Quebec 2026 Rent Increase: The TAL's 3.1% Base Rate and How Landlords Should Apply It

The TAL's page on applicable percentages lists a base rent percentage of 3.1% for notices given on or after January 1, 2026, with 6.7% for personal services and 5% for capital expenditures. Reporting on the method describes the 3.1% as the average of Quebec's Consumer Price Index over three years.

[Cite: Tribunal administratif du logement, "Applicable percentages to the criteria for the fixing of rent"; Éducaloi, "A New Way of Calculating Rent Increases"]

One legal guide ties the figure to leases starting between April 2, 2026 and April 1, 2027.

[Cite: Bernier Fournier Avocats, "Augmentation de loyer en 2026 au Québec: le guide complet"]

Property taxes and insurance count only where they rose by more than the base percentage. If a landlord's school and municipal tax bill went up by less than 3.1%, it adds nothing, because the base already covers it. Capital expenditures, meaning major repairs, replacements and improvements, are counted at a fixed 5% rate. Public subsidies for those works are taken into account.

[Cite: Tribunal administratif du logement, regulatory changes summary (December 2025); Bernier Fournier Avocats]

Person-related services in seniors' residences are indexed separately, using the healthcare component of the CPI, also on a three-year average.

[Cite: Tribunal administratif du logement, regulatory changes summary (December 2025)]

On a rent of $1,200, 3.1% is $37.20 a month, giving $1,237.20. That is the starting point only. A landlord who has paid higher taxes or insurance, or who completed major work, would run those through the TAL's calculation tool before putting a different figure on the notice.

The calculation tool is available on the TAL site in French only.

[Cite: Tribunal administratif du logement, "Applicable percentages"]

For a lease of 12 months or more, the landlord has to give written notice between 3 and 6 months before the lease ends. For a July 1 lease end, that is January 1 to March 31. Shorter or indefinite leases carry a 1 to 2 month window.

[Cite: OACIQ, "Lease renewal and modification"; TAL form 819A-E, Notice of rent increase and lease modification]

The TAL's form cites articles 1942, 1943, 1945, 1947 and 1955 of the Civil Code of Québec, and lets the landlord state the new rent as a dollar amount, a dollar increase or a percentage.

[Cite: TAL form 819A-E]

Since January 1, 2026, a notice must also give the amount or percentage of the increase for personal services where there are any.

[Cite: Tribunal administratif du logement, regulatory changes summary (December 2025)]

The tenant has one month from receiving the notice to accept, refuse the increase and stay, or decline renewal and leave. A tenant who does not answer is presumed to have accepted.

[Cite: OACIQ; TAL form 819A-E]

If the tenant refuses, the landlord has one month from the refusal to apply to the TAL. A landlord who does not apply sees the lease renew on the same terms under article 1947.

[Cite: OACIQ, "Lease renewal and modification"]

Éducaloi notes that the right to refuse does not apply in cooperatives or in buildings under 5 years old.

[Cite: Éducaloi, "A New Way of Calculating Rent Increases"]

The TAL's 2025 recommended increase for an unheated unit was 5.9%, the highest on record for the tribunal's data going back to 1988. The 3.1% base for notices in 2026 is lower, and it comes from a different formula: a three-year CPI average instead of a set of cost components.

[Cite: CBC News, "Recommended rent increase for 2025 hits historic high in Quebec"; TAL, "Applicable percentages"]

Landlords who sent notices in late 2025 for increases taking effect in 2026 are not bound by 3.1%. The TAL says the earlier method applies to any notice given before January 1, 2026.

[Cite: Tribunal administratif du logement, regulatory changes summary (December 2025)]

One legal guide notes that the standard lease form now allows electronic signature and must show the maximum rent for newly built or converted properties during their first five years.

[Cite: Bernier Fournier Avocats]

This comes from a secondary source, so a landlord updating lease templates should confirm the current form on the TAL website.

Build the 3.1% base into the renewal template and set a diary date of January 1 for July 1 leases, because the window opens and closes within three months. Keep proof of the date and method of delivery for every notice.

Where taxes, insurance or capital works exceed the base, run the calculation before the notice goes out and keep the inputs. A refused increase that reaches the TAL will be decided on those numbers.