Can you break your lease with “3-month notice” in Quebec at any time during the lease and for any reason?
Contrary to the popular belief that you can break your lease with “3-month notice” you are not allowed to break the lease unless you are in of the following situations according to Regie du Logement (Rental Board in Quebec):
- you are allocated a dwelling in low-rental housing ;
- you can no longer occupy your dwelling because of a handicap ;
- you are an elderly person is admitted permanently to a residential and long-term care centre or to a foster home.
Any other reasons including purchase of a house, divorce, disagreements between co-tenants, setting up a new household, the need for a larger dwelling, financial problems, moving for employment reasons, etc. do not allow a tenant to force the landlord to cancel the lease.
What can you do if you need to cancel the lease? You can try to get into an agreement with the landlord, you can transfer the lease to another person or sublet it for the remainder of the lease… Read more on how to transfer a lease or sublet an apartment in Quebec.
The landlord might be willing to cancel the lease without any penalty if she or he feels that he can rent our the unit quickly for a higher tent. Otherwise, the landlord might request a cancellation fee (2-3 months’ rent) if it is a renter’s market.
Finally, breaking the lease is not favourable, unless under certain conditions, as mentioned. It would always be cordial to give your landlord heads up ahead of time and make sure you assist your landlord by getting someone else to replace you and apply to transfer your lease.
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