Quebec real estate glossary · French to English
Quebec real estate runs on civil law, and its English vocabulary follows the Civil Code rather than the words used elsewhere in Canada. Some terms translate directly. Others do not, and getting them wrong costs money.
En bref, en français : ce lexique donne l'équivalent anglais exact de chaque terme immobilier québécois, avec la source officielle. Utile pour parler à une banque hors Québec, à un acheteur anglophone ou à un nouvel arrivant.
The three that trip everyone up
- Hypothèque is not a mortgage. In Quebec law it is a hypothec. The Civil Code uses that word hundreds of times.
- A notaire is not a notary public. A Quebec notary is a jurist who drafts the acts that transfer property.
- CELIAPP is not a Quebec product. It is the FHSA, the same federal account under a French name.
The full glossary
| Français | English |
|---|---|
| CELIAPP | FHSA, First Home Savings Account |
| Taxe de bienvenue | Transfer duties (nicknamed the welcome tax) |
| Vices cachés | Latent defects |
| Promesse d'achat | Promise to purchase |
| Offre d'achat | Offer to purchase |
| Certificat de localisation | Certificate of location |
| Courtier immobilier | Real estate broker |
| Hypothèque | Hypothec (mortgage, in everyday English) |
| RAP, régime d'accession à la propriété | Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) |
| Acte de vente | Deed of sale (act of sale in the Civil Code) |
| Déclarations du vendeur | Declarations by the seller of the immovable |
| Copropriété divise et indivise | Divided and undivided co-ownership |
| Notaire | Notary |
| Évaluation municipale, rôle d'évaluation | Municipal assessment, property assessment roll |
| Taxes municipales et scolaires | Municipal and school taxes |
| Registre foncier | Land Register |
| Garantie légale | Legal warranty |
| Inspection préachat | Pre-purchase inspection |
Four patterns behind almost every mix-up
Once you see the pattern, the individual words stop being surprising.
- Civil law has its own English. Quebec private law is civil law, and its official English vocabulary was written for that system. That is why the Code says hypothec and act of sale, where the rest of Canada says mortgage and deed of sale. Neither side is translating badly; they are describing different legal objects.
- The nickname beat the legal term. Almost nobody says droits sur les mutations immobilières, in French or in English. Welcome tax won, and it is misleading, because nothing about it relates to being welcomed anywhere.
- A federal program with two names. CELIAPP and FHSA are the same account; RAP and the Home Buyers' Plan are the same program. Ottawa publishes in both languages, Quebec institutions market in French, and buyers end up thinking they are looking at four things instead of two.
- Two English terms both in circulation. The OACIQ form says promise to purchase while Educaloi writes offer to purchase. The Code says act of sale while every notary says deed of sale. When that happens we give you both rather than pretending one is wrong.
The words that actually cost money
Most of this glossary is convenience. Four entries are not, because misreading them changes what you pay or what you can claim afterward.
- Legal warranty: a listing that says sold without legal warranty, at the buyer's own risk and peril, has just removed most of your recourse. That is one line in a description.
- Latent defects: article 1726 measures against a prudent and diligent buyer, not against what you personally noticed on a short visit.
- Municipal assessment: it is a taxation figure tied to a legal reference date, not a market value, and negotiating against it is how buyers lose good properties.
- Transfer duties: not adjusted at the notary like the other taxes. The bill arrives afterward, in your name, and it is the single most common budgeting surprise for first-time buyers in Quebec.
Where each term comes from
Every page in this glossary cites where the English term actually comes from: the official English version of the Civil Code of Quebec, the brokerage forms published in English by the OACIQ, the Canada Revenue Agency for the FHSA and the Home Buyers' Plan, and the City of Montreal for the assessment roll. Where two English terms circulate, such as deed of sale and act of sale, we say so instead of picking one.
If English is your working language
Our team handles transactions in both languages, from the promise to purchase through to the notary. If you are moving to Quebec, our newcomer home buying checklist and our Ontario to Quebec checklist cover what changes beyond vocabulary.
Published by the Loaa & Manseur team, number one team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025. Tell us about your project.