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The timeline

How long does it take to sell a house in Quebec?

In shortThere is no single number. In September 2026, single-family homes took 41 days on average in Greater Montreal and 55 days on the Island of Montreal, from the signed listing contract to a firm sale, once the promise’s conditions were met or waived. The deed and the notary come after, on dates written in the promise to purchase.

How long it takes to sell a house in Quebec, from the promise to purchase to the notary

A job start, a health appointment, a payment that cannot wait, or a purchase you have already signed is a date, not a slogan. This page is the sequence from the decision to the deed, with the clocks a primary source actually states. The shorter page on selling without a listing season is How fast can you sell a house in Montreal?. This is general information, not legal advice.

What are the steps from deciding to sell to signing at the notary?

A sale is a contract by which one person transfers ownership of property to another for a price in money (Civil Code of Québec, article 1708). In an ordinary resale the path runs through a written promise to purchase, the seller’s acceptance or a counter-proposal, the conditions written in that promise, and then the deed. An offer may carry a term for acceptance, and an offer that has a term may not be revoked before the term expires (Civil Code of Québec, article 1390). The OACIQ says that once the seller accepts the promise, it binds both sides, and that the seller may instead refuse it or make a counter-proposal. A new counter-proposal cancels the earlier ones. Silence from the seller is a refusal. On a used property, the OACIQ says the Civil Code leaves the buyer a short interval to withdraw, only between signing the promise and its being presented to the seller. After the seller has received it, the buyer is bound, subject to the conditions in the promise (For a clear understanding of the promise to purchase).

Éducaloi says an offer, once both have signed, is very hard to cancel, and that it should state the financing, what happens to a deposit, and whether taxes are in the price. The same page says the buyer chooses and pays the notary unless the offer says otherwise, and that the seller can have costs such as cancelling the seller’s own hypothec (Offers to Purchase: Six Things to Check). The Chambre des notaires says a clear offer records the price, the deposit kept in trust, the conditions, the documents to provide, and the dates for the inspection, the hypothec, the deed and occupation. It also says the notary remits the proceeds only after certain verifications, and must hold the necessary funds before the transfer of ownership (Purchase offer and preliminary contract). The acquisition of an immovable real right requires publication (Civil Code of Québec, article 2938). Éducaloi says the notary draws up the deed from the accepted offer, publishes it, and handles the money (Real Estate: The Role of the Notary).

How long do homes currently stay on the market in Greater Montreal and the West Island?

In September 2026, the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers reported, from Centris data, an average of 41 days on the market for single-family homes in the Montreal census metropolitan area, one day more than a year earlier, on 1,649 sales at a median price of $635,000. On the Island of Montreal the single-family average was 55 days, three days more than a year earlier, on 310 sales at a median of $779,000. Condominiums took longer: 65 days in the metropolitan area and 73 days on the island. QPAREB reports these as average days on market: from the signing of the brokerage contract to the date the promise is accepted and its conditions are met or waived. They are not the time to the notary, and they are not a prediction for one house (QPAREB, September 2026 monthly statistics).

There is no separate “West Island” line in those monthly tables. The Island of Montreal figure is the published geography that includes the West Island. Active residential listings in the metropolitan area were 21,793, up 20% from a year earlier, so buyers had more choice. The fuller reading of that month is in Selling in the West Island: what the market looks like this fall. APCIQ’s monthly statistics page listed September 2026 as the newest month when this page was written (Statistiques mensuelles).

How long do the conditions in a promise to purchase usually take?

The delays are the ones written in the promise. The OACIQ says the most common conditions, once an offer is accepted, are financing and an inspection by a recognized expert, and that each must be fulfilled within the period the promise states. This page will not quote a usual number of days for an inspection. The OACIQ pages that describe the forms do not state one.

For financing, the OACIQ tells brokers that the period should usually be at least 14 days, counted as consecutive calendar days. Weekends and holidays count. The day the promise is accepted does not count, and the deadline day does. That financing period is not a strict deadline: missing it does not, by itself, void the promise. On the OACIQ forms, the seller then has five days, and that five-day period is a strict deadline, to send the buyer to another lender or to cancel. If the seller does neither, the promise becomes null. A pre-approval is not the unconditional undertaking the form asks for. Those clause numbers belong to the OACIQ brokerage forms. A sale that is not made on those forms writes its own delays (Promise to purchase and financing of an immovable). Éducaloi’s separate suggestion is about the move, not the conditions: ideally at least a month between signing the offer and taking possession, so the lender and the notary have time.

What can slow a sale down?

A missing paper, a certificate of location that no longer shows the house, a charge the price has to pay, a signature that is not yet yours to give, or a lease you cannot end. The OACIQ says a new certificate of location takes four to six weeks on average, and that the notary should have the certificate at least 20 days before the deed. The notary asks for a new one when the certificate is more than ten years old, because of the ten-year prescription in article 2917, even if nothing on the lot has changed, and also when the lot has changed since the last one. The seller normally pays. If the buyer asks for a new certificate and it shows no change, the buyer pays (Importance of an up-to-date certificate of location). The list of papers, and what to do when one is missing, is in What documents do I need to sell a house in Quebec?.

A published charge is paid from the price, or it stays on the house. That file is Can you sell a house with a lien in Quebec? and, for the hypothec the owner granted, Can you sell a house with a mortgage in Quebec?. A succession is not a short file: who may sign is in How do you sell an inherited house in Quebec?. If a parent is still the owner, the signature rules are in How do you sell a parent's house in Quebec?. Éducaloi says a married spouse’s permission may be required for the family residence, and that the sale can be set aside if that consent is missing. The wider rules are in Can you sell a house during a separation or divorce in Quebec?. A lease does not end because the house is sold, so a tenant is not a reason to wait for an empty house, and not a reason to promise one. That limit is in Can you sell a house with tenants in Quebec?.

How long does the notary step take, and what does the file need?

There is no fixed number of days in the sources above. Éducaloi says the date in the offer for signing the deed is generally not a firm deadline, so the promise usually survives being a little late, and that a month from the offer to the move is the time to plan so the lender and the notary can work. A longer gap can be needed at the holidays or in June. The certificate’s four to six weeks, and the 20 days the notary should have it beforehand, are the preparation times the OACIQ states. They are not a legal minimum for every file.

Éducaloi says the notary examines the chain of title, confirms that the seller owns the house and can sell it, draws up the deed from the accepted offer, and publishes the deed and any hypothec. Only a notary prepares a deed of hypothec on an immovable. The Chambre des notaires says the title search also asks who else must consent, and reads the certificate of location for the lot, the buildings and the rights that affect them. The notary must hold the funds the file needs before transferring ownership. The signing date is real when that file is ready, not when a calendar wish says so.

When do you receive the money after the sale?

Not at the table, as a rule. The Chambre des notaires says the money is deposited in the notary’s trust account, usually from an electronic transfer, a bank draft or a certified cheque. Before paying you, the notary must have the notarial act filed at the land registry, which generally requires 24 hours, and must check that no undisclosed sum is owed to a creditor, such as a hypothec balance. The Chambre says the notary normally holds these funds for only a few days, and that the hold is there to protect the people in the file (The notary’s role).

Éducaloi says the notary pays, from that account, the people the seller owes who have rights on the property, and then remits what remains. The hypothec cancellation and the tax adjustment are part of that arithmetic. What you receive is the balance after those amounts, not the headline price. If the next payment or the next house depends on that balance, plan for those few days after signing, and ask the notary on your file what that file still has to clear.

How can you sell faster if you are in a hurry?

Three things change the clock, and none of them replaces the notary. Price the house in line with what is actually selling: in September 2026 buyers in Greater Montreal had 20% more active listings than a year earlier, so a price that sits above recent sales waits. Write a closing date the notary can meet, and say if you need to stay after signing. Sell as the house stands, to a buyer who is not asking for an inspection condition or a commission. A direct sale still needs a clear file: title, the consents the deed requires, and a price that can pay the hypothec if one is registered.

Bruce Malcolm buys houses himself on the Island of Montreal and the surrounding areas. He holds no broker, agent or appraiser licence. There is no inspection and no commission, and the closing date is one you choose once the notary can sign. That path is the one in How fast can you sell a house in Montreal? and in Selling a house as-is in Quebec. A move with a date already on it is Sell a house because you are relocating. Send the address when you want a number (request an offer). The form does not commit you.

Does selling quickly mean taking a lower price?

It can, and it does not have to be a surprise. The days-on-market figure is not a price. A listing spends those days finding a buyer and clearing the conditions. A direct offer is a price for a different sale: no showings, no inspection condition, no commission, and a date the notary can sign. That price can be lower than a patient listing might bring after its costs and its time. It can also be the useful number when the listing’s time is the thing you do not have.

Nothing on this page is a discount, a promise that waiting will pay more, or a reason to sign before you have read the offer. Compare the figure you are given with what a listing would have to clear, and with the date you actually need. You decide after you have read it.

Promise to purchase

What the sources say sets the time. The seller accepts, refuses or counters. A term on the offer limits revocation.

Where it is written. Civil Code, art. 1390; OACIQ

Financing condition

What the sources say sets the time. Usually at least 14 calendar days on the OACIQ forms. Not a strict deadline. Then five strict days for the seller’s options.

Where it is written. OACIQ promise-to-purchase forms

Inspection condition

What the sources say sets the time. The period written in the promise. No usual number is stated here.

Where it is written. OACIQ

Certificate of location

What the sources say sets the time. Four to six weeks on average for a new one. The notary should have it at least 20 days before the deed.

Where it is written. OACIQ

Deed and payout

What the sources say sets the time. The signing date is generally not a firm deadline. Publication generally takes 24 hours. Funds are normally held a few days.

Where it is written. Éducaloi; Chambre des notaires

Days on market

What the sources say sets the time. September 2026: 41 days, Montreal CMA single-family; 55 days on the Island of Montreal. Not the time to the notary.

Where it is written. QPAREB / Centris

What sets the clock on a Quebec house sale

Sources

Questions people ask

Keep reading

This is general information about how a sale usually works in Quebec. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and it is not a promise about your price or your date. A notary — and, if your file needs it, a lawyer or a licensed insolvency trustee — applies the rules to your situation. Sending an address does not commit you to sell.