Lodging in Québec: a practical compliance checklist

This list turns public rules into concrete actions. It does not replace a legal adviser, your accountant or the bodies cited. Rules vary by type of property and by region: for each item the official source is given so you can validate your own situation.

Alma, the Orvel agent for lodging, follows the same logic. She never comments on your property's compliance (classification, taxes, permits) and does not calculate any tax on her own initiative: she uses the rates you have set and reuses your listings as you approve them. The checks below therefore remain yours.

In Québec, tourist accommodation offered for payment generally has to be registered with the Corporation de l'industrie touristique du Québec (CITQ, the province's tourism industry corporation), which issues an attestation or a registration number. A municipal authorization may also be required, and the rules vary by type of property. Validate your situation directly with the CITQ (https://www.citq.info/).

• Record the registration number and the attestation expiry date in one place.
• Create a renewal reminder well before the deadline.
• Check with your municipality whether an authorization is also required.
• Confirm with the CITQ what applies to your type of property.

According to the City of Québec, provincial regulations provide that the registration number must be displayed in view of guests and appear in listings and on web platforms. Check with the CITQ what applies to your property (source: the City of Québec page on collaborative tourist accommodation).

Run a regular check: does the number appear on your website, on every platform and, if you wish, in your message templates? Alma reuses your listings as you approve them, so validating them is up to you.

• Number visible on the premises, in view of guests.
• Number present in every listing and on every web platform.
• Booking confirmation template that recalls the number, at your discretion.

A lodging tax applies to overnight stays at the establishments concerned, in participating regions, and Revenu Québec (the provincial tax authority) describes how it is collected, including when a platform collects it. GST and QST also apply. Have the details validated by Revenu Québec or your accountant.

In practice, the booking confirmation details the rate and the taxes. Alma applies no rate that you have not set yourself.

• Check whether your region participates and whether your property is covered.
• Determine who collects the tax when a booking goes through a platform.
• Have your rates and amounts validated by Revenu Québec or your accountant before setting them in the tool.

Off-season offers, newsletters and past-guest follow-ups are commercial messages. Canada's anti-spam legislation (CASL) requires consent, identification of the property and a way to unsubscribe. Alma sends them only to guests who have consented.

In practice, a consent box in the guest file and an unsubscribe link in every commercial message follow this logic.

• Consent box filled in before any offer or newsletter.
• Property name and contact details in every message.
• Visible unsubscribe link in every commercial message.

Contact details, stay dates, family composition and accessibility or allergy needs are personal information protected by Law 25 (reference body: the Commission d'accès à l'information, Québec's privacy regulator). You collect only what serves the stay, limit access and delete on request.

Concretely, mark the special-requests field as sensitive, limit access to the people who need it, and know how to export or delete a guest's file on request.

For online reviews, platform rules, including Google's, forbid offering a benefit in exchange for a review or soliciting only positive reviews. The review request must therefore be neutral and sent to every guest after the stay, with no reward promised.

This checklist helps you ask the right questions, but it does not replace validation with the official bodies. It is general information, not legal advice.

General information, not legal advice. Check with your professional order or the official source.

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• https://www.citq.info/
• https://www.ville.quebec.qc.ca/citoyens/reglements_permis/hebergement-touristique-collaboratif.aspx
• https://www.revenuquebec.ca/fr/entreprises/taxes/taxe-sur-lhebergement/
• https://www.revenuquebec.ca/fr/entreprises/taxes/taxe-sur-lhebergement/calcul-et-perception-de-la-taxe-sur-lhebergement/
• https://crtc.gc.ca/fra/internet/anti.htm
• https://www.cai.gouv.qc.ca/protection-renseignements-personnels/
• https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/7400114?hl=fr

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