Quebec Judgment Interest Rate Calculation and File Closure

Interest Adds Up — Track It or Lose It

A Quebec judgment does not just sit at the original amount. Interest accrues automatically from the date specified in the court decision, and it keeps running until the debtor pays in full. If you are not tracking it, you may accept less than you are owed.

The Two Components of Post-Judgment Interest

Quebec judgment interest has two layers:

1. Legal interest rate — Fixed at 5% per annum under federal and provincial statutory guidelines. This applies unless the original judgment specifies a different contractual rate.

2. Additional indemnity (indemnité additionnelle) — Under Article 1619 of the Civil Code of Quebec, an extra amount is added on top of the legal interest. The indemnity rate is tied to the prescribed interest rate published quarterly by Revenu Québec under section 28 of the Tax Administration Act. This rate fluctuates — it is not fixed like the base 5%.

Both components run on the unpaid principal balance from the date of default or judicial filing (whichever the judgment specifies). They compound the total owed, and they are legally recoverable from the debtor.

Keeping a Ledger

With partial payments arriving through wage garnishments or bailiff seizures, the math gets complicated quickly. You need to maintain a ledger that tracks:

• Principal — The original judgment amount
• Court costs — Costs awarded in the judgment itself
• Execution fees — The $52 clerk filing fee for an individual creditor ($63.75 for a legal entity), bailiff fees, and other recoverable disbursements
• Accrued interest — Legal interest plus the Article 1619 additional indemnity, calculated on the unpaid balance
• Payments received — Every garnished wage payment, seized amount, or direct payment, with dates

The formula at any point in time:

Total owed = Principal + Court costs + Execution fees + Accrued interest − Payments received

Update this ledger every time you receive a payment or incur a new recoverable expense. The court clerk may ask for a current balance when processing garnishment distributions, and an accurate ledger is your proof.

Closing the File — Form SJ-842

When the debtor has paid everything — principal, interest, court costs, and execution fees — you must formally close the case. This is not optional.

File Form SJ-842 (Quittance / Règlement / Désistement / Mainlevée) with the court clerk. This form confirms that the judgment debt is satisfied in full and releases the debtor.

Notify garnishees. Send copies of Form SJ-842 to any active garnishees — the debtor's employer if wage garnishment is running, or the bank if a seizure is active. This stops deductions and releases frozen funds.

Discharge registered encumbrances. If you registered a legal hypothec against the debtor's property at the Registre foncier, file a formal cancellation (mainlevée / radiation). Leaving an unjustified encumbrance on someone's property after you have been paid in full can expose you to civil liability.

Do Not Accept a Partial Settlement Without a Ledger

If the debtor offers a lump sum to settle for less than the full balance, know exactly what the full balance is before negotiating. Without an accurate ledger, you might agree to "settle the debt" without realizing how much interest has accrued. The difference on a multi-year enforcement of a $10,000–$15,000 judgment can be substantial.

The complete enforcement guide includes a fillable payment tracking ledger with built-in interest calculation fields, so you can maintain an accurate running balance from day one through file closure.

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