New resident of Québec

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

• The documents provided as proof must be originals or true copies of the originals.

To obtain a true copy of an original, you can take the originals to one of the local employment centres in your area. You can also contact a commissioner for oaths in an organization that provides integration and settlement services to immigrants (partners of the Ministère de l'Immigration et des Communautés culturelles) or at your financial institution. The commissioner for oaths must sign and date each copy and provide his or her title and commission number as well as the mention True copy of the original document.

Make an application if required

• In the case of a birth in Québec, no application is required in order to receive child assistance payments. The child is automatically signed up for the child assistance program when the birth is declared to the Registrar of Civil Status.
• In some other situations (a family's arrival in Québec, adoption, shared custody, change of custody, etc.), you must file an application to receive child assistance.