Animals and housing:
Tribunal rules in favour of the SPCA:
lease clauses prohibiting animals are unreasonable, abusive and contrary to the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
It's now up to you to call on political parties to take urgent action.
Your participation in our new 2026 initiatives is crucial. Victories for animals require sustained, repeated action!
2 SIMPLE ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE
Sign the new letter
(Yes, even if you signed last year, it's more important than ever!)
In a recent decision, the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL) declared lease clauses prohibiting animals void, concluding that “the general prohibition on keeping an animal in a dwelling […] constitutes an oppressive and unacceptable intrusion into a person’s family life, within the very place that is the centre of their private life: their home.”
Now that a tribunal has clearly established that no-pet clauses infringe on tenants’ fundamental rights and that the existing protections are sufficient to protect landlords, it is urgent for provincial political parties to make a clear commitment to invalidate these clauses, as Ontario has done since the 1990s and France since 1970
Call on all political parties to commit!
Call your MNA
(Share your feelings about this issue; it helps the cause more than you might imagine!)
The most impactful thing you can do is call your MNA directly and ask them to make a commitment on this issue. We’ve prepared everything you need: we give you all the information, and with just one click you’ll be connected to your MNA.
An issue that affects everyone, including children!
Finding housing with a companion animal is particularly difficult for the most vulnerable members of society. In the midst of the current housing crisis, this issue disproportionately affects low-income earners, the elderly as well as isolated individuals, whose animal is sometimes their only family.
Children’s attachment to their animals is beneficial to their development, but many children suffer the trauma of being separated from their companion because of no-pet clauses in rental housing. Additionally, victims of family violence who can’t find animal-friendly housing may decide to remain in an unsafe situation because they are unwilling to leave their animal behind. This needs to stop!
Landlords and tenants who have questions are invited to visit
our Frequently Asked Questions page
For years, the Montreal SPCA has been calling for the abolition of no-pet clauses in housing, as is the case in Ontario and France. On June 7, 2022, a petition initiated by the Montreal SPCA on this subject was presented to the National Assembly by MNA Manon Massé. Although the petition collected 33,157 signatures, it unfortunately “died on the order paper”.
Two years after Québec solidaire introduced a bill to invalidate no-pet clauses in residential leases, the government has yet to take action on this issue. It is high time for it to take this issue seriously!
All the more so since a recent decision from the Tribunal administrative du logement (TAL) concluded that no-pet clauses are unreasonable, abusive and contrary to the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
Now is the time for all of us to contact each political party and urge them to include in their 2026 election platform a commitment to keep families together and to render null and void the unfair clauses that prevent so many Quebecers from living with their companion animals.
Make your voice heard to keep families together!
Send this letter to your MNA as well as all provincial parties to urge them to include in their 2026 election platform a commitment to keep families together and to render null and void the unfair clauses that prevent so many Quebecers from finding housing with their companion animal.
This issue is a priority for us all: let’s make sure the next party in power knows how important it is. Let’s ask all parties to make it an election promise.
Throughout the year, nearly two animals per day ends up being abandoned at the Montreal SPCA due to a move, not to mention the hundreds of calls the SPCA receives from people who have difficulty finding an animal-friendly home.
Responsible animal guardians, who love and care for their companion, are often forced to part with them simply because they cannot find animal-friendly and affordable rental housing. No-pet clauses in residential leases have devastating effects, not only on the families who find themselves unable to keep their animal, but on the animals themselves.
The scarcity of animal-friendly housing is a concern for the Montreal SPCA as moving season approaches, particularly in light of the increase in rents, in addition to the general increase in the cost of living. No-pet clauses disproportionately affect low-income families, who have more limited housing opportunities.
With 52% of Quebec households having a companion animal, finding an affordable animal-friendly home is proving to be extremely difficult.
Only 4.2% of landlords allow dogs without any restrictions, despite the fact that 25% of Québec households include a dog as one of their members.
Find out more
