Retired in Laval: a 4½ with an elevator or a seniors' residence (RPA), how to choose

The tax credit for home support doesn't stop at the door of your house. From age 70, a tenant in an ordinary apartment can claim it too.

In short: seniors' residence or apartment, it all depends on how much help you need today. A couple who still manage on their own keep more freedom in a 4½ with an elevator, while the rent at an RPA mostly pays for services.

Leaving your house and looking for a 4½ with an elevator in Laval? See our 4½ for rent in Laval at 1700 boul. Lévesque Est

Right next door, 1750 boul. Lévesque Est also has an elevator. All our apartments are on a single page. A note on sizes: a 4½ has two bedrooms, enough to have the grandchildren stay over.

Seniors' residence or apartment: what sets them apart

You are selling the house where you raised your children. Two listings are waiting for you: a seniors' residence, and a 4½ in a building with an elevator. They are not selling the same thing.

A private seniors' residence (RPA) is a rental building lived in mostly by people aged 65 and over. You rent a unit and services: meals, housekeeping, activities, sometimes care. According to Québec.ca, only a residence certified by the government can use that name.

Two other options are meant for a greater loss of autonomy. An intermediate resource (RI) takes in people with a mild or moderate loss of autonomy, in connection with the public network. A residential and long-term care centre (CHSLD) takes in people who need help all day. You get in after an assessment by the health network, often through the CLSC.

An ordinary apartment rents you only the home. You keep your kitchen, your schedule and your visitors. If home help becomes useful one day, you are the one who chooses it.

According to the CMHC, 17% of Quebecers aged 75 and over lived in a seniors' residence in 2021. So more than eight in ten lived somewhere other than a residence.

Assess your needs before you leave the house

The right choice starts from your life today, not the worst case. An RPA bills you every month for services you may not use yet. An apartment lets you add help on the day it is needed.

Sit down together and answer honestly:

• Do you still cook most of your meals?
• Do you drive, or does a bus run near the address you have in mind?
• Have the stairs in the house become the real problem?
• Do you want organized activities on site, or do you already see your friends often?
• Does one of you need help to wash, get dressed or take medication?

If the stairs are the only obstacle, an elevator solves it. If the last question gets a yes, an RPA with care becomes more useful. In between, nothing forces you to decide for ten years: a lease is usually signed for one year.

Tip: ask your family doctor or the CLSC for an assessment before you sign. Then you can compare listings with your real needs in hand.

What the rent includes: an RPA or a heated and lit 4½

When you visit an RPA, the advertised rent covers much more than the walls. It usually includes heating, one or more meals a day, housekeeping and activities. The certificate of compliance also requires a call-for-help system and a fire safety plan.

An ordinary apartment includes less, but sometimes more than you might think. At 1700 boul. Lévesque Est, the 4½ is heated and lit: electricity, heating, hot water and the water tax are included. You get a single bill each month, and January costs the same as July.

Our guide on heated or unheated apartments shows what that difference means over a year. Here are the two options side by side.

Would you like one payment a month for your home and your energy? Discover a heated and lit 4½ near the Duvernay marina

Seniors' residence or apartment in Laval: the real budget

The most recent official figures on RPAs come from the CMHC, and they date from 2021. A standard space cost $1,922 a month on average in Québec, according to the CMHC Seniors' Housing Survey, an average of RPAs and not our rent. A space with heavy care cost $3,653 a month on average according to the same CMHC survey, again an average of RPAs, not our rent.

These prices have changed since 2021. Ask each residence for its full price list: the base rent, then the price of each added service. A second meal, laundry or help with bathing may be billed separately.

An apartment adds up differently. The page for each of our buildings shows the current rent for every available unit. Add groceries, a housekeeper if you want one, and transportation. Then compare that total with the RPA's price list.

Your federal benefits do not depend on the type of housing. The Old Age Security pension, the Guaranteed Income Supplement and the age amount follow your age and your income. What changes with the housing is the Québec credit in the next section.

The home support credit, in an apartment too

This credit is not only for homeowners and RPA residents. A tenant in an apartment building is entitled to it too. You must be 70 or older and live in Québec on December 31 of the year.

The credit rate is 40% in 2026, according to the Québec Ministère des Finances fact sheet. For a tenant, 5% of the monthly rent counts as eligible expenses. The rent used ranges from $600 to $1,200 a month, according to the Chaire en fiscalité et en finances publiques at the Université de Sherbrooke.

Let's do the math with these Québec government parameters. With $1,200 of rent used, the ceiling set by Québec tax rules according to the Chaire en fiscalité et en finances publiques and not our rent, $60 a month is eligible. At the 2026 rate in the Ministère des Finances fact sheet, the Québec government gives you back $24 a month, or $288 a year, a Québec tax credit and not our rate.

Help you pay for separately counts too. Cleaning your apartment, done by a company or by someone other than your spouse, is added to the eligible expenses. Only the cost of the service counts, not the cost of the products. Keep every invoice with the provider's name.

In an RPA, a larger share of the rent counts, because meals, laundry and care are included. The rent there is also higher. So compare the two budgets after the credit, never before.

According to the same Ministère des Finances fact sheet, the credit goes down when family income is over $72,465 in 2026. You claim it on Schedule J of your tax return, or through advance payments during the year. Revenu Québec or your accountant will confirm the amounts for your situation.

Staying independent in Duvernay, near the marina

1700 boul. Lévesque Est is on the waterfront stretch of the boulevard, with the marina at the end of the street. The building is concrete and soundproofed, with an elevator lobby on every floor. Your grocery bags go up without a single step.

A concierge on site takes care of day-to-day maintenance. A garbage chute on every floor saves you from taking the trash down in January. The intercom lets you let visitors in from your living room.

Health care is close by, according to the times published on the building's page. Clinique Concorde is 2 minutes away and the Hôpital de la Cité-de-la-Santé is 8 minutes away. The Cartier terminus is 4 minutes away, and the Montmorency metro is 10 minutes away.

For walks, the Centre de la nature is 5 minutes away. Its trails are open every day of the year. In winter, you can go cross-country skiing and skating there.

Would you rather live in Vimont, the area around the Hôpital de la Cité-de-la-Santé? Our 4½ at 22-32 boul. Saint-Elzéar Ouest have two bedrooms plus a den.

What to check on a visit, and what the lease says

Bring this list to every visit, at an RPA or an apartment:

• The RPA's certificate, which you can look up in the public register of private seniors' residences.
• What the rent includes, written in the lease or its schedule, service by service.
• The price of each added service, and how it goes up from one year to the next.
• The size of the elevator, for a walker or a wheelchair one day.
• The trip to the grocery store, the pharmacy and the clinic, on foot or by bus.
• The materials between units: concrete cuts the noise from neighbours.

The lease is the same mandatory Québec form in both cases. In an RPA, a schedule lists the services. Both fall under the Tribunal administratif du logement.

Leaving an apartment stays simple if your health changes. According to the TAL page on lease termination for a senior, a senior tenant permanently admitted to a CHSLD, an RI or an RPA with care can end their lease. The notice takes effect two months after it is sent for a lease of 12 months or more. You must attach the facility's attestation and a certificate.

For a specific situation, contact the Tribunal administratif du logement.

At CGK Realties in Laval

We are a family-run landlord. We own our buildings and you rent directly from us, with no agency. Every building has its own concierge on site. Cats are welcome, dogs are not.

Want to see the elevator and the 4½ for yourself? Book a visit at 1700 boul. Lévesque Est in Duvernay

Moving, the lease and winter each have their own guide in our tenant resources.

Where our buildings are

1700 boul. Lévesque Est Included: electricity, heating and hot water View building 1750 boul. Lévesque Est Included: water tax View building All our buildings Montréal, Laval and the South Shore View all Heated or unheated: what does winter really cost in a 4½ in Quebec? (2026 Guide) Heating included or on your own account? Read the guide

Frequently asked questions