I can no longer live in my dwelling because of a disability, can I end the lease?
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Short answer
Yes: article 1974 of the Civil Code of Québec allows a lessee to resiliate the current lease if he or she can no longer occupy the dwelling because of a handicap. The resiliation takes effect two months after a notice is sent to the lessor, or one month after that notice if the lease is for an indeterminate term or a term of less than 12 months · the period runs from the sending of the notice, not from the handicap. The notice must be sent with an acknowledgement from the authority concerned.
In detail
The Tribunal administratif du logement publishes a model notice for this ground: the "Notice of termination of a lease due to a disability" (TAL-821-E), given under article 1974 of the Civil Code of Québec, which reminds the sender to keep a copy and proof that the notice was received. That proof is what will later establish the effective date, since the period runs from the sending.
The Tribunal restates the article term by term: "The resiliation takes effect two months after a notice is sent to the lessor when the lease is for 12 months or more or one month after the notice is sent if the lease is for an indeterminate term or a term of less than 12 months." The article itself allows an earlier exit: resiliation "takes effect before the two-month or one-month period expires if the parties so agree or when the dwelling, having been vacated by the lessee, is re-leased by the lessor during that same period".
The attachment is not optional. The Tribunal writes: "The notice must be sent with an acknowledgement from the authority concerned." The same article covers two other situations on the same time limits: the allocation of a dwelling in low-rental housing, and the permanent admission of a senior to a residential and long-term care centre or a private seniors' residence · that last case additionally requiring "a certificate from an authorized person stating that the conditions requiring admission to the facility have been met".
Rent follows the same logic. For the part of the rent covering services of a personal nature, the lessee "is only required to pay that part of the rent that relates to the services which were provided before he or she vacated the dwelling".
What to document
The dates: of the notice, of its receipt, of each rent payment. A notice is proven by how it was sent; a payment, by the statement that carries it. The condition of the dwelling is photographed · an image carries its date, a recollection does not. And every exchange with the landlord or tenant keeps its timestamp.
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Official sources
- art. 1974, al. 2, du Code civil du Québec (RLRQ c CCQ-1991) · read on 2026-08-09
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.