Ending Your Tenant's Lease: The Landlord's Guide

What a Quebec landlord can actually do, and in what order, to recover a rental unit before the Tribunal administratif du logement.

Marc bought a small triplex in Gatineau last year. The tenant on the second floor pays his rent late almost every month, leaves garbage bags in the stairwell and no longer answers messages. At the hardware store, a neighbour told him that a landlord can “always” end a lease with three months’ notice. So Marc writes a letter, slides it under the door and starts showing the unit for July 1st. Three months later, the tenant is still there — and it is Marc who receives a formal demand letter. Here is what the law really allows a landlord to do, and in what order to go about it.

The myth of the three-month notice

There is no notice that allows a landlord to end a residential lease on his own initiative. The tenant enjoys what is known as the right to maintain occupancy: under article 1936 of the Code civil du Québec, Quebec’s Civil Code, the tenant has a personal right to remain in the dwelling and may be evicted only in the cases provided by law. In practical terms, the lease renews indefinitely, year after year, as long as the tenant meets his obligations.

The most common trap is believing that a “homemade” lease can provide for termination on notice. The rules governing residential leases are a matter of public order, meaning they cannot be waived by contract: such a clause is worthless. A verbal lease changes nothing either; it simply makes the terms harder to prove.

The real grounds for termination before the Tribunal

Since August 31, 2020, these disputes are decided by the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL), Quebec’s rental board, which replaced the former Régie du logement. The landlord never terminates the lease himself: he must apply to the Tribunal for termination and prove his case.

Four grounds come up constantly. Rent that is more than three weeks late (article 1971 C.c.Q.): this is the fastest route, but it has a safety valve, since the tenant can avoid termination by paying, before judgment, the rent owed plus costs and interest (article 1883 C.c.Q.). Frequent late payments, provided the landlord shows that they cause him serious harm. Serious harm caused by the tenant’s conduct, for instance disturbing the other occupants’ enjoyment of the premises (articles 1860 and 1863 C.c.Q.). Finally, a dwelling that has become unfit for habitation, meaning its condition poses a serious threat to health or safety (articles 1913 and 1972 C.c.Q.).

What amounts to “serious harm” is for the administrative judge to assess, and everything turns on evidence: a dated log of incidents, emails, formal notices, photos, witnesses. The classic mistake is showing up at the hearing with impressions rather than documents. Note as well that, except for rent more than three weeks late, the Tribunal may first order the tenant to correct his behaviour and terminate the lease only if he fails to do so (article 1973 C.c.Q.).

Repossessing the dwelling or evicting for major work

Two other doors exist, but they come at a price. Repossession (reprise de logement) allows the landlord to take back the unit to live in it himself, or to house his father, mother, son, daughter, any other relative or in-law of whom he is the main support, or a former spouse he still supports (article 1957 C.c.Q.). A co-owner holding the building in undivided co-ownership may repossess a unit only if there is a single other co-owner and that person is his spouse.

Eviction (éviction) is reserved for subdividing the dwelling, substantially enlarging it or changing its use (article 1959 C.c.Q.).

In both cases, notice must be given at least six months before the end of the lease (one month if the lease is for six months or less; six months before the intended date if the lease is for an indeterminate term), and the tenant has one month to reply. This is where Bill 31, assented to on February 21, 2024, changed the game: silence once meant acceptance, whereas today a tenant who does not reply is deemed to refuse. It is then up to the landlord to apply to the Tribunal within the following month and to show that he truly intends to repossess or evict for the stated date, and that it is not a pretext.

Bill 31 also increased the eviction indemnity: one month’s rent for each year of uninterrupted tenancy, with a floor of three months and a ceiling of twenty-four months, plus reasonable moving expenses (article 1965 C.c.Q.). For repossession, there is no automatic indemnity, but the Tribunal may impose whatever conditions it considers fair.

Two restrictions to keep in mind. Since June 6, 2024, a landlord may neither repossess nor evict a tenant — or the tenant’s spouse — who is 65 or older, has occupied the dwelling for at least ten years and whose income does not exceed 125% of the eligibility threshold for low-rental housing, subject to exceptions tied to the age of the landlord or of the intended beneficiary (article 1959.1 C.c.Q.). And the tenant may recover damages unless the landlord proves his good faith, as well as punitive damages where bad faith is shown (article 1968 C.c.Q.).

Lease assignment: the exit created by Bill 31

When a tenant announces that he is assigning his lease, the landlord has fifteen days to respond, failing which he is deemed to consent. If he refuses on a serious ground, for instance the proposed assignee’s poor credit history, the lease continues with the original tenant (article 1871 C.c.Q.). But since 2024, the landlord may also refuse on a ground that is not serious: the lease is then terminated on the assignment date stated in the notice (article 1978.2 C.c.Q.). It is the only mechanism that lets a landlord recover a vacant unit without going through the Tribunal, but it depends entirely on the tenant’s initiative. The change remains hotly debated: landlord associations see it as a necessary rebalancing, tenant groups as a breach in rent control.

The room in your own home, and the ban on taking the law into your own hands

One real exception exists. The lease of a room located in the landlord’s principal residence falls outside the residential lease rules where no more than two rooms are rented or offered for rent and the room has neither a separate exit to the outside nor its own sanitary facilities (article 1892 C.c.Q.). In that case, the parties may agree on grounds and notice periods for termination, and disputes go before the ordinary courts rather than the TAL. The exception is interpreted strictly: if a single condition is missing, you fall back under the general regime.

Finally, the absolute rule: even when he is entirely in the right, a landlord may never take the law into his own hands. Changing the lock, cutting off the heat or multiplying visits to wear the tenant down exposes him to damages and to punitive damages for harassment (article 1902 C.c.Q.). An eviction may be carried out only by a bailiff, after a decision of the Tribunal, by means of a notice of execution served at least five days in advance, and never on a public holiday or between December 24 and January 2 (article 692 of the Code de procédure civile, Quebec’s Code of Civil Procedure).

Key takeaways

The three-month notice does not exist: the tenant has a right to maintain occupancy and any clause to the contrary is without effect.
To terminate, you need a ground provided by law — rent more than three weeks late, frequent late payments, serious harm, unfit dwelling — and an application to the Tribunal backed by documented evidence.
For repossession and eviction alike, notice is given six months before the end of the lease; since Bill 31, silence means refusal and it is up to the landlord to apply to the Tribunal and prove his good faith.
The eviction indemnity is one month’s rent per year of occupancy, from three to twenty-four months, plus moving expenses.
Refusing a lease assignment on a non-serious ground terminates the lease on the assignment date, but everything depends on the tenant’s initiative.
Never change the lock: only a bailiff can evict, after a decision of the Tribunal, on five days’ notice.

Ending Your Tenant’s Lease: The Landlord’s Guide

The myth of the three-month notice

The real grounds for termination before the Tribunal

Repossessing the dwelling or evicting for major work

Lease assignment: the exit created by Bill 31

The room in your own home, and the ban on taking the law into your own hands

Key takeaways

Further reading

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