Do you need a new certificate of location to sell a house in Quebec?

What is a certificate of location in Quebec?

It is a report and a plan. The Ordre des arpenteurs-géomètres du Québec calls it a document with legal value that gives the “state of health” of a property in relation to the titles, the cadastre, the occupation, and the laws and regulations that can affect it. The land surveyor states a professional opinion on the current situation and condition of the land. In a sale, the Order says the certificate provides a guarantee that the property conforms, or that it shows irregularities it is better to know, so the parties are protected. Only a land surveyor may prepare one, under the Land Surveyors Act, and that person must be a member of the Order. The document is governed by the regulation on the standard of practice for the certificate of location (c. A-23, r. 10). It must not be used to try to establish property boundaries on the ground, or to start work related to those boundaries (Certificat de localisation, OAGQ).

On a sale, the Order says the land surveyor gives an opinion on that “state of health” as to the titles, encroachments, servitudes and municipal by-laws, and has a duty to say whether the property is in a flood zone or in any other risk zone, such as a landslide zone, decreed by municipal regulation. The certificate can also bring out a restriction that would prevent a pool. The Order’s example is a restriction that prevents any construction within 3 metres of the property line: the buyer is then presumed informed, and will know before buying if an in-ground pool cannot go there. The certificate page says the land surveyor checks, among other things, the updated description of the land, servitudes such as a right of way, constraints such as an agricultural zone, a flood zone, an environmental-protection zone or an airport zone, encroachments, and conformity with municipal and government regulations. It points to articles 9 and 10 of the regulation for the full list (Vente ou achat d’une propriété, OAGQ).

Québec.ca, updated 15 October 2025, says the certificate is necessary for any real estate transaction, that a land surveyor produces it, that the seller generally provides it to the buyer, and that this private document protects both parties. It says you will find, where they apply, servitudes, flood zones, risk zones, or municipal restrictions that prevent a pool or a shed. That page does not state a price and does not state a number of weeks (Certificat de localisation, Québec.ca). A mapped flood zone, once the certificate names one, is a separate question (Can you sell a house in a flood zone in Quebec?).

The OACIQ’s public page describes a certificate, pursuant to the Land Surveyors Act, as a document en minute, consisting of a report and a plan, stating the land surveyor’s opinion on the current situation and state of the immovable in relation to the ownership titles, the cadastre, and the laws, regulations and by-laws which may affect it (Importance of an up-to-date certificate of location).

Does the Civil Code require a new certificate, or the one you have?

Article 1719 deals with the certificate the seller already has. The seller is bound to hand over to the buyer the titles of ownership in his possession and, in the case of the sale of an immovable, a copy of the act of acquisition of the immovable, of any previous titles and of any location certificate in his possession (Civil Code of Québec, article 1719). The article names the certificate the seller possesses. It does not say a new one must be drawn up.

The OAGQ certificate page already cited quotes article 1719 the same way, and adds that a creditor or a notary may require an up-to-date certificate when a property is sold. The sale page already cited says that, in Quebec, the seller normally has the responsibility to provide a certificate of location to the buyer. Québec.ca’s sentence, that the certificate is necessary for any real estate transaction, is Québec.ca’s sentence. It is not the text of article 1719.

On the forms the OACIQ developed, the undertaking is different. Under those brokerage contracts and promises to purchase, the seller undertakes to provide the broker or the buyer, as the case may be, with a certificate of location “describing the current physical state of premises.” The OACIQ says the obligation to provide one remains whether or not the seller already has one, and that if there is none the seller will have to prepare one. Obtaining title insurance does not release the seller from providing an up-to-date certificate. Clause 10.3 of the promise forms, and clause 10.5 for an immovable held in divided co-ownership, says the certificate is submitted to the notary before the deed is signed (The certificate of location describing the current physical state of the immovable).

Those clauses are in the OACIQ forms. Without a broker, the promise to purchase says what the parties write in it, and Éducaloi says the promise is where a buyer writes that they want an up-to-date certificate checked. The notary still reads the certificate before the deed, which is the subject of How do you sell a house without a real estate broker in Quebec?.

When is the certificate you have enough?

The OAGQ says there is no law or regulation that would make a certificate of location expire or become outdated. The more time passes, the more the situation of the property can change. Its duration page gives, as examples, a new servitude, such as a right of way or a Hydro line, a change in a risk zone, such as a flood zone, and a modification to the property, including the purchase or sale of part of the lot and a change to the cadastre. An extension of the house, building a garage, a pool or a shed, or adding a fence or a hedge, are modifications for which a new certificate would be required, so the position of those elements can be checked against the municipal minimum distances for the pool and the shed, and so fences can be checked for an encroachment on the neighbouring properties (Durée de vie du certificat de localisation, OAGQ).

The same page says the Chambre des notaires and the OACIQ enjoin their members to require a certificate less than 10 years old, even if no modification seems to have been made. A prudent notary may require a recent certificate that shows the current state of the premises. The OAGQ says each case is different, and that if you are in doubt you consult a land surveyor or a notary. The importance page already cited adds two cases of its own: a change to the zoning rules for premises in a flood zone, an erosion zone or a landslide zone would require a new certificate, and the certificate must reflect a change to the cadastre even if the only change is the lot number.

The OACIQ’s public page on a certificate more than 10 years old is about a brokerage file. It says the “current state of the immovable” covers the physical state, for example a new construction, a building, a pool, a shed, a fence or something else, on the land described in the certificate and on the adjacent lands; changes to municipal regulations, including a riparian protection strip, a flood zone, or a constraint zone such as gas or a railway; and changes to the zoning by-law, including siting standards. It says the certificate must also reflect a change to the cadastre. If the certificate the seller has when the brokerage contract is signed describes that current state and reflects the cadastral change, the OACIQ says the notary will not require a new one in the check before the deed. If it is more than 10 years old, the same page says the notary will require a new one because of the ten-year prescription in article 2917, which allows a right of ownership to be acquired. In every such case, even where the certificate still describes the current state, the OACIQ says the broker must tell the seller, as soon as the brokerage contract is signed, to mandate a land surveyor. The seller must follow up on the notary’s request (Certificat de localisation datant de plus de 10 ans, page in French).

Article 2917 itself says the period for acquisitive prescription is 10 years, except as otherwise determined by law. It does not mention a certificate of location (Civil Code of Québec, article 2917). The sentence that a notary will require a new certificate because of that article is the OACIQ’s. The OAGQ’s sentence remains the one above: no law or regulation makes the certificate expire.

Éducaloi states a different rule, and it is Éducaloi’s. It says a certificate is valid until the first of two events: a change to the property, to the municipal by-laws, or to the lot number in the Cadastre du Québec, or the certificate being more than 10 years old. It says an expired certificate is “no longer up to date” or “does not represent the current state of the immovable,” and that it can be incomplete and hide problems a new one would reveal (Acheteurs : pourquoi exiger un certificat de localisation?). Éducaloi does not say the Civil Code sets a ten-year expiry.

Who pays for a new certificate of location?

The OAGQ says the certificate is normally at the seller’s expense, unless the promise to purchase says otherwise, and that it is generally produced at the seller’s expense. The sale page invites the reader to the Order’s suggested-fee guide for the possible cost of preparing one. That page does not state a dollar amount. This page states none.

On the OACIQ forms, three sentences sit side by side, and they are not one rule this page invented. The current-state page already cited says the seller bears the cost of the certificate that describes the current physical state, and that a buyer who wants another certificate pays for that one. The importance page already cited says that if the buyer requires a new certificate in the promise to purchase, and the new one reveals no change from the previous certificate, the buyer bears that cost. The page on a certificate more than 10 years old says the seller may make a prior agreement with the buyer about the fees, and that it is sometimes better that the seller pay them at the outset rather than have a dispute with a serious buyer. The promise is where the OAGQ says a different arrangement is written.

Commission if you list, a mortgage penalty, the notary’s fee to discharge a hypothec, and the tax adjustment are a different list (The real costs of selling a house in Quebec). None of those pages, and not this one, states what a particular certificate will cost.

What does an encroachment or a non-conformity change?

Article 1724 says the seller warrants the buyer against any encroachment on his part unless he has declared it at the time of the sale. The seller also warrants against any encroachment commenced with his knowledge by a third person before the sale (Civil Code of Québec, article 1724). Article 1723 is the warranty that the property is free of all rights except those declared at the time of the sale, and that the seller discharges the property of all hypothecs, even declared or registered, unless the buyer has assumed the debt so secured (Civil Code of Québec, article 1723). Article 1725 says the seller of an immovable warrants the buyer against any violation of public law restrictions affecting the property which are exceptions to the ordinary law of ownership. The seller is not bound to that warranty where notice of those restrictions was given at the time of the sale, where a prudent and diligent buyer could have discovered them by reason of the nature, location and use of the premises, or where such restrictions have been registered at the Land Registry Office (Civil Code of Québec, article 1725).

The OAGQ sale page already cited says that if irregularities are detected, such as an encroachment, the buyer will not be able to consider the seller responsible for not having informed them, and that the buyer’s arguments for prejudice after the transaction would be weak. If the property conforms, the Order says the certificate legally certifies that. Those are the OAGQ’s sentences about the effect of the certificate. They are not the text of article 1724. Article 1724 turns on whether the encroachment was declared at the time of the sale.

Éducaloi, on the page already cited, says a municipality can generally order an owner to move or demolish any portion of a building that contravenes its by-laws. It says you could buy something smaller than you thought, or a neighbour could start a legal proceeding because a building overflows onto the neighbour’s land. A right of way on the land has to be respected. A property in a flood zone or a landslide-risk zone can carry greater risks of flooding or collapse. The OACIQ pages already cited say title insurance does not release the seller from providing an up-to-date certificate.

With the certificate, the Chambre des notaires says the notary checks whether the dimensions of the land are exact, whether the buildings stand on the land being sold, whether the house was built in conformity with the municipal by-laws and the laws that apply to zoning, whether the neighbour’s property encroaches, whether the windows meet what the law requires, and whether there are rights of way. The same examination can show a charge or a real right that may affect or limit the ownership, such as a hypothec, a seizure, a judgment or a servitude. The notary analyses the declarations and checks the certificate and the titles, and may also, on request, check conformity with the municipal by-laws (Offre d’achat et avant-contrat, Chambre des notaires). On the legal warranty, the Chambre says the seller must guarantee that the immovable does not encroach on the neighbouring property and vice versa, and that there is no violation of a public-law limitation, for example a zoning or planning by-law, except a limitation that is registered or that was declared (Qu’est-ce qu’une vente avec garantie légale?). The Chambre also lists, among the notary’s advice, the importance of checking the certificate of location so as to avoid unpleasant surprises, and the solutions for irregularities found in the title examination (Le rôle du notaire). That page names solutions. It does not list them. This page will not invent the one a file uses.

Éducaloi says the notary advises the buyer, the lending institution and the seller, without taking sides, and examines the chain of titles. That examination confirms the property belongs to the seller and that the seller has the right to sell it. It can also reveal a neighbour’s right to cross the middle of the land, or a risk of a lawsuit if you build. The notary tells you, and can advise on the steps that follow what you want to do. The deed is drawn from the promise. The notary publishes the deed of sale and the deed of hypothec, and pays the creditors who could have a right in the property before releasing the proceeds (Immobilier : le rôle du notaire).

The warranty of quality is a different warranty from articles 1723 to 1725. An offer with no inspection condition does not, by itself, set aside the legal warranty of quality. How that clause is written is the subject of Selling a house as-is in Quebec. A crack in a foundation is not the question the certificate is drawn to answer (Can you sell a house with foundation problems in Quebec?).

How do you order a certificate of location?

You ask a land surveyor who is a member of the Order. The directory “Trouver un arpenteur-géomètre” searches by city or postal code. The OAGQ says the tool identifies members who wish to be known to the public. It is not the roll of members. A retired member, or a member without employment, may not appear. The Order invites you to read the notices of limitation, of striking off, and of revocation of the right to practise (Trouver un arpenteur-géomètre, OAGQ).

A copy of a certificate that already exists is a different request. The OAGQ says you join the land surveyor who produced it. If that person has retired or has died, you look for who holds the greffe. The Order says the document is generally private and confidential, and that it is handed only to the client and to the parties who were designated. Québec.ca, already cited, also calls it a private document.

On a brokerage sale, the current-state page already cited says the broker should have the new certificate requested as soon as possible after the brokerage contract is signed, and should not wait for a promise to purchase. For a divided co-ownership, the OAGQ sale page says the certificate of the private portion is not enough. A copy of the certificate for the whole building should also be requested, because that one reports the conformity of the whole property with the laws and regulations, the encroachments, the servitudes, and possible restrictions on adding a pool or sheds. The OACIQ current-state page says the seller undertakes to provide a certificate describing the current state of the whole co-ownership. Where a certificate of the whole exists and describes the private portion, handing it over will do. It then presents each unit, with the lot number, the door number, the dimensions and the area. A lot number or a door number alone is not enough. If the certificate on hand is outdated, or does not describe the private portion well enough, a new one must be provided. The OACIQ says the broker should never strike out the words “including the private portion.”

With no broker, you are the person who asks the land surveyor. The sentences about the broker are sentences about a brokerage contract.

What does the certificate do to the closing date?

The OAGQ says to expect a delay of several weeks for delivery, and to count that time in the steps of the sale. It states no number of weeks. The OACIQ says that when a new certificate is required, the time to count is an average of four to six weeks, and that the period may be longer in a booming market. The notary should be able to look at the certificate, as with any certificate already in the file, at least 20 days before the deed is signed. Those durations are the OACIQ’s. This page does not merge them into one figure, and it does not add another.

Éducaloi says the promise is where you write, where it applies, that you want an up-to-date certificate checked, and Éducaloi describes that certificate as issued less than 10 years ago and representing the current state of the immovable. It says to check how long the land surveyor will need, if a certificate is necessary, together with the time the notary and a building inspector will need. It says you should ideally allow at least one month between signing the offer and moving, so the notary can do their work, and that a longer delay can be required, as at the holiday period, in June, or during a pandemic. The date written in the offer for signing the deed is generally not a strict deadline: the offer stands even if that date is passed by a little. The deadline for an answer to the offer usually is a strict one, and the offer falls once it has passed (Faire une offre d’achat : 6 choses à vérifier).

The day you leave is the occupancy date in the promise. That clock is When do you have to move out after selling a house in Quebec?. How long the rest of a Quebec sale takes, from the promise to the notary, is How long does it take to sell a house in Quebec?.

Can you ask for an offer before the new certificate is ready?

Yes. Asking for a number is not the notary’s examination. If this sale is one that needs a new certificate, the notary still reads it, on the timetable above.

Bruce Malcolm buys houses himself on the Island of Montreal and the surrounding areas. He holds no broker, agent or appraiser licence. He is not a notary, a land surveyor or an adviser. There is no inspection and no commission. An offer with no inspection condition does not, by itself, set aside the legal warranty of quality. You say what you know about the house, including an encroachment or a municipal notice you already have, when you send the address. The closing date is one you choose once the notary can sign. Sending the address starts a conversation (request an offer). The form does not commit you.