Montrealers fight for the right to lease transfer

Quebec has ended the right for renters to lease transfer through passing controversial Bill 31. This bill, which passed near the end of February, allows landlords to refuse a lease transfer.

Lease transfers have been a useful tool for tenants to keep the rent low. Once a tenant leaves and the landlord creates a new lease for a new tenant, the landlord does not have to respect the rent percentage increase recommended by the provincial housing board. This means landlords can raise the rent as much as they want for a new tenant. If a tenant transfers their lease before it ends, the landlord will have to respect the percentage increase limit. Transfers have been popular across the province, especially in Montreal where rents have been soaring rapidly in recent years. In Montreal, a one-bedroom apartment now costs an average of $1,744 per month, according to rentals.ca. Lease transfers can often maintain a rent below $1,000 – but with Law 31, this is under threat.

Before Bill 31 was passed, hundreds of Montrealers took to the streets in the neighbourhood of Rosemont to protest Bill 31. During the protest, activists stopped at a number of locations, including a church which had been purchased and turned into condominiums.“They evicted God from their house,” said one of the organizers. 

Organizers called for Quebec Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau to step down. Duranceau tabled this bill in June 2023. In previous protests organized around Bill 31, activists have asked for an end to Bill 31, for Duranceau to resign, a rent freeze, and have called for Montrealers to take to the streets to protest this bill.