CORPIQ recently conducted a survey among its members to find out if tenants had illegally sublet their dwelling. It turns out that nearly 5% of landlords have been confronted with situations where a tenant has illegally sublet the dwelling on a short-term accommodation platform such as Airbnb.

Article 1870 of the Civil Code of Quebec obliges a tenant to inform his landlord of a subletting and then obtain his consent. With respect to subletting for tourism purposes, the tenant is making a change of destination since the dwelling is no longer used for residential purposes as normally specified in section B of the lease. Also, it would potentially increase the landlord’s home insurance costs.

The landlord has the right to send a notice of non-renewal of the lease to a tenant who has sublet his or her unit for more than 12 months (this does not have to be consecutive, only cumulative). If the tenant has sublet by changing the use of the unit, he or she may even be evicted.