you a tenant dealing with a significant rent increase, renovations or a landlord who wants to repossess your dwelling? Find out what to do and how to get help and advice, especially in the event of relocation.

Before terminating your lease

If you’re thinking of leaving your home because of issues with the dwelling, we encourage you to think the decision over carefully, as affordable housing is scarce in Montréal.

Contact your landlord

Maintaining a good relationship with your landlord is the best way to prevent problematic situations. 

Regardless of the situation, try discussion first and give your landlord time to intervene if there is a problem. 

Keep a record of all your exchanges, preferably in writing and dated. For example, after a phone conversation, you can write a summary and send it to your landlord.

What to do if your housing situation changes

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

  • Accept the increase and keep your dwelling. 

  • 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 your hine. 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? Call your landlord immediately. 

If he or she has done nothing after several days, contact 311. The city may send an inspector if there is a potential hazard to your health.

See also: Sanitation, maintenance and safety of dwellings

Does your home have a major leak from the roof, a broken window, faulty electrical installations or a falling staircase? 

Call your landlord to have repairs done. If he or she does not respond promptly, call 311. The city may send an inspector if there is a potential hazard to your health. 

If there are major renovations to undertake and your landlord asks you to leave the property temporarily: 

  • 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, you must pay the same rent and your home must be in the same condition.

See also: Dwelling inspection, corrective action and evacuation

Your landlord can file a complaint with the Tribunal administratif du logement if: 

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

If the Tribunal administratif du logement deems you at fault, you will receive a notice of eviction. 

Have you received an eviction notice from your landlord in order 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 are protected by law. 

Also, eviction for the purpose of carrying out renovations is illegal. You have the right to stay in your home. 

See also: Eviction

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

If you do not answer your landlord, it means that you refuse to leave your home. 

If you refuse a repossession of a dwelling (it is preferable to do so in writing), your landlord has 1 month to appeal to the Tribunal administratif du logement, which will issue a decision. If they are allowed to take back the dwelling, you may receive compensation, such as for the fees to rent a moving truck. 

Are you over 65, on a low income, and have lived in your home for at least 10 years? Your landlord cannot take back the dwelling unless he or she is 65 years of age or older and wants to live in it or wants to live in it with a member of his or her immediate family or a close person 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. 

If the future owner wants to repossess the dwelling, he or she must follow the rules of the Tribunal administratif du logement.

Enforce your rights as a tenant

To better understand the law, visit the Éducaloi Web site (in French). 

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 (in French) to learn more about your rights as a tenant.

Find a new home

Have you decided to move? Here are some resources.

OMHM search function

In addition to searching for housing on the web, you can use the search function on the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM) Web site and search for housing across different listing sites 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 rental registry. Thanks to public contributions, the registry lists more than 22,000 Montréal rent prices. 

In addition, with a view to preventing excessive increases, clause G of the lease, completed by the landlord, shows the amount paid by the previous tenant. 

  • If the amount is not entered, you have 2 months to report it to the Tribunal administratif du logement. 
  • If the amount is shown and you believe the new rent price to be too high, you have 10 days to challenge it at the Tribunal administratif du logement. 
  • If the amount shown is incorrect, you have 2 months to contest it by opening a case with the Tribunal administratif du logement.

Resources in the 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 housing committee in your neighbourhood, which you can find through the Regroupement des comités logement et de l’association des locataires du Québec, can also help you defend your rights. 

Tenants cannot be refused a dwelling unless there is 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.

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 Greater Montréal. The service is offered in 200 languages.

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