Selling · Sud-Ouest · September 15, 2026
What the certificate of location records in the Sud-Ouest, 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 the Sud-Ouest 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 The seller supplies it at their expense if it is outdated or inaccurate (standard clause of the brokerage forms); notaries and lenders in practice require one no more than about ten years old with no change since. Count on $1,200 to $2,500 and 4 to 8 weeks in 2026: order it the day you decide to sell. Montreal's Sud-Ouest, from Griffintown to Saint-Henri, Petite-Bourgogne, Pointe-Saint-Charles, Ville-Émard and Côte-Saint-Paul, runs along the Lachine Canal, a national historic site.
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10.1) has the seller supply, at their expense, a certificate that reflects the current state of the premises; if it is outdated or inaccurate, the new one is on them.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's Sud-Ouest, from Griffintown to Saint-Henri, Petite-Bourgogne, Pointe-Saint-Charles, Ville-Émard and Côte-Saint-Paul, runs along the Lachine Canal, a national historic site. The certificate there records the servitudes tied to the canal and its banks, the railway and industrial servitudes of the former factory sectors now converted, the party walls and outdoor staircases of the 1880s to 1930s plexes and row houses, and the alleys with their rights of way. Most sales are private portions of co-ownerships, from the Griffintown towers to the converted plexes of Saint-Henri: the certificate describes the unit and its exclusive-use areas and refers to the declaration of co-ownership. The Turcot interchange, Highway 15 and the Hydro-Québec lines affect some of the lots. Rights of way through the alleys, party walls and outdoor staircases that spill over onto public land are the norm in every old Montreal borough, and cadastral renovation, completed on 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. See real estate broker in the Sud-Ouest.
In Le Sud-Ouest, the income property is the transaction where the certificate matters most: the surveyor's report confirms the number of dwellings and their position, which the lender checks before financing. On the 201 plexes sold on Centris between September 16, 2025 and September 16, 2026, the median building has 2 units and trades at $366,667 per door, with a gross rent multiplier of 17,7. A unit added in the basement or a garage since the last certificate is not an extra door in the notary's eyes until the certificate and the zoning say so. The full figures are in plex prices in Le Sud-Ouest.
The ten-year rule is written nowhere, but it shows in the figures. In Le Sud-Ouest, the median single-family home sold for $470,000 in 2016 and $1,060,000 in 2026, 126% more. An owner who bought in 2016 sells today with a ten-year-old certificate, exactly the limit most notaries and lenders refuse to exceed, and often with a pool, a fence or an extension added since. On 1,324 house sales in ten years in the sector, a large share therefore reaches the notary's table with a certificate to redo. The full curve is in home prices in Le Sud-Ouest from 2016 to 2026.
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.
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.