Quebec Land Transfer Duties: 5 Things That You Need to Know

In Quebec, municipalities must collect what is commonly referred to as "land transfer duties" (infamously known as the "Welcome Tax" or "taxe de Bienvenue" in French), which are triggered upon the "transfer" of real property located within their territories. The ins and outs of transfer duties are set out in An Act respecting duties on transfers of immovables (the "Act"). As Quebec's regime for land transfer duties presents numerous particularities that are not found in other provinces in Canada or in the United States, the goal of this bulletin is to give the reader a better general understanding of how the tax works and highlight some of its elements that can be surprising to a foreign purchaser.