Executive Summary: Key Legal and Evidentiary Issues

• Caisse Desjardins de l'Est de l'Abitibi sought forced surrender, sale under judicial authority, and a personal condemnation against Mathieu Desaulniers-Poulin over an immovable in Malartic.
• The defendant did not contest the existence of the debt, the validity of the hypothec, or the regularity of the prior notice, seeking only additional time to cure his arrears.
• More than sixty days had elapsed since publication of the prior notice of exercise of a hypothecary right without the default being remedied.
• Financial hardship following a separation and the loss of a mining job paying over $100,000 per year was raised, but the Court held these circumstances do not constitute a defence to the hypothecary recourse.
• Evidence of unpaid 2026 municipal taxes, an outstanding Hydro-Québec debt, and the absence of home insurance was treated as an aggravation of risk rather than a realistic prospect of recovery.
• Given the uninsured immovable, the Court declared the judgment executory notwithstanding appeal and without security.

Facts of the case

On July 7, 2020, Mathieu Desaulniers-Poulin obtained financing from Caisse Desjardins de l'Est de l'Abitibi secured by an immovable hypothec on a property in Malartic, published under number 25 516 089 in the registry office for the registration division of Abitibi. In June 2023, he separated from his spouse, Stéphanie Mercier, and bought out her undivided share of the property. Following the separation, he experienced financial difficulties in meeting his mortgage payments. A prior notice of exercise of a hypothecary right of sale under judicial authority was personally served on him on February 14, 2025, and published in the land register on February 18, 2025. More than sixty days passed without the default being cured. As of June 17, 2025, arrears stood at $546.48 on loan number 2 and $4,391.47 on loan number 3. The Caisse served its hypothecary recourse on July 4, 2025. Although the defendant filed a response and a case protocol, he took no further steps to advance a defence, and the Caisse filed its inscription within the required time limits.

Contractual instruments at issue

The recourse rested on the defendant's failure to comply with the clauses and conditions of the deed of immovable hypothecary guarantee executed before notary Me Mélissa Hélie and published on July 7, 2020, under number 25 516 089, as well as the "marge atout" financing contract, the contract modifying that financing, and the loan contracts linked to the marge atout identified as loan 2 and loan 3. The judgment also declared the defendant's forfeiture of the benefit of the term granted under these instruments.

The court's reasoning and analysis

At the hearing on June 5, 2026, the defendant asked for additional time to rectify his arrears, explaining his default by the financial fallout of his separation and the loss of his job at the mine, which had provided an income of more than $100,000 per year. He stated that he had paid the 2025 taxes in full, but that the 2026 taxes remained unpaid, that the property currently carried no home insurance because he could not afford it, and that he still owed money to Hydro-Québec for electricity bills. Justice Nathalie Pelletier acknowledged these personal circumstances with empathy but held that they did not amount to a defence to the hypothecary recourse. Absent evidence that an additional delay would likely allow the default to be remedied, the Court noted that a long delay had already effectively been granted, since the prior notice was served in February 2025 and the action was filed only in June 2025, giving the defendant several months to regularize his situation. The circumstances described suggested a worsening of his financial position rather than a realistic prospect of recovery, and the lack of insurance together with the unpaid 2026 municipal taxes and the Hydro-Québec debt represented an aggravation of risk. The defendant had shown no refinancing in progress, no promise to purchase the immovable, and no other concrete solution capable of curing the default within a reasonable time. The Court concluded that the Caisse had discharged its burden of proof.

Ruling and overall outcome

The Court granted the originating application for forced surrender and sale under judicial authority as well as the personal condemnation, ruling in favour of Caisse Desjardins de l'Est de l'Abitibi. It noted the existence of the Caisse's claim in the initial capital amount of $211,455.75, subsequently increased to $212,916.01, with a balance of $202,380.65 in capital and interest as of June 17, 2025, plus interest and legally recoverable fees thereafter. The defendant was ordered to pay the Caisse $10,306.56 with interest at 6.14% per year and $192,074.09 with interest at 2.39% per year, both running from June 18, 2025 — a combined condemnation of $202,380.65, with legal costs. The defendant and any occupant must surrender the immovable within five days of service of the judgment, failing which immediate expulsion was ordered. The sale is to proceed by agreement (gré à gré) under the control of bailiff Josée Fortin of Fortin Huissiers de justice inc., at a price equal to or greater than $143,625, with any real estate broker's commission set at a minimum of $1,500 plus taxes and capped at five percent of the sale price. Because the immovable was uninsured, the Caisse amended its proceeding at the hearing, and the judgment was declared executory notwithstanding appeal and without security.