Expired Brokerage Contract in Quebec: The Clause That Can Still Trigger a Commission

A seller whose brokerage contract runs out without a sale often assumes they are starting over. Not quite: a clause can outlive the contract and make the commission payable even after it ends. This article is about that one clause, known as the protection clause. What is owed during the contract, depending on whether it is exclusive or not, is covered in our article on exclusive versus non-exclusive listing agreements.

The contract ends, one clause survives it

On the expiry date, the brokerage contract ends: the broker no longer has the mandate to market the property, and the seller is free to sell alone or sign with someone else. But some commitments are written to last beyond that date. The protection clause is one of them.

It does not extend the contract. The broker does nothing more to sell the property. It only protects, for a limited time, the work they did while the contract was in force.

What the clause provides

In substance, the clause provides that the commission remains payable if the property sells, during a period set in the contract after expiry, to someone the broker introduced to the seller or showed the property to during the contract. The length of that period isn't set by law: it is written into the contract the seller signs.

Three elements must therefore come together: a sale, concluded during the protection period, with a person linked to the broker's work during the contract. If one is missing, the clause doesn't apply. A sale to a buyer the broker never introduced, or a sale concluded after the period ends, doesn't make the commission payable under this clause.

Why it exists

Without it, one scenario would be too easy: a buyer visits with the broker, gets interested, and then buyer and seller wait together for the contract to expire so they can deal directly, with no commission. The clause makes that workaround pointless.

It also applies in less calculated cases. A buyer who visited, hesitated and came back a few weeks after expiry is not running a scheme; they are still linked to the broker's work, and the clause may apply. A seller therefore needs to know it even with no intention of getting around it.

The exception that cancels it: a new exclusive contract

The usual brokerage contract forms provide an important exception: when the seller has signed a new exclusive brokerage contract with another agency, the former broker's commission is in principle no longer payable under the protection clause. The idea is to avoid a seller owing two commissions for one sale.

The practical consequence is worth remembering. The clause's risk falls mainly on a seller who, after expiry, sells alone, with no new broker. That is the situation in which a buyer introduced by the former broker can revive the commission. The exact wording of the exception is in your contract, and that wording governs.

It is the broker who must prove the link to the buyer

If the clause is invoked, the broker claiming the commission has to establish that the final buyer is among the people they introduced during the contract. A logged visit, a documented exchange, a dated introduction are the usual traces.

Uncertainty on this point is the most common source of disagreement. A seller who doesn't know who visited during the contract can't tell whether a buyer who shows up later is covered. The fix is one simple step, described below.

What to settle before signing, then at expiry

Before signing a brokerage contract, reread three elements: the length of the protection period after expiry, the people it covers, and the exception for a new contract. They are negotiable terms just like the commission, and they are discussed before signing, not after.

When the contract expires without a sale, ask your broker for the list of people who visited the property or received information during the contract. With that list, the seller knows exactly who the clause applies to and until what date. Without it, every buyer who turns up during the protection period becomes an open question.