Registre des Loyers Quebec — Rent History and What Landlords Need to Know

What the Registre des Loyers Actually Is

Quebec has discussed creating a province-wide rent registry (registre des loyers) for years, but there is no centralized government database that records every tenant's rent. The TAL (Tribunal administratif du logement) maintains records of rent-fixing decisions it has adjudicated, but that covers only dwellings where a formal dispute reached the tribunal.

This means there is no official province-wide rent-history register for standard long-term leases. Third-party rent platforms and tenant association databases exist, but they have no statutory force or mandatory legal-disclosure duties.

For landlords, this matters because the absence of a centralized registry puts more weight on the disclosure mechanism that does exist: Section G of the standard Quebec lease form.

How Section G Works

Section G (sometimes called Clause G) of the mandatory Quebec lease form requires the landlord to disclose the lowest rent paid during the 12 months preceding the start of the new tenancy. This disclosure applies when a new tenant moves in — not during routine annual renewals with the same tenant.

The purpose is to prevent artificial rent inflation between tenancies. If a landlord rents a unit to a departing tenant at $900/month and then lists it at $1,300/month for the new tenant without disclosing the previous rent, the new tenant can apply to the TAL to have the rent fixed. The deadline is 10 days after signing the lease; if a required Section G disclosure was omitted, it is two months after the lease starts; if the disclosure was false, it is two months after discovering the misrepresentation.

The TAL can fix the rent under Article 1950.

What This Means for Rent Increases

During a routine annual rent increase with an existing tenant, Section G is not directly relevant — the tenant already knows their current rent. The disclosure obligation arises at lease inception with a new occupant.

However, rent history still matters indirectly. If you acquired a property and the previous owner's rent was well below market, the TAL's calculation criteria constrain how fast you can raise it. The 2026 formula starts from the existing rent and applies the 3.1% base rate plus any qualifying tax, insurance, or capital expense adjustments. Routine renewals do not reset rent to market rate; a new tenant may seek rent fixing under Article 1950 within the applicable statutory deadline.

Landlords with properties in the five-year Article 1955 exemption (Section F of the lease) have more flexibility — the TAL's rent-fixing criteria don't apply during that window if Section F was properly completed. For a lease entered into on or after February 21, 2024, where the immovable was ready for its intended use after February 20, 2024, Section F must include the maximum rent (per Bill 31).

Protecting Yourself

Keep records of every lease you sign, every rent paid, and every notice served. In the absence of a centralized registry, your own files are your evidence. If a tenant challenges the initial rent under Article 1950, you'll need to show the Section G disclosure on the lease and justify the rent based on actual operating expenses.

For a complete walkthrough of the 2026 rent calculation formula, the notice process, and how to prepare evidence for a TAL hearing, see our Quebec rent increase guide.

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