Quebec landlords answer to the human rights commission (CDPDJ), the privacy regulator (Commission d’accès à l’information, CAI) and the housing tribunal (Tribunal administratif du logement, TAL). Their rules apply from the first call, text or email.
What can you ask on the first call or message?
Ask about the unit and the visit: which dwelling, the move-in date, a time to visit and how to reach the person. The CDPDJ says that at first contact, at the visit or on an application form, a landlord may ask only for the information needed to rent the dwelling (CDPDJ aide-mémoire, in French).
A question about the unit is fine: the CDPDJ’s example is asking whether the person has a car, to know whether the lease includes parking. Screening is not. Section 12 of the Charter of human rights and freedoms bars a discriminatory refusal to enter into a juridical act, and the CDPDJ says a lease is one, so callers cannot be filtered on a protected ground, directly or indirectly.
The CDPDJ’s examples of first-contact discrimination include telling a caller with a heavy accent that the unit is rented, asking an older caller whether she can climb to a third floor, and ignoring an email because of the sender’s name. Answer in the person’s language, but do not select on it: the CDPDJ says French ability must not be a selection criterion (CDPDJ, Landlords).
What should you never ask?
Never ask about a ground protected by section 10 of the Charter: race, colour, sex, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, sexual orientation, civil status, age except as provided by law, religion, political convictions, language, ethnic or national origin, social condition, or a handicap or the means used to palliate it. For the CDPDJ, social condition includes people on social assistance, students and people in precarious work.
The CDPDJ lists information you cannot require to sign a lease (CDPDJ, Landlords):
- the number of occupants, the age or sex of children, or custody arrangements
- employment or salary details, or the employer’s contact information
- social insurance, health insurance or passport numbers
- a T4, pay stub, bank balance or bank account number
- a driver’s licence or registration number, or vehicle details
Its aide-mémoire adds date of birth (unless the person consents to a credit check), civil status, pregnancy, health and country of origin, and says criminal history is generally not necessary to sign a lease. Under article 1899 of the Civil Code, a landlord also cannot refuse a lease solely because a person is pregnant or has children, unless the size of the dwelling justifies it.
Agents are covered too. Section 11 bars discriminatory notices, and the CDPDJ says an owner and the rental agency it mandates can both be held responsible for discrimination during selection.
What can the application ask for?
What establishes identity, conduct as a tenant and payment habits, and nothing more. The CAI and the TAL set out the same list:
- Identity: name, first name and full current address. You may ask to see an ID document, but not copy it, photograph it, keep it or record its numbers.
- Conduct: contact details of previous landlords or janitors, or a previous landlord’s recommendation letter.
- Payment habits: with consent, information from current or previous landlords, or a credit check.
The applicant may instead offer a credit attestation from their bank, a landlord’s letter, proof of utility or telecom payments, or extracts of their credit file. The TAL adds that a rental file does not require a specimen cheque or bank contact details.
A landlord cannot refuse an applicant who declines to give the numbers on their ID (CAI, TAL). More broadly, section 9 of the private sector privacy act bars refusing someone for withholding personal information unless it is necessary for the contract, and in case of doubt it is deemed not necessary.
The CDPDJ adds that you may refuse, or ask for a guarantor, when a person cannot show they can pay, but not on stereotypes. A maximum share of income spent on rent, used as a filter, can be indirect discrimination based on social condition, and people with no rental or credit history must be allowed to show they can pay another way.
Can you run a credit check, and how?
Yes, with consent, using only the applicant’s name, address and date of birth. The CAI says the social insurance number is therefore not needed, and JuridiQC, the Quebec government’s legal information site, says a landlord has no right to ask for it.
The CDPDJ suggests a credit check only when the person cannot provide proof of regular payments, and says imposing one systematically discriminates against people without a good credit record. It prefers previous landlords’ references, the past year’s rent receipts and paid housing bills. The applicant may also run the check and give you the report (CAI, TAL).
The private sector privacy act, as amended by Law 25, adds:
- Consent must be clear, free, informed and specific, and presented separately from other information when written (section 14).
- At collection, state the purposes, the means, the rights of access and rectification, the right to withdraw consent and, if applicable, that the information could be communicated outside Quebec (section 8).
- Once a credit bureau reports a security freeze, you cannot ask another bureau for the same lease (section 8.4). The CAI says the freeze covers leases.
- Keep information used for a decision at least one year (section 11), then destroy or anonymize it once its purpose is achieved (section 23).
- A decision based exclusively on automated processing must be disclosed, explained on request and open to review by a staff member (section 12.1).
Are application fees and deposits allowed?
No security deposit. Under article 1904 of the Civil Code, a landlord may demand in advance only the first payment period of rent, never more than one month, may not exact any other amount “in the form of a deposit or otherwise”, and may not demand postdated cheques.
The tribunal, then the Régie du logement, confirmed this in 2020 (Gouvernement du Québec). It noted that a deposit freely offered by a tenant has been upheld, but only if the waiver is clear and nothing suggests the landlord required it or the tenant feared losing the unit.
Credit check fees are unsettled. Article 1904 bars any amount other than rent, while JuridiQC says a landlord may ask the applicant to pay reasonable fees for the check; no official page reconciles the two.
Which lease form do you use?
The TAL’s mandatory form, on paper or electronic. Article 1895 requires the government form and a copy to the tenant within 10 days.
The TAL electronic lease offers every mandatory form with remote electronic signature, for $2.99 plus tax. Each party needs an email address, the process must be finished within 36 hours, and forms sold before January 1, 2026 remain valid until December 31, 2026.
At signing, the lease is in French unless the parties expressly wish otherwise (article 1897), and the new tenant gets a notice of the lowest rent paid in the previous 12 months (article 1896). The CDPDJ says you may then ask to see a photo ID, without copying it.
At a glance
| Question | Quebec rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| First call | Only what is needed to rent; no filtering on Charter grounds | CDPDJ; Charter s. 10, 12 |
| Occupants, children, civil status | Cannot be required | CDPDJ |
| SIN, employer, salary, pay stubs, bank | Cannot be required | CDPDJ; TAL; CAI |
| ID document | Seen only; no copy or numbers | CAI; TAL |
| Credit check | With consent; name, address, date of birth | CAI; P-39.1 s. 14 |
| Deposit | None; at most one month’s rent in advance | Civil Code art. 1904 |
| Credit check fee | Unsettled | Civil Code art. 1904; JuridiQC |
| Lease | TAL mandatory form | Civil Code art. 1895; TAL |
| Decision records | Kept at least one year | P-39.1 s. 11 |