New resident of Québec and child assistance

Has your family just arrived in Québec? You may be entitled to child assistance, a form of financial assistance for families with dependent children under age 18.

This financial measure includes child assistance payments and the supplement for handicapped children.

Eligibility for child assistance payments

To be eligible for child assistance payments, you must meet all of the following conditions:

• You are responsible for the care and education of a child under the age of 18.
• The child lives with you or has been placed elsewhere by a youth centre and you pay the contribution required by the centre.
• You live in Québec (in accordance with the Québec Taxation Act).
• You or your spouse is in one of the following status categories:
• Canadian citizen
• permanent resident
• temporary resident who has been living in Canada for the last 18 months
• protected person.

To receive child assistance payments, you and your spouse (if any) must have filed a Québec income tax return even if one or both of you had no income to report.

You must provide proof

• If your child was born outside Québec or was adopted, a birth certificate will be required.
• If you arrived in Québec in the last 24 months, proof of residence will be required.
• If you or your spouse are not Canadian citizens, proof of your immigrant status in Canada, or that of your spouse, will be required.

Certification of proof

Note that documents provided as proof must be originals or true copies of the originals. They must be legible.

ORIGINALS

• You can mail us your originals. We will return them to you rapidly.
• You can also bring them to one of our client service centres.

TRUE COPIES OF THE ORIGINALS

To obtain a true copy of an original:

• You can present your originals to one of the local employment centres in your area;
• You can also contact the agency or person who provided the original document. Only the issuer of an authentic document (e.g., the Registrar of Civil Status for birth certificate, Citizenship and Immigration Canada for an immigration document, etc.) may write "Certified true copy of the original" on a copy. The person who authenticates the document must write the mention on each copy, indicate his or her title, and sign and date the copy.

When to file an application?

You must apply for Child Assistance Payments if :

• you adopt a child
• you are an immigrant or become a resident of Québec
• your child arrives in or returns to Québec
• you live in Québec but your child was born outside Québec
• you obtain custody of a child
• you obtain shared custody of a child
• you retain custody of a child following the breakdown of your union and you were not previously receiving child assistance payments in your name
• the Régie asks you to apply for child assistance.

Use the My Account online service to check the status of your application or request whenever you want!

Access My Account online to check the status of your application or request and see the changes made to your file instantly.

Your first child assistance payment

The Régie will send you your first child assistance payment within a maximum of 40 days following receipt of the declaration of your child's birth from the Registrar of Civil Status.

• The Régie des rentes du Québec can pay child assistance retroactively for a maximum period of 11 months from the date an application is received if all of the eligibility requirements are met.
• To receive child assistance, both parents must file their Québec income tax return, even if one or both of them do not have any income to declare.