Selling · Montreal · September 15, 2026
What the certificate of location records on the island of Montreal, what it costs and how long it takes in 2026, and why it is ordered the day you decide to sell.
The certificate of location in Montreal is the land surveyor's report describing the property as it stands: boundaries, buildings, servitudes, encroachments and compliance. The seller supplies it at their expense if it is outdated or inaccurate (standard clause of the brokerage forms); notaries and lenders in practice require one no more than about ten years old with no change since, and any certificate issued before the island's cadastral renovation is treated as outdated. Count on $1,200 to $2,500 and 4 to 8 weeks in 2026: order it the day you decide to sell. On Montreal's century-old lots, the certificate mostly records accumulated gaps: fences off the line, shared alleys, sheds and extensions without a permit.
It is the land surveyor's report describing the property as it stands today: lot boundaries, position of the buildings, servitudes, encroachments and compliance with by-laws. In a sale, the standard clause of the brokerage forms (clause 10.1) has the seller supply, at their expense, a certificate that reflects the current state of the premises; if it is outdated or inaccurate, the new one is on them. The law gives it no expiry date: the test is accuracy, but notaries and lenders in practice require a certificate no more than about ten years old with no change since (pool, shed, extension, fence, cadastral renovation). The full detail is on our certificate of location page.
Montreal is nineteen boroughs on lots that are often more than a century old, and the certificate of location mostly records the gaps that have accumulated: fences and hedges that no longer follow the lot line, shared alleys and rights of way behind the plexes of the Plateau, Rosemont and Villeray, sheds and garages built on or over the line, balconies and extensions added without a permit, and the common entrances of row houses in Verdun, the Sud-Ouest and Hochelaga. Cadastral renovation, completed across the island, renumbered the lots: a certificate issued before that operation is treated as outdated by most notaries and lenders, even if it is less than ten years old. In a divided co-ownership, the certificate covers the private portion and its exclusive-use areas (balcony, parking, locker), and in a plex it is the whole building. Our borough pages cover the specific cases: Lachine, LaSalle, Saint-Laurent, Pierrefonds, Dorval and Pointe-Claire; and real estate broker in Montreal follows the island market.
Count generally on $1,200 to $2,500 depending on the property and the region, and above all 4 to 8 weeks of delay. That is the number one reason we ask our sellers to order it the day they decide to sell, not at the promise to purchase: a certificate that arrives late delays the notary, and a certificate that reveals an encroachment at the last minute derails the sale. The shed on the neighbour's line or the pool too close to the boundary are discovered here, not after signing.
If it is less than about ten years old AND nothing has changed (no construction, extension, pool, fence, cadastral operation or new by-law), it generally passes with the notary and the lender. Otherwise, plan on a new certificate.
The seller, under the standard clause of the brokerage forms, if theirs is outdated or inaccurate. If their certificate reflects the current state of the premises and the buyer or their lender demands a new one anyway, it is on the buyer.
From 4 to 8 weeks in 2026 depending on the workload of the region's land surveyors. Order it as soon as you decide to sell.
Our other data series for Montreal, drawn from Centris listings:
Each page is recalculated from the past year's actual sales, aggregates only.
The Loaa & Manseur team, led by Lotfi Manseur and Loaa Al Daow, is the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 of large residential teams according to the official RE/MAX ranking, computed on actual transactions. Its Google profile counts more than 220 reviews with a 4.9 rating. Its offices are at 55 avenue de l'Équinoxe in Brossard, one bridge from the island, and every broker's licence can be checked in the OACIQ public register. Three things to verify yourself before calling us, and to demand of any other broker.
Also available in French: version française de ce guide.
Published September 7, 2026 by the Loaa & Manseur team, the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 according to the official RE/MAX ranking. Tell us about your project.
Équipe no 1 de RE/MAX Platine en 2024 et en 2025, 6e au Québec, 15e au Canada et dans le top 50 mondial au classement officiel RE/MAX. Réponse en moins de 24 heures, sept jours sur sept.