Promise to Purchase in Quebec: Contents, Conditions, Deadlines and the Notary

The promise to purchase is the document in which you tell a seller that you want to buy their property at a specific price and on specific conditions. As soon as the seller accepts it, it binds you both. This guide explains what it contains, how the negotiation works, when you can withdraw, and what happens next at the notary's office, up to the signing of the deed of sale. Information verified on November 9, 2026.

In brief

• A promise to purchase is a firm commitment. Once accepted, it can no longer be cancelled unless a clause allows it, both parties agree, or a court orders it.
• With a broker, it is drawn up on a mandatory OACIQ form suited to the type of property.
• You give the seller a date and time by which to respond. If the seller does not accept in time, the promise becomes null. A counter-proposal from the seller has the same effect as a refusal.
• During that period, you cannot withdraw your promise. You can only revoke it if your revocation reaches the seller before the promise is presented to them.
• The conditions (financing, inspection, review of documents) are fulfilled within the deadlines written in the promise; the table below summarizes those set by the form. The notary then drafts the deed of sale, has it signed and publishes it in the land register.

What a promise to purchase contains

With a broker, the promise to purchase is drawn up on a mandatory form designed by the OACIQ. There are five versions, depending on the property: a mainly residential building with fewer than 5 dwellings (excluding condominiums), undivided co-ownership, divided co-ownership, a mobile home on rented land, and a sale by the Public Curator (OACIQ, in French). For a new or off-plan home sold by its builder or a developer to a person who is buying it to live in, the Civil Code instead requires a preliminary contract (see below).

The form is read clause by clause. Here are the ones that need the most attention. The clause numbers cited are those of the form for a mainly residential building with fewer than 5 dwellings, in its current version (V29, June 2022) (OACIQ specimen, in French). They may differ in the other forms: in the divided co-ownership form, for example, the clause on defects or irregularities is numbered 10.7.

The property, the price and the deposit

The promise describes the property: address, cadastral designation, and the dimensions and area of the lot. In divided co-ownership, it also identifies the private portion, the share of the common portions and, if they are also private portions, the lot numbers of the parking and storage spaces.

It sets the price, payable in full when the deed of sale is signed, and states whether the sale is subject to GST and QST (clauses 4.1 and 4.2). According to Revenu Québec (in French), the sale of a home that is not new and has not recently been substantially renovated is exempt from these taxes.

You can give your broker a deposit to show you are serious, either with the promise or within 72 hours after the conditions are fulfilled (clause 4.3). It is deposited without delay in the trust account of the broker or their agency. If the promise becomes null, the deposit is refunded to you without interest, on written request.

Financing

If you are borrowing, the promise states the loan amount, the maximum interest rate, the maximum amortization period and the minimum term (clause 6.1). You agree to give the seller, within the number of days written in the promise, a copy of a lender's commitment to grant you the loan (clause 6.2). Without this proof, or if a lender refuses, the seller has 5 days to notify you in writing that they require a new application to a lender they designate, or that they are making the promise null (clause 6.3). If the seller does neither within that time, the promise becomes null and void.

The inspection

Your broker must recommend that you have the property inspected. The promise states whether it is conditional on an inspection and how many days you have after acceptance to do it (clause 8.1). You can waive it in the space provided on the form, but the form warns that a promise without an inspection is only appropriate in particular cases, for example a plan for major renovations.

If the inspection reveals a problem likely to significantly reduce the property's value or income, or increase its expenses, you can make the promise null. You must then notify the seller in writing and give them a copy of the report no later than the 4th day after the inspection period ends, before 8 p.m. If you do not notify the seller in time, you are deemed to have waived this condition. All the details are in our article Pre-purchase inspection: what to do after the report.

Review of documents

You can ask to review documents: leases, rental contracts for appliances (water heater, alarm system), warranties (clause 9.1). In divided co-ownership, several documents are included automatically, among them the declaration of co-ownership and the building by-laws, the minutes of meetings, the financial statements and the statement of the contingency fund. If you do not receive the documents in time, or if you are not satisfied after reviewing them, you can cancel the promise by notifying the seller in writing within 7 days after the end of the period the seller had to provide them. If you do not notify the seller in time, you are deemed to have waived this condition.

What the seller declares and agrees to provide

The seller agrees to deliver the property in the condition it was in when you visited (clause 10.2), with the inclusions and exclusions listed (light fixtures, appliances, spa…), which are a frequent source of disputes. The seller must provide a valid title of ownership and a certificate of location that reflects the current state of the property (clause 10.3). Declarations about the condition of the property are made on a separate form, the seller's declarations (Déclarations du vendeur sur l'immeuble), which forms an integral part of the promise.

If a defect or irregularity affecting the property's titles, or the seller's declarations and obligations, is reported in writing after the conditions are fulfilled but before the deed of sale is signed, the seller has 21 days after receiving the notice to tell you in writing whether they have fixed it at their own expense or will not fix it (clause 10.5). If the seller refuses or does not respond in that time, and unless you had already been informed of the problem in writing, you then have 5 days to notify the seller in writing of your choice: buy despite the problem, or make the promise null, in which case the costs reasonably incurred by both parties are paid by the seller. If you make no choice within that time, the promise becomes null and each party bears its own costs.

Dates and costs

The promise sets the deadline for signing the deed of sale before the notary (clause 11.1), the date and time of occupancy (clause 11.2) and the date for adjustments: property taxes, condo fees, fuel, and the building's income and expenses (clause 11.3). You become the owner when the deed of sale is signed. The OACIQ recommends that the words "to be determined" never appear in place of a date.

Unless otherwise agreed, the costs of the deed of sale, its publication and copies are paid by the buyer (clause 7.3), as are the transfer duties, the "welcome tax" (clause 7.4). The costs of repaying and discharging the seller's mortgages, including any prepayment penalty, remain the seller's responsibility (clause 10.4). For the full list of expenses to plan for, see our expense checklist when buying a property.

Key deadlines at a glance

The form sets the deadlines given in hours and days above. The others (seller's response, financing, inspection, delivery of documents, signing) are the ones you write in your promise.

The acceptance deadline and the negotiation

Your promise sets a date and time until which you are irrevocably bound (clause 14.1). If the seller does not accept it within that time, the promise becomes null and void. According to Éducaloi, it is usually a "strict" deadline. The seller has four options.

• Accept the promise as is: it binds you both.
• Refuse it, even if it meets all their conditions. You can submit a new one.
• Not respond: no response is the same as a refusal.
• Make a counter-proposal (different price, different dates, exclusions). Under the form, it has the same effect as a refusal of your promise. You can in turn accept it, refuse it or make your own counter-proposal.

Each new counter-proposal cancels the previous ones. The last one must therefore include every condition you want, since it is the one that becomes the commitment between the parties.

When a seller receives several promises at the same time, the negotiation follows disclosure rules set by the OACIQ: see how multiple offers are managed. To set your opening price well, also read how far you can negotiate a lower price.

Can you withdraw a promise to purchase?

Before the seller receives it

According to the OACIQ, the promise binds you from the moment you sign it until the acceptance deadline expires. There is only one window to revoke it: under article 1391 of the Civil Code, a revocation that reaches the seller before the promise makes it lapse, even if it has a deadline. With a broker, receipt and presentation are presumed to happen at the same time, and the broker must present promises as quickly as possible: in practice, this window is very short (OACIQ, in French).

During the acceptance period

You cannot withdraw your promise during the period given to the seller. You can only improve it in the seller's favour, using the improvements before acceptance form (Bonifications avant acceptation).

After acceptance

An accepted promise can no longer be cancelled by either party, except in three cases: a clause allows it (for example following an inspection, a document review or financing that was not obtained), both parties agree, or a court orders it (OACIQ, in French). Any change to the terms after acceptance is made on the Amendments form, signed by both parties.

New construction

When a new or off-plan home is sold by its builder or a developer to a person who is buying it to live in, the sale must be preceded by a preliminary contract (art. 1785 of the Civil Code). This contract must allow you to withdraw within 10 days of signing it. If it provides for an indemnity when you withdraw, the indemnity cannot exceed 0.5% of the agreed sale price (art. 1786). For a divided co-ownership unit or an undivided share, the seller must also give you a memorandum (note d'information). If it was not given to you at signing, you can withdraw until you receive it, then within 10 days of receiving it (arts. 1785 and 1787).

From the accepted promise to the deed of sale

Once the promise or the counter-proposal is accepted, these are the main steps.

1. Fulfil the conditions on time: obtain financing, do the inspection, receive and review the documents. Each deadline is written in the promise.
2. Choose the notary. According to Éducaloi, the buyer chooses the notary by default and pays their fees. Exception: the seller can choose their own notary if you pay only part of the price before taking possession of the property.
3. The title search by the notary, before the signing.
4. Provide proof of home insurance if you are financing the purchase: it must cover at least the amount of the mortgage.
5. Sign the deed of sale (and the mortgage deed) at the notary's office, no later than the date set in the promise. You become the owner at that point.
6. Publication in the land register and payment of the funds to the seller, then taking possession on the agreed date and time.

Leave enough time between the offer and the signing. Éducaloi recommends ideally at least one month between signing the offer and moving, to give the lender and the notary time to do their work, and more at certain times of year (the holidays, June). Unlike the response deadline, the date for signing the deed is generally not a strict deadline. If you are selling in order to buy, the OACIQ says your broker must plan a reasonable gap between the signing dates of the two transactions (OACIQ, in French). For a typical timeline, from deciding to buy to getting the keys, see how long it takes to buy a house.

The notary's role and what the deed of sale contains

The deed of sale, also called the notarial deed, is drafted by the notary based on what you agreed with the seller in the promise to purchase. The notary advises the buyer, the lender and the seller without taking sides (Éducaloi, in French). In practice, the notary:

• does the title search: checks that the seller really owns the property and has the right to sell it, whether their spouse or anyone else must consent to the sale, whether the lot dimensions are accurate and whether there are rights of way;
• drafts the deed of sale and the mortgage deed: an immovable hypothec (mortgage) must be made by a notary;
• has "authentic" deeds signed, which are hard to challenge because they are signed before the notary;
• publishes the deeds in the land register, which makes your ownership, and your lender's rights, public;
• handles the sale money through their trust account, and pays the seller's creditors who have a claim on the property before handing over the balance;
• calculates the adjustments between buyer and seller: for example, the share of municipal and school taxes the seller has already paid for a period when you will be the owner, which you will have to reimburse (Éducaloi, in French). Our Premier Achat guide explains this calculation with an example.

Without a broker: what to check

The OACIQ forms are the ones brokers use. If you make an offer without a broker, Éducaloi recommends reading the offer carefully before committing and checking, in particular (Éducaloi, in French):

• that the seller is the real owner (ID and a search of the land register) and that their spouse consents to the sale if required;
• that the property is properly identified, ideally by its lot number;
• that financing, what happens to the deposit if the offer is cancelled, and the applicable taxes are clearly set out;
• that the conditions (inspection, certificate of location, declaration of co-ownership, leases) and the deadlines are spelled out;
• who chooses and pays the notary.

A poorly drafted offer can bind you to conditions you did not intend. If in doubt, have a notary review the offer before you sign it. If the property is sold without a legal warranty, also read selling with or without a legal warranty of quality.

Frequently asked questions

Is a promise to purchase a contract?

Yes. Once the seller accepts it, it binds the buyer and the seller. It can no longer be cancelled unless a clause allows it, both parties agree, or a court orders it.

How long does the seller have to respond?

The buyer sets this deadline, with a date and time, in the promise. If the seller has not accepted in time, the promise becomes null and void. A counter-proposal has the same effect as a refusal.

Can I cancel a promise to purchase before the seller responds?

Only if your revocation reaches the seller before the promise does (art. 1391 of the Civil Code). After that, it binds you until the acceptance deadline; you can only improve it.

How long do I have to withdraw after the inspection?

If the inspection reveals a problem likely to significantly reduce the property's value or income, or increase its expenses, you must notify the seller in writing, with a copy of the report, no later than the 4th day after the inspection period ends, before 8 p.m. (clause 8.1 of the form). If you do not notify the seller in time, you are deemed to have waived this condition.

What happens if my financing is refused?

If you do not provide a lender's commitment within the deadline, or if a lender refuses, the seller has 5 days to require a new application to a lender they designate or to make the promise null. If the seller does nothing within that time, the promise becomes null and void.

Who chooses and pays the notary?

By default, the buyer chooses the notary and pays the costs of the deed of sale, its publication and copies, unless otherwise agreed. The seller can, however, choose their own notary if the buyer pays only part of the price before taking possession. Costs related to the seller's mortgage, such as its discharge, remain the seller's responsibility.

What is the difference between a promise to purchase and a deed of sale?

The promise to purchase sets the price, conditions and dates of the transaction. The deed of sale, drafted and signed at the notary's office once the conditions are fulfilled, transfers ownership; it is published in the land register.

Related reading

• Pre-purchase inspection: what to do after the report
• Negotiating a lower price in Quebec
• Expense checklist when buying a property

Sources, method and limitations

• OACIQ, mandatory form "Promesse d'achat – Immeuble principalement résidentiel de moins de 5 logements excluant la copropriété" (in French, version V29, June 2022, linked from the brokerage forms page updated August 24, 2026): clause numbers and deadlines (4.3, 6, 7, 8.1, 9.1, 10, 11 and 14.1).
• OACIQ, "Bien comprendre la promesse d'achat" (in French, updated July 10, 2025): nature of the promise, seller's responses, counter-proposal, Amendments form.
• OACIQ, Buyer's guide, "La Promesse d'achat" (in French): mandatory forms, explanation of the clauses, deposit, GST and QST.
• OACIQ, "Annuler une promesse d'achat immobilière, est-ce possible?" (August 20, 2020) and "Peut-on se retirer d'une promesse d'achat?" (May 18, 2023) (in French): irrevocability, revocation, cases of cancellation.
• OACIQ, Buyer's guide, "Les étapes suivant la Promesse d'achat" and "Votre rendez-vous chez le notaire" (in French): gap between two transactions, the notary's checks, home insurance, land register.
• Civil Code of Québec, art. 1391 and arts. 1785 to 1787 (LégisQuébec): revocation of an offer, preliminary contract, right of withdrawal, maximum indemnity, memorandum.
• Revenu Québec, "Propriétaire d'un immeuble d'habitation" (in French): GST and QST exemption.
• Éducaloi, "Immobilier : le rôle du notaire" and "Faire une offre d'achat : 6 choses à vérifier" (May 2021), "Achat immobilier : les frais à prévoir" (July 28, 2026) (in French): the notary's role, choice of notary, strict deadlines, tax adjustments, checks without a broker.

This article describes the OACIQ forms used in a brokered transaction. The deadlines and clauses that apply to you are those written in your promise to purchase and its schedules. If in doubt, ask your broker or a notary. Information verified on November 9, 2026; this is not legal advice.

Preparing an offer and want support all the way to the signing at the notary's? Call us at 514-344-4445.