Legal references - Civil Code of Québec

Decisions of the board of directors

Article 336 of the Civil Code sets the board of directors’ voting rule: a decision must draw the support of more than half the directors. Each director holds one vote, whatever the number of fractions they may own.

Directors’ liability and dissent

Article 337 of the Civil Code makes each director liable, jointly with the other directors, for the decisions of the board of directors, unless they had their dissent recorded in the minutes. A director absent from a meeting is presumed not to have approved the decisions taken there.

Written resolution of directors

Article 354 provides that a resolution in writing, signed by everyone entitled to vote on it, has the same value as if it had been adopted at a meeting of the board of directors, of the members or of another organ. A copy of the resolution is kept with the minutes.

The syndicate as a legal person

Article 1039 provides that, upon publication of the declaration of co-ownership, the co-owners together form a legal person: the syndicate. Its purpose is to preserve the immovable, to maintain and administer the common portions and to look after the common interests.

Relative value of the fraction

Article 1041 sets the relative value of each fraction against all the fractions together, taking into account their nature, destination, dimensions and location, but not their use. It is the default key for allocating common expenses.

Common portions for restricted use (PCUR)

Article 1043 first defines common portions, then provides, in its second paragraph, that some of them may serve the use of only certain co-owners, or of a single one: these are the common portions for restricted use (PCUR), such as a balcony, a terrace, an assigned parking space or a locker.

Presumption of common portions

Article 1044 does not state a general residual rule: it enumerates the elements presumed to be common portions, notably the ground, yards, balconies, parks and gardens, driveways, stairways and lifts, passageways and corridors, the premises for common services, parking and storage, cellars, the structural work, as well as common equipment and pipes, including those running through a private portion.

Notarial form of the declaration

Article 1059 requires the declaration of co-ownership - and any amendment to the constituting act of co-ownership or to the descriptive statement of the fractions - to be made by notarial act en minute. The declaration is signed by all the owners of the immovable.

Use of the fraction and common portions

Article 1063 recognises each co-owner's free use and enjoyment of their private portion and of the common portions, on condition that they observe the by-laws of the immovable and impair neither the rights of the other co-owners nor the destination of the immovable.

Contribution to common expenses

Article 1064 requires each co-owner to contribute to the common expenses in proportion to the relative value of their fraction. Co-owners who have the use of a common portion for restricted use (PCUR) do, however, bear its maintenance and current repairs alone.

Co-owner's civil liability insurance

Article 1064.1 requires each co-owner to take out insurance covering their liability toward third persons, the minimum amount of which is set by government regulation.

Syndicate status certificate

Since August 14, 2025, article 1068.1 requires the syndicate to provide the selling co-owner with a certificate on the state of the co-ownership intended for the buyer, within 15 days of the request. Its content is prescribed by Decree 991-2025.

Register of the co-ownership

Article 1070 of the Civil Code requires the syndicate to keep an up-to-date register available to the co-owners. It holds their contact information, minutes, financial statements, the maintenance logbook and the contingency-fund study, among other records.

Consulting the register and copies

Article 1070.1 governs access to the register: the documents must be available for consultation, at reasonable hours, in the presence of a director or a designated person, as provided by the by-laws. Each co-owner may obtain a copy for a reasonable fee.

Maintenance logbook

Article 1070.2 requires the board of directors to have a maintenance logbook established, describing the maintenance done and to be done on the immovable, to keep it up to date and to have it revised periodically. Its form and content are set by regulation.

Contingency fund

Article 1071 requires the syndicate to establish, on the basis of the estimated cost of major repairs and of the cost of replacing the common portions, a contingency fund allocated solely to those repairs and replacements. Since the 2019 reform the fund must be liquid in part and available at short notice, and its capital must be guaranteed. It is the property of the syndicate, and its use is determined by the board of directors.

Self-insurance fund

Article 1071.1 requires the syndicate to establish a self-insurance fund, liquid and available at short notice, which is the property of the syndicate. The fund is allocated to paying the deductibles provided for by the insurance the syndicate takes out. It also serves to repair damage caused to property in which the syndicate has an insurable interest, where the contingency fund or an insurance indemnity cannot cover it.

Budget and annual contributions

Article 1072 tasks the board of directors, after consulting the meeting of co-owners, with fixing each year the co-owners' contribution to the common expenses, including the sums to be paid to the contingency fund and the self-insurance fund. The syndicate notifies each co-owner of the amount of their contribution and its due date.

Special assessment

Article 1072.1 is a single sentence: the board of directors must consult the general meeting of co-owners before deciding on any special contribution to the common expenses. The special assessment itself is a one-time contribution, on top of the annual common expenses, to fund an unforeseen expense or a specific project.

Syndicate insurance

Article 1073 gives the syndicate an insurable interest in the whole immovable, including the private portions, and requires it to take out, providing for a reasonable deductible, insurance against ordinary risks covering the whole immovable, except improvements made by a co-owner to their portion. The amount insured must correspond to the reconstruction value, re-evaluated at least every five years.

Insurance deductible and recourse

Article 1074.2 governs the syndicate's recourse for the amounts it incurs for the deductible and the repair of a loss: it may claim them from a co-owner only if that co-owner has committed a fault.

Fraction held by the syndicate

Article 1076 allows the syndicate, where authorized, to acquire or alienate fractions, common portions or other real rights. A fraction it acquires keeps its character as a private portion, but the syndicate holds no votes for it at the general meeting and the total number of votes that may be cast is reduced accordingly.

Liability of the syndicate

Article 1077 makes the syndicate liable for damage caused to co-owners or third persons by a defect of design or construction of the immovable or by a lack of maintenance of the common portions, subject to its recourses against those responsible.

Minutes of the board of directors

Article 1086.1 requires the board of directors to send the co-owners the minutes of any decision taken at a meeting, or any written resolution it adopts, within 30 days of the meeting or of the adoption.

Meeting by technological means

Article 1088.1 allows the meeting of co-owners to be held by a technological means, provided all participants can communicate immediately with each other. Two-way video conferencing meets this requirement.

Quorum of the meeting

Article 1089 sets the quorum of the meeting of co-owners: it can deliberate only if co-owners holding a majority of the votes are present or represented. Failing that, the meeting is adjourned to a later date, of which the co-owners are notified.

Voting by technological means

Article 1089.1 allows voting at the meeting by a technological means on two conditions: the votes must be capable of being verified afterward and must remain secret when a secret ballot is requested.

Number of votes of each co-owner

Article 1090 gives each co-owner a number of votes proportional to the relative value of their fraction. It is the share set out in the declaration that determines the weight of each vote, not the number of people.

Ordinary majority of the meeting

Article 1096 sets the default rule: the meeting's decisions are taken by a majority of the votes of the co-owners present or represented, except where the law requires an enhanced majority.

Decisions by three-quarters majority

Article 1097 requires an enhanced majority - the co-owners representing three quarters of the votes of the co-owners present or represented - for certain important decisions affecting the immovable or the declaration.

Double-majority decisions

Article 1098 reserves for a double majority - three quarters of the co-owners representing 90% of all the votes - the weightiest decisions: changing the destination of the immovable, alienating common portions needed for that destination, or allowing periodic and successive (timeshare-type) holding of a fraction.

Reduction of the number of votes

Article 1099 provides that when the number of votes of a co-owner or of a promoter is reduced, or when they are deprived of their voting right, the total number of votes of all the co-owners is reduced accordingly.

Majorities the declaration cannot change

Article 1101 deems unwritten any clause of the declaration of co-ownership that would change the number of votes required for a decision the chapter on divided co-ownership already provides for. Majority thresholds are therefore not negotiable.

Minutes of the meeting of co-owners

Article 1102.1 requires the board of directors to send the co-owners the minutes of any meeting of the co-owners, or any written resolution it adopts, within 30 days of the meeting or of the adoption.

Challenging a decision of the meeting

Article 1103 lets any co-owner ask the court to annul or, exceptionally, amend a decision of the meeting of co-owners if it is biased, taken to harm the co-owners or disregard their rights, or affected by an error in counting the votes. The action must be brought within 90 days of the meeting, on pain of forfeiture.

Terminating the co-ownership

Article 1108 allows a co-ownership to be terminated by a decision of three quarters of the co-owners representing 90% of the votes of all the co-owners. The decision must be recorded in a writing signed by the syndicate and the immovable's hypothecary creditors, then registered in the land register.

Civil liability

Article 1457 states the general principle of civil liability: every person has a duty to abide by the rules of conduct that apply to them so as not to cause injury to another, and must make reparation for injury caused by their fault.

Merger of creditor and debtor

Article 1683 provides that where the qualities of creditor and debtor are united in the same person, confusion occurs and the obligation is extinguished. If the confusion ceases, its effects cease as well.

The syndicate's legal hypothec

Article 2724 lists the only claims that may give rise to a legal hypothec. The claim of a syndicate of co-owners for payment of the common expenses is one of them, giving the syndicate a security on the fraction of a defaulting co-owner.

The syndicate's legal hypothec

Article 2729 specifies the syndicate's legal hypothec: it charges the fraction of a co-owner in default for more than 30 days in paying their share of the common expenses. It is acquired only upon registration of a notice in the land register.

Definition of signature

Article 2827 defines a signature: the affixing by a person, on an act, of their name or of a personal mark that they habitually use, to manifest their consent.

Integrity of a technology-based document

Article 2839 deals with the integrity of a document used as evidence: integrity is assured when the information has not been altered, is kept in its entirety, and the medium gives it the required stability and durability. Where the technology can neither confirm nor deny integrity, the document may still be received as testimony or as material evidence.

Challenging integrity

Article 2840 removes the need to prove that a technology-based document's medium or processes ensure its integrity, unless the person contesting its admissibility establishes, by a preponderance of evidence, that the document's integrity has been breached.