Non-Resident Landlord in Quebec: 2026 Tax + Tenancy Guide

If Alberta is the low-friction end of the Canadian spectrum, Quebec is the regulated end. For a non-resident owner, the provincial rules are a set of obligations to learn rather than absences to enjoy:

The federal non-resident rules (25% Part XIII withholding) apply equally in all provinces; the table above shows only the provincial differences.

For an owner managing from another country, Quebec asks you to learn a genuinely different rulebook — the Civil Code of Québec and the TAL rather than a common-law tenancies act. None of it is insurmountable, but it rewards a local property manager who knows the regime, and it makes the mandatory lease form and the no-deposit rule things you cannot quietly ignore from abroad.

The single most important rule for any non-resident landlord in Canada: 25% of your gross rent must be withheld and remitted to CRA under Part XIII of the Income Tax Act. Gross means gross — before mortgage interest, property tax, condo fees, insurance, repairs, or management fees.

On a $1,800/month Montreal apartment, that is $450 withheld every month — $5,400 per year — regardless of whether the property actually nets you anything after expenses.

The withholding duty falls on the payer or your Canadian agent, not on you directly:

• If a Canadian property manager collects your rent, they are the withholding agent. They must remit 25% of each gross rent payment to CRA by the 15th of the month following the month the rent was paid or credited — and they are personally liable for unremitted amounts.
• If your tenant pays you directly with no agent in between, the tenant is technically the one required to withhold. In practice almost no tenant does this, and CRA enforcement falls back on you when it breaks down. The standard fix is to appoint a Canadian resident agent — any Quebec property manager will act as one for a fee.

At year-end, whoever withheld issues you an NR4 slip documenting the gross rent paid (box 16) and the tax withheld (box 17). For the full walkthrough of the slip, every box code, and the deadlines, see our NR4 Form Complete Guide.

None of this is Quebec-specific — but it is the foundation everything else sits on, and it is the rule most new non-resident landlords discover only after several months of 25% gross withholding have already left their account.

The NR6 is the pre-fix. Filed jointly by you and your Canadian agent before the first rent payment of the year (for a January rental, CRA must receive it before January 1), it asks CRA to authorize withholding at 25% of estimated net income — gross rent minus projected expenses — instead of 25% of gross.

On a typical leveraged Montreal property the difference is dramatic:

• Monthly rent: $1,800
• Without NR6: 25% × $1,800 = $450/month to CRA
• Estimated monthly expenses (mortgage interest, municipal and school taxes, condo fees, management): $1,200
• With NR6: 25% × $600 net = $150/month to CRA
• Cash kept during the year: roughly $3,600

Two strict conditions come with NR6 approval:

1. The January 1 deadline is absolute. CRA does not apply the NR6 retroactively to months already paid. Submit in November or December — processing can take 4-8 weeks.
2. A Section 216 return becomes mandatory, due by June 30 of the following year. Miss it and CRA reassesses the full 25% of gross as if the NR6 never existed.

The approval is also tied to the specific agent named on the form — change property managers mid-year and the new agent must withhold 25% of gross until their own NR6 is approved. Full details in our NR6 Application Guide.

After December 31, two documents close out the year:

The NR4 slip. Your property manager or agent issues this slip reporting gross rent paid and total Part XIII tax withheld. The NR4 information return is due to CRA by March 31 following the calendar year (the last day of March, per CRA guide T4061). Cross-check box 16 against your own rent records the moment it arrives.

The Section 216 return. This is the optional (mandatory if you filed an NR6) Canadian tax return that re-computes your tax on net rental income — after mortgage interest, municipal and school taxes, insurance, condo fees, management, repairs, and the other T776 expense categories — and reconciles it against what was withheld. Because actual tax on net income is almost always far less than 25% of gross, the Section 216 return typically produces a refund, usually arriving 90-120 days after filing.

Deadlines: June 30 of the following year if you had an NR6 in place; otherwise two years after the end of the tax year. Skipping Section 216 when you have real expenses leaves money with CRA permanently. The complete walkthrough is in our Section 216 Election Complete Guide.

Here is the part that surprises people who assume Quebec's famously separate tax system means a separate rental return: as a non-resident, you do not file a Quebec return for your rental income at all.

Revenu Québec administers Quebec's own income tax, and Quebec residentsfile a provincial TP-1 return alongside their federal one. But a non-resident's rental (property) income is not treated as income earned in a province. Because it is not earned in a province, there is no Quebec provincial tax on it and no Revenu Québec rental return to file. Instead, on your Section 216 return, the federal return adds a surtax for non-residents of 48% of basic federal tax in lieu of provincial tax. The entire Canadian income tax on your Quebec rent is therefore settled with the CRA on the one Section 216 return.

The practical consequences:

• One return, not two. Unlike a Quebec resident, you do not file a parallel TP-1 for the rental income. The Section 216 return with the 48% surtax is the whole picture.
• The 48% surtax is not a 48% tax on income. It is 48% of the federal tax computed on your net rental income — which is why the effective rate on modest net rent is still usually well below 25% of gross, and why the Section 216 refund exists.
• The province is tax-neutral for the rent itself. A Quebec rental and an Ontario rental with identical net income produce identical Canadian income tax for a non-resident — the 48% surtax mechanism applies the same way in every province.

If you also pay tax on this income in your country of residence, the Canadian tax actually paid per the Section 216 reconciliation (not the gross withholding) is generally what counts toward your foreign tax credit at home.

Note that this "no separate provincial return" treatment is specific to the rental incomewhile you hold the property. As the next section shows, Quebec's provincial layer does reappear — sharply — when you sell.

When a non-resident sells Canadian real estate, the buyer is required to hold back a portion of the gross sale price and remit it to the tax authorities unless the seller has obtained a clearance certificate. In Quebec — and this is the distinctive part — there are two tax authorities and therefore two holdbacks and two certificates.

• The holdback. On a Quebec sale, the buyer (in practice, through the notary who closes the transaction) holds back 25% federal plus 12.875% Quebec of the gross sale price — a combined 37.875% — pending clearance.
• Two certificates. Clearance requires both a T2062 (the federal certificate of compliance from CRA) and a TP-1097-V (the equivalent Quebec certificate from Revenu Québec). One without the other does not release the full holdback.
• The 10-day deadline. The certificate requests must be filed within 10 days of the sale — earlier is far better, because processing can take weeks and the notary holds the funds until both certificates issue.
• The penalty for missing it. Failing to notify on time carries a penalty of up to $5,000 — split as up to $2,500 federal and $2,500 Quebec.

The certificates are based on the actual gain, not the gross price, so the amount ultimately owed is usually far less than 37.875% of the sale — but the mechanics are unforgiving on timing. For a non-resident selling from abroad, the two-certificate process is the single most important thing to line up with a Quebec notary and a cross-border accountant before the closing date, not after.

This is the Quebec rule that most surprises landlords arriving from other provinces: security deposits are prohibited. Under the Civil Code of Québec, a landlord may require only the first month's rent in advance — nothing more.

Specifically, a Quebec landlord may not demand, as a condition of the lease:

• A damage deposit— there is no equivalent of Alberta's one-month security deposit held in trust.
• A key deposit for keys, fobs, or access cards.
• A last-month's-rent deposit — unlike Ontario, you cannot collect the final month up front.
• Post-dated cheques — a landlord cannot require them as a condition of renting.

For a non-resident owner, this changes the risk model directly: there is no cushion of held funds to draw on for damage or unpaid rent. The protections you rely on instead are careful tenant selection, the mandatory move-in condition of the unit, and — when something goes wrong — an application to the TAL. It also means one fewer trust-accounting obligation than an Alberta or BC property carries.

Quebec has no hard capon rent increases like Ontario's guideline. Instead it runs a rent-fixing regime through the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL) — the housing tribunal formerly known as the Régie du logement, renamed in 2020.

1. The TAL's suggested basic increase. Each year the TAL publishes a suggested basic increase. For leases renewing between April 2, 2026 and April 1, 2027, the TAL's suggested basic increase is 3.1%. It is a suggestion, not a ceiling — the actual amount also reflects factors like major work and tax and insurance changes on the building.

2. The tenant can refuse and stay. This is the heart of the Quebec regime. A tenant who receives a rent-increase notice may refuse the increase and remain in the unit. If the tenant refuses, the landlord must then apply to the TAL within one month to have the tribunal fix the rent. Silence or inaction by the landlord means the increase does not take effect.

3. The under-5-years exception. The refuse-and-stay right does not apply if the building is less than 5 years old — a fact that must be noted in Section F of the mandatory lease. For new buildings, in other words, the tenant cannot refuse the increase and remain on the old rent.

4. The lowest-rent disclosure (Section G). The mandatory lease requires the landlord to disclose, in Section G, the lowest rent paid in the previous 12 months. This lets an incoming tenant see whether the rent was raised on turnover and, if so, contest it at the TAL within the allowed window.

For a remote owner, the operational takeaway is that a rent increase in Quebec is not something you simply impose — it is a notice the tenant can push back on, after which the tribunal, not you, sets the number. A local manager who knows the TAL process is worth having.

Two more Civil Code features shape how a Quebec tenancy behaves over time — both more tenant-favourable than the common-law provinces:

Strong assignment and sublet rights. A Quebec tenant has a robust right to assign the lease (cession de bail) or to sublet. The landlord can refuse only for a serious reason and must respond within 15 days of being notified — and silence is deemed consent. This is materially different from other provinces, where a landlord's consent simply cannot be unreasonably withheld; in Quebec, missing the 15-day window hands the tenant the assignment or sublet by default. A cession de bail in particular transfers the lease to a new tenant and can release the original tenant from future obligations — so a remote landlord needs a process that flags these requests and answers them inside 15 days.

Automatic renewal. Quebec residential leases generally renew automatically on the same terms at the end of the term, subject to the rent adjustment described above. A landlord who wants to change conditions (including rent) serves a notice within the prescribed window; absent that, the lease simply rolls over. There is no need for the tenant to sign a new lease each year, and the landlord cannot end a tenancy merely because the term expired.

The combined effect: a Quebec tenancy tends to be stickier and more tenant-controlled than an Alberta or Ontario one. That is neither good nor bad for a non-resident owner in the abstract — but it is something to underwrite for, especially the 15-day assignment clock, which is easy to miss from another time zone.

Quebec's provincial layer shows up at purchase and, for new construction, in sales tax. Neither is a non-resident surcharge — they apply to residents and non-residents alike — but a remote buyer should budget for them:

• The welcome tax (droits de mutation). Quebec municipalities levy a land-transfer dutyon the purchase of immovable property — colloquially the "taxe de bienvenue." It is graduated and set at the municipal level, so the exact brackets vary by city, and Montreal applies additional higher brackets on more expensive properties. Treat it as a real closing cost to confirm with your notary for the specific municipality — it is a one-time duty paid shortly after the purchase.
• GST and QST on new construction. The purchase of new or substantially renovated housing can attract GST at 5% plus QST at 9.975%. By contrast, long-term residential rent itself is GST/QST-exempt — you do not charge or remit sales tax on ordinary residential rent. The sales-tax exposure is at acquisition of new-build stock, not on the monthly rent you collect.

The practical point for a non-resident: the welcome tax is a budgeting item at closing, and the GST/QST question is one to settle with your accountant only if you are buying newly built or substantially renovated housing. Ordinary long-term rental of an existing unit does not put you into the sales-tax system.

For three years, one ownership-layer tax did follow non-residents into Quebec, because it was federal: the Underused Housing Tax (UHT) — an annual tax of 1% of the property's value aimed at vacant or underused residential property owned by non-resident, non-Canadian owners. Budget 2025 eliminated it: no UHT is payable and no UHT return is required for the 2025 and later calendar years (enacted when Bill C-15 received royal assent in March 2026).

What still matters for this guide's audience:

• Emigrant Canadians were never caught. If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you were generally an excluded owner for the 2022-2024 years — no UHT and no UHT return — even though you are a non-resident for income tax purposes. Your Part XIII and Section 216 obligations are unaffected either way.
• Foreign owners' 2022-2024 obligations survive. Foreign owners (neither citizens nor PRs) were typically affected ownersfor those years: an annual UHT return was required for each property, due April 30 of the following year, even when an exemption eliminated the tax itself. A property rented out at arm's length for most of the year usually qualified for an exemption from the tax — but the return still had to be filed, and failure-to-file penalties for unfiled 2022-2024 returns still apply, starting at a $1,000 minimum per individual per property per year ($2,000 for corporations).

If you owned Quebec residential property as a foreign owner during 2022-2024 and never filed, catching up is still the safe move; from 2025 onward there is nothing to file.

The operational checklist for a non-resident owner, in the order it matters:

1. Appoint a Canadian agent. Not optional in practice: someone in Canada must withhold and remit your Part XIII tax, co-sign your NR6, and issue your NR4. A licensed Quebec property manager does all three as part of standard service — and, just as importantly, knows the TAL, the mandatory lease form, and the 15-day assignment clock. A trusted friend or family member in Canada can act as agent, but they take on personal liability for the remittances — most owners use a professional.
2. Decide your withholding posture before January 1. NR6 (withhold on net) saves real cash during the year but locks in the June 30 Section 216 deadline. No NR6 (withhold on gross) keeps things simple and recovers the excess later via Section 216 within two years. Either way, you file only the federal Section 216 return — there is no separate Quebec rental return.
3. Use the mandatory TAL lease form and skip the deposit.Your lease must be on the official TAL form, and you may collect only the first month's rent in advance — no damage, key, or last-month deposit. Make sure Section F (building age) and Section G (lowest rent in the last 12 months) are completed correctly; they drive the rent-increase rules.
4. Keep your books in CAD from day one. Rent, expenses, withholding, and the T776 all run in Canadian dollars. Whatever conversion your home country requires for its own return (the IRS, HMRC, the ATO) happens downstream — never let your source records become a mix of currencies.
5. Make rent collection observable from abroad. In Quebec, tenants commonly pay by Interac e-Transfer or pre-authorized debit. The failure mode for remote owners is silent: a missed payment you discover six weeks later. Set up your banking and records so a missing rent payment is visible within days.
6. Track withholding in real time, not at NR4 time. Reconciling twelve months of remittances against the NR4 each March is where discrepancies surface — too late. BorderBird is built for exactly this workflow: forward your rent payment emails (e-Transfer notifications) and it imports each payment automatically, tracks your Part XIII withholding and NR4 totals through the year, and exports the Section 216 supporting data your accountant needs. Try BorderBird free.

Useful next reads:

• NR4 Form: Complete Guide — the slip, every box, every deadline
• NR6 Application: How to Reduce 25% Withholding — step-by-step filing
• Section 216 Election: Complete Guide — the year-end return and refund
• T776 Rental Income Form: Complete Guide — the expense categories behind your net income
• CRA Part XIII Remittance Calculator — your monthly withholding with and without NR6