Lease ending, building rules, a sofa the City will not take? This guide covers the Montreal-specific parts of an apartment clear-out: timing around July 1, what it costs, what the curb accepts and a four-week plan.
Send photos of each room. We quote by volume and can often come in 24 to 48 hours.
Call Now
Clearing out an apartment in Montreal means sorting what you keep, sell or donate, then removing the rest before your lease ends or your building's rules stop you. For a studio or one-bedroom with a few large items, expect to pay roughly $150 to $300 for a professional pickup. A two- or three-bedroom apartment with furniture and appliances is more often $400 to $700, and a full multi-room clear-out of a larger unit, or one with a lot of accumulated belongings, is $800 to $1,500 or more. Access is the biggest variable: a ground-floor unit with a wide door is far easier than a fourth-floor walk-up.
This guide covers the Montreal-specific parts that generic articles miss: how the lease end and the July 1 moving day affect timing, what your building may require, what the City's curbside collection will and will not take, a four-week plan, a room-by-room checklist, and honest cost ranges. If you would rather hand the job to a crew, our residential junk removal service in Montreal page has the details and booking options.
| Apartment size | Typical situation | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Studio or 1 bedroom, light load | Sofa, mattress, a few boxes, small appliances | $150 to $300 |
| 2 to 3 bedrooms, normal load | Full furniture set, appliances, boxes from several rooms | $400 to $700 |
| Large unit or full clear-out | Whole household, storage, balcony and basement locker | $800 to $1,500+ |
Estimates for Montreal, Laval and the South Shore, confirmed by photos or a short call. Stairs, elevator access and heavy items change the final price.
In Quebec, timing is driven by the lease. Most residential leases end on June 30, and moving day traditionally falls on July 1, which is why the last week of June and the first days of July are the busiest of the year for movers and junk removal crews. If your lease ends then, plan your clear-out in May and early June, not on June 29.
For a lease of a year or more, notice of non-renewal is generally given between three and six months before the lease ends, using the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL) notice form for tenants. A lease that is not ended properly can renew automatically. Check your lease, the TAL website and, if you are unsure, a legal clinic, because this is general information and not legal advice.
Article 1890 of the Civil Code of Quebec says that at the end of the lease the tenant must return the dwelling in the condition in which it was received, without liability for normal wear and tear or superior force. The starting condition can be shown by a description or photographs; if it is not established, the tenant is presumed to have received the dwelling in good condition. In practice that means: take photos on move-in, and take photos when you leave.
Anything you leave behind is your responsibility. Leaving furniture, boxes or discarded items in the unit or in common areas can lead to disputes with the landlord. Clear it, or book removal before the keys are handed back.
In general, Quebec landlords cannot ask a tenant for a damage deposit. We mention this because it is often the question behind the worry: what the landlord can pursue is specific damage or unpaid rent, which is why documentation matters. We did not re-verify the deposit rule against a primary source for this article, so confirm with the TAL if it applies to you.
Our separate guide to what to do with leftover junk on July 1 covers the last-minute options and why municipal pickup around moving day is not guaranteed everywhere.
Walk each room and decide keep, sell, donate or discard. Take condition photos of the apartment. Confirm your end date and the elevator or parking rules with the building.
List sellable items online and arrange donation pickups or drop-offs. Larger furniture donations often need lead time, so book early.
Pack what you are keeping. Group everything left into one area, ideally near the door. Set aside items that need special handling: paint, batteries, electronics.
Book the removal for a day or two before the keys are due. Sweep, clean and take final photos. Hand over the keys.
If you are short on time, a 24 to 48 hour pickup can compress this considerably. See our guide to emergency cleanouts in 24 to 48 hours for how it works.
Rules differ from building to building, and they matter more in Montreal than in many cities because so many people live in older walk-ups, plexes and condo towers. Before removal day, find out the following.
Our guide to condo cleanouts and access challenges covers elevators, stairs and shared-space rules in more depth.
Many tenants assume they can put everything on the curb. The City of Montreal's bulky items collection accepts large objects made of wood, metal, plastic or ceramic, including appliances, furniture, doors, windows and fixtures. But the City's page also lists items that are not accepted at the curb: electronics such as refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, TVs and computers, tires, hazardous materials, and, importantly for apartments, upholstered furniture such as sofas, mattresses and chairs.
That single line explains why so many clear-outs go wrong. The sofa and the mattress are the two biggest items in most apartments, and neither can go out with the regular bulky collection. Options include an ecocentre trip (residents need ID and proof of address), a mattress-specific service, or a crew that hauls them for you. See our guide to mattress and box spring disposal in Montreal and appliance disposal in Montreal.
For residents, the City lists acceptance of wood, branches, electronics, construction debris and, for residents only, appliances, furniture, tires and clothing. You must present ID and proof of address. Appliances with refrigerant must be empty, and refrigerators and freezers are limited to 10 per year. You cannot use powered equipment to unload, so you carry everything by hand. If you have no vehicle, or a fourth-floor unit, this is often the moment to hire help.
Collection dates and rules differ by borough. Our guides to bulky waste bylaws in Montreal and Laval and the 2026 bulky item pickup calendar can help you plan around the schedule.
Sofa, armchairs, coffee table, TV stand, shelves, rugs, lamps. Electronics and TVs need a proper drop-off. The sofa is the classic problem item.
Mattress, box spring, bed frame, dressers, nightstands, closet contents. Bag clothes for donation; keep bedding separate.
Small appliances, cookware, table and chairs, pantry items. Empty and defrost the refrigerator well before the removal date. Donate unopened non-perishables.
Toiletries, cleaning supplies, small storage units. Take chemicals to a household hazardous waste drop-off, not the garbage.
Patio furniture, bikes, paint cans, boxes. Balconies and lockers are often forgotten and cause handover problems.
Shoes, coats, old luggage, vacuum cleaners, and the boxes you never unpacked from the last move.
A useful rule: if an item is in good condition and you can get it out of the building within two weeks, it can be sold or donated. If it is damaged, stained or missing parts, it should be discarded properly, because many charities refuse it and dumping it on them adds cost to everyone.
| Item | Best route | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Solid wood furniture in good shape | Sell or donate | Donation groups may pick up, but book early |
| Sofa, armchair | Donate if clean, otherwise haul away | Not accepted at curb collection |
| Mattress and box spring | Haul away or specialized service | Not accepted at curb collection |
| Working appliances | Sell or donate | Empty and clean them first |
| Broken appliances | Ecocentre or haul away | Refrigerant units need proper handling |
| Clothes and linens | Donate | Bag clean items separately |
| Paint and chemicals | Ecocentre | Keep in original containers |
Our guides to where to donate furniture in Montreal and five ways to get rid of old furniture, compared walk through the options and their trade-offs. When we clear an apartment, our order is donation first, recycling second, landfill last.
DIY can be cheaper in cash, but it costs time, and in Montreal it often runs into stairs, parking and the fact that the two biggest items (sofa and mattress) cannot go out with regular collection. Here is the honest comparison.
| Factor | DIY | Professional crew |
|---|---|---|
| Cash cost | Truck rental, fuel, ecocentre time, helpers | $150 to $1,500+ depending on load |
| Time | One to three days | One visit, often 1 to 3 hours |
| Heavy carrying | You and friends | Included |
| Sorting and disposal | You research it | Included, donation and recycling where possible |
| Building rules | You manage elevator and parking | Crew works with your building requirements |
| Risk of injury or damage | Higher | Lower, but tell the crew about tricky stairs |
A useful test: if the total is under a car-load and you can do it in a single trip, DIY works. If it involves stairs, a couch, a mattress and several trips, the crew usually costs less than the value of your weekend.
Consider a two-bedroom apartment in the Plateau, third floor, no elevator, with a sofa, two mattresses, a dining set, a dresser, a bookshelf, a few boxes and a broken washing machine. That is a normal medium load, in the $400 to $700 range. Doing it yourself means a truck rental, two helpers, three flights of stairs, at least two ecocentre trips for the appliance and electronics, and a separate solution for the mattresses. Most people who price that out choose the crew, and spend their last week cleaning and handing over the keys.
With roommates, agree in writing who removes which items and who books removal, so nothing is left behind and cost is shared fairly. Photograph the empty rooms before you return keys.
Downsizing often means removing half of your belongings. Start with categories rather than rooms, and keep only what fits your new space. If you are leaving the country, remember that shipping costs make many items not worth taking.
When you are handling a relative's home, the pace and emotions are different. Give yourself time for personal papers and keepsakes, and ask for help with the heavy parts. Our guide to estate cleanouts in Montreal covers the process and timing.
If your handover is in 48 hours, call as early in the day as possible, send photos of every room, and tell the crew the building's rules. Same-day and next-day slots are sometimes available, especially outside the last week of June.
If you own the apartment and are preparing to sell, clearing out clutter helps showings. See our checklist for junk removal before selling a home in Montreal.
Many of these overlap with the general advice in our guide to moving in Montreal with unwanted furniture and belongings, and the seasonal timing is covered in our spring cleaning and decluttering guide.
We clear apartments across the island, including Rosemont, Cote-des-Neiges and NDG, the Sud-Ouest and Villeray, plus Laval, the North Shore and the South Shore, within about 40 km of Montreal. Rates are the same structure everywhere: volume-based, confirmed by photos or a short call before the day. Customers rate us 5.0 from 128 Google reviews.
If part of your apartment needs a renovation before handover, see our guides on kitchen and bathroom renovation debris and the contractor-oriented construction debris removal in Montreal service.
The same apartment can cost very different amounts depending on a handful of factors. Knowing them lets you lower your bill before the crew arrives.
For a wider view of how junk removal is priced across Montreal, see our junk removal cost per cubic foot comparison, which explains why volume-based quotes are more honest than flat guesses.
Our 2026 estimates are $150 to $300 for a small load from a studio or one-bedroom, $400 to $700 for a typical two- or three-bedroom load, and $800 to $1,500 or more for a large unit or a full clear-out. Access, stairs and heavy items change the final price, and we confirm it by photos or a short call.
Not through the bulky items collection. Montreal's page lists upholstered furniture, including sofas, mattresses and chairs, as not accepted at the curb. Options include an ecocentre, a specialized service or a junk removal crew.
Article 1890 of the Civil Code of Quebec says the tenant must return the dwelling in the condition in which it was received, without liability for normal wear and tear. Photos at move-in and move-out help show that condition.
As early as possible. The last week of June and July 1 are the busiest days of the year. Book in May or early June, and confirm your elevator or parking arrangements with the building.
For a lease of a year or more, notice of non-renewal is generally given between three and six months before the end of the lease, using the TAL notice form. This is general information; check the TAL or a legal clinic for your situation.
Someone should be there to point out what goes and to give access, unless you have arranged otherwise with us and your building. Tell us about the building's entry system.
Yes. Stairs add labour time, so the estimate reflects them. Tell us the floor and whether there is an elevator when you call or send photos.
Keep paint, solvents, propane and batteries separate, since ecocentres take these in original containers. Asbestos and similar hazardous materials are not something we handle. Ask if you are unsure about an item.
Yes. Our order is donation first, recycling second and landfill last. Items in good condition are directed to donation where possible.
Yes. We serve Montreal, Laval, the North Shore and the South Shore, within about 40 km of Montreal.
Planning a pickup? See all of our service areas, including Île-Perrot and Vaudreuil-Dorion, or learn about our apartment cleanout service. Related reading: Decluttering and Minimalism: Where to Start in Montreal and Demolition Permits and Renovation Debris in Montreal: What You Need to Know.
Send photos. Rated 5.0 from 128 Google reviews.
📞 (514) 295-2123From $150, same-day pickup often available in Montreal, Laval, the North Shore and the South Shore.
GoodBye Junk Montréal
Montreal, QC, Canada
Call nowFree quoteBook onlineAbout us