Quebec runs on its own system. The combined sales tax is 14.975 percent (5 percent GST plus 9.975 percent QST), the minimum wage is $16.60 an hour, and there is no builders lien at all: Quebec uses a legal hypothec instead, which you must register within 30 days and act on within 6 months. Prompt payment applies only to public projects so far, your board is the CNESST, and the small claims limit is a low $15,000. Critically, you need an RBQ licence to do almost any construction work for another person. This guide is the one-page summary; each topic links to a fuller guide.
Sales tax
Quebec charges two taxes that combine to 14.975 percent: the 5 percent federal GST and the 9.975 percent Quebec Sales Tax (QST). Both are value-added taxes with input tax credits, but the QST is administered provincially by Revenu Quebec, not the CRA, so in most cases you register and file with Revenu Quebec for both the GST and the QST together. This is a different filing relationship from the rest of Canada, where the CRA handles GST/HST.
Minimum wage
Quebec's general minimum wage is $16.60 an hour, reviewed each year on 1 May. It is the floor for employees. Quebec also has a separate, lower minimum for workers who receive tips, which is not relevant to most trades.
The legal hypothec, not a lien
Quebec does not have a builders lien. Its equivalent is the legal hypothec of construction under the Civil Code of Quebec (article 2727), and it works differently. A contractor, subcontractor, supplier or worker who has added value to an immovable can register a legal hypothec, but it must be published (registered) within 30 days of the end of the work, and an action to enforce it must be brought within 6 months of the end of the work, or it lapses. There is no province-wide statutory holdback percentage mandated the way there is in the common-law provinces, so retention is a matter of contract. If you are used to a 10 percent lien holdback elsewhere, Quebec's system is a genuinely separate code path, so do not assume the rules carry over.
Prompt payment
Quebec has prompt payment only on public projects so far, phased in under a government pilot (the first phase began on 8 September 2025). There is no general private-sector prompt-payment statute in force across Quebec, so on private work payment timing is governed by your contract and the legal hypothec remedy, not by a statutory 28-day clock. Do not assume the Ontario-style regime applies to a private renovation in Quebec.
Workers comp
Your board is the CNESST (Commission des normes, de l'equite, de la sante et de la securite du travail). The 2026 average premium is about $1.54 per $100 of insurable payroll, with insurable earnings capped at $103,000. That $1.54 is the average rate across all sectors: the CNESST sets per-unit construction rates separately, so confirm your construction unit rate with the CNESST rather than using the average.
Licensing
This is the big one. Almost any construction work for another person in Quebec, including residential renovation, requires a licence from the Regie du batiment du Quebec (RBQ). The rule has teeth: a contract performed without the required licence is unenforceable, so an unlicensed contractor cannot sue for unpaid invoices, and working unlicensed carries fines that start in the thousands. On top of the contractor licence, workers on sites covered by Act R-20 need a competency card from the Commission de la construction du Quebec (CCQ). Quebec is the strictest licensing regime in the country.
Small claims and quirks
Quebec's small claims limit is $15,000, the lowest among the larger provinces, and lawyers are not permitted to represent parties in small claims, you present your own case. The two quirks that define Quebec for an out-of-province tradesperson are the mandatory RBQ licence (without which your contract is void) and the legal hypothec replacing the familiar builders lien. Both make Quebec the highest-friction province to start working in (see Working in Ontario for the common-law contrast).
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