What are lease renewals and how do they work?
For lease renewals there are three scenarios:
- if you want to leave.
- if you want to stay.
- if you want to stay BUT you disagree with any new terms included in the renewal notice.
Now pay attention here because some landlords can be sneaky about this. Residential leases in Quebec automatically renew and there is no obligation of exchange of notices between tenant and landlord.
If your landlord wants to make any changes to the original lease (price, parking, heating etc.), then they are required to give you written notice 3-6 months before the end of your lease (this applies only to leases of 12+ months in Québec).
The tenant MUST reply within 30 days of receipt of this notice whether they are leaving OR staying and agree to any proposed changes OR are staying but do not agree to the proposed changes.
If the tenant does not reply within the 30 days then the lease is automatically renewed at the proposed terms set out in the renewal notice by the landlord. If the tenant does not want to stay and has not received any notice from their landlord, then the tenant MUST give written notice to their landlord that they are leaving at the end of their lease within the same 3-6 months before the end of their lease.
For further information on lease renewals consult the Regie du Logement of Quebec.
