Buying a Home: QC
Buying a Home in Quebec
Province-specific costs, taxes, and the step-by-step process for Quebec home buyers.
Quebec home buyer's checklist
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Built for your province
- ✓Province-specific closing cost breakdown
- ✓Quebec land transfer tax guide
- ✓Step-by-step buying checklist
- ✓What to watch out for in Quebec
Free. General information only, not legal or regulatory advice.
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Closing costs · land transfer tax · buyer checklist
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- ✓Offer checklist
- ✓Closing cost worksheet
- ✓Land transfer tax guide
- ✓Step-by-step buyer guide
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Built by Nathan, nine years in the Canadian Army, paperwork done the hard way first.
Land Transfer Tax / Fees
Quebec's "Welcome Tax" (Droits de mutation immobilière). The provincial base tranches for 2026 are 0.5% up to $62,900, 1% from $62,900 to $315,000, and 1.5% from $315,000 to $552,300. Above $552,300 a municipality may set its own higher rates by by-law, and Montréal does: 2% to $1,104,700, 2.5% to $2,136,500, 3.5% to $3,113,000, and 4% above that. The base tranches are indexed annually.
First-Time Buyer Rebate
Montréal's Home Purchase Assistance Program has ended and stopped accepting new applications on July 7, 2026. Quebec introduced a refundable first-time buyer tax credit, announced 17 April 2026 and retroactive to homes acquired on or after 1 January 2026. It reimburses the droit de mutation (welcome tax) up to $5,875, being 100% of the first $5,000 of duty paid plus 25% of the next $3,500, and phases out on a transfer-duty tax base from $750,000 to $1,000,000. You qualify if, in the year of acquisition or the four preceding years, you did not occupy a dwelling that you or your spouse owned. Owning a rental you never lived in does not disqualify you.
Closing Costs to Budget For
- Welcome Tax (droits de mutation)
- Notarial fees (ask for a quote)
- Home inspection (varies by property size and age)
- QST on new builds (new homes not resale)
- Adjustments (school taxes, municipal taxes)
Professionals You'll Need
Lawyer / Notary
The deed of sale does not itself have to be notarial: a private deed can be registered if a notary or lawyer attests to the parties' identity, capacity, and consent (art. 2991). What must be notarial is the hypothec (mortgage): under art. 2693 it is void without a notarial act, which is why virtually every financed purchase closes before a notary. No professional body publishes a set tariff for notarial fees, and by the rules of professional conduct the fee must be fair, reasonable, and disclosed, so ask for a quote up front.
Title Insurance
Less common in Quebec due to the notarial system, but available and increasingly recommended.
Home Inspector
Highly recommended. "Garantie habitation" provides some protection on new builds.
Where Title Is Registered in Quebec
Your lawyer registers the transfer/deed with the Registre foncier du Quebec.
Registre foncier du Quebec →Step-by-Step Process
- 1Pre-approval from lender
- 2Hire a real estate broker (optional but common in Quebec)
- 3Make an offer using standard OACIQ forms
- 4Conditions: financing and inspection
- 5Remove conditions and firm up
- 6Notary prepares the deed of sale
- 7Sign at notary office and receive keys
Watch Out For
The hypothec (mortgage) must be granted by notarial act (art. 2693 CCQ); the deed of sale itself need not be, though in practice nearly every purchase is notarized
Transfer duties are exigible from the thirty-first day following the day the account is SENT, not the day you receive it (Act respecting duties on transfers of immovables, s.11); Montréal states the bill is payable in one instalment within 30 days of sending
Defects discovered post-sale may be covered under "legal warranty"; understand your rights
Condos (divises) require review of the co-ownership declaration and budget