Selling · Certificate of location · Saint-Lambert
In Saint-Lambert, the 1935 garage is often astride the line. Here is what the surveyor checks, what it costs and when to order it.
In Saint-Lambert, the certificate of location is the document the notary and the lender require to close a sale: prepared by a land surveyor, it describes the current state of the premises (boundaries, buildings, servitudes, encroachments, compliance). The seller provides it at their expense if it is outdated or inaccurate. Saint-Lambert is a town of 1920s to 1950s homes on the irregular lots of the village, where a garage, a hedge or a staircase built sixty years ago sometimes encroaches by a few centimetres on the neighbour: the typical case where the certificate reveals an encroachment nobody knew about. Count $1,200 to $2,500 and 4 to 8 weeks.
It is the land surveyor's report describing the current state of the property: lot boundaries, position of the buildings, servitudes, encroachments and compliance with by-laws. In a sale, the standard rule of the brokerage forms (clause 10.1) requires the seller to provide, at their expense, a certificate that reflects the current state of the premises; if it is outdated or inaccurate, the new one is on the seller. The law gives it no expiry date: the test is accuracy, but notaries and lenders in practice require a certificate of at most about ten years with no change since (pool, shed, extension, fence, cadastral renovation). The full detail is on our page certificate of location in Quebec.
Saint-Lambert (QPAREB's Brossard-Saint-Lambert sector, an $803,000 median for the sector in the second quarter of 2026, but older village homes that often sell above a million) has the South Shore's oldest housing stock: 1920s to 1950s homes around avenue Victoria, the station and Parc de la Voie maritime, on lots whose boundaries were drawn before today's by-laws. The surveyor regularly finds a detached garage, a staircase, a hedge or a fence encroaching by a few centimetres on the neighbouring lot, or the reverse, and servitudes of passage between two homes joined at the back. The cadastral renovation, done in the sector, renumbered the lots: an earlier certificate carries the old number and must be redone. The extensions, dormers and closed verandas added over the decades are checked against the City's setbacks, which are strict in the village. In Préville and the north, the 1950s to 1960s bungalows have the usual pools and sheds. For a home of this value, an up-to-date certificate ordered at the decision to sell avoids a last-minute renegotiation.
| Brossard/Saint-Lambert (QPAREB, Q2 2026) | Median | 1 year | 5 years | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family | $803,000 | 2% | 26 % | 41 |
| Condo | $404,000 | -3 % | 29 % | 50 |
Count generally $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 as soon as 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.
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.
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.