I am a parent who immigrated
You could maybe receive Family Allowance, which is financial assistance provided to eligible families who have a dependent child under age 18 who lives with them.
To receive Family Allowance, you or your spouse must meet all the following conditions:
- Be responsible for the care and education of a child under age 18.
- Live or lived with the child before the child was placed or institutionalized temporarily by an institution in the health and social services sector.
- Live in Québec (under the Taxation Act).
- Have one of the following statuses:
- Canadian citizen;
- permanent resident;
- temporary resident who has been living in Canada for the last 18 months;
- protected person.
You cannot receive Family Allowance if:
- you are a foster family for a child;
- you do not have to pay taxes according to Revenu Québec;
- you are waiting to obtain protected person status (refugee claimant);
- your child is married or lives in a de facto union and his or her spouse received a credit transferred from one spouse to the other.
Good to know
Your child could have been born in Québec, whereas you did not have any of the statuses. In that case, you must wait to obtainone before filing an application for Family Allowance.
Was your child born outside Québec and arrived with you, whereas you did not have one of the statuses? You must also wait to obtain one before filing an application for Family Allowance.
If you arrived in Québec without your child, you must wait for your child to arrive before filing an application for Family Allowance.
Filing an application for Family Allowance
You have three options:
After filing your application, we will send you an acknowledgment of receipt.
Documents as proof to be enclosed with your application
Be sure to have on hand the right documents as proof depending on your situation and send them to us at the same time as your application for Family Allowance.
Important!
You could be in one of the situations shown below. In that case, send the requested documents for each situation that applies to you.
You must provide us with two documents as proof of residence.
They must be in your or your spouse's name if he or she lives with you.
Accepted documents provided as proof depending on status |
Status |
Accepted Proof |
Resident of Québec | - Notice of Assessment issued by the Canada Revenue Agency;
- deed of purchase of residential property;
- proof of home insurance;
- attestation from an employer;
- proof of registration at an educational institution in Québec;
- lease (all pages);
- municipal or school tax notices;
- invoice from an Internet, cable or telephone service provider;
- invoice from an energy company (heating, electricity, etc.);
- letter from the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec confirming eligibility for the Québec Health Insurance Plan;
- letter from Emploi-Québec confirming your status as a beneficiary under the Social Assistance Program or the Social Solidarity Program;
- Québec driver's license.
|
You must provide us with one or more documents as proof of each immigrant status in Canada that you had in the last 12 months:
- protected person;
- permanent resident;
- temporary resident who has been living in Canada for the past 18 months.
If none of the statuses applied to you in the last 12 months, but that some of them applied to your spouse, you must provide us with one or more documents as proof of each status.
Accepted documents provided as proof depending on status |
Status |
Accepted Proof |
Protected person | - Protected Person Status Document;
- positive Notice of Decision received from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada following a pre-removal risk assessment;
- positive Notice of Decision from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada;
- temporary resident permit (only if the code is Case Type 88).
|
Permanent resident | - Permanent Resident Card (both sides);
- Confirmation of Permanent Residence (IMM 5292 or IMM 5688);
- Record of Landing form (IMM 1000).
|
Temporary resident who has been living in Canada for the past 18 months | Each visitor record, study permit, temporary resident permit or work permit (other than one that states "does not confer temporary resident status") that covers a period beyond the current 18-month period of residence in Canada. |
You must provide us with proof of your child's presence in Québec.
Accepted documents provided as proof depending on status |
Status |
Accepted Proof |
Child born outside Québec, but in Canada | - a birth certificate issued by the vital statistics office of the province or territory of the child's birth.
|
Child born outside Canada | - one of the following
documents as proof in the child's name on which the
child's family name, given name and date of birth appear:
- Protected Person Status Document;
- Interim Federal Health Certificate of Eligibility;
- Permanent Resident Card (both sides)
- certificate of Canadian citizenship (both sides);
- Confirmation of Permanent Residence (IMM 5292 or IMM 5688);
- visitor record;
- Record of Landing form (IMM 1000);
- Canadian passport;
- study permit;
- temporary resident permit;
or - one of the following documents as proof in the parent's name, on which the
child's family name, given name and date of birth appear:
- visitor record;
- study permit;
- temporary resident permit;
- work permit.
|
In the case where:
-
one of the parents is a Canadian citizen;
-
one of the parents has permanent resident status and returned to Québec;
-
he or she arrived alone in Québec, without his or her parents.
You must provide us with proof of the child's presence in Québec.
Accepted documents provided as proof depending on status |
Status |
Accepted Proof |
Child born outside Québec and alone in Québec, without his or her parents | - official report card or confirmation of school attendance that is signed by the school principal and includes the school's seal along with the name and address of the respondent;
- confirmation of daycare attendance signed by the director of the daycare facility. The name and address of the daycare facility as well as the name and address of the respondent must be on the confirmation;
- any medical document showing that you take the child to appointments;
- a Québec vaccination booklet giving the vaccination dates since your arrival in or return to Québec.
The document provided must contain the following information about the child:
family name, given name, date of birth and address in Québec. |
Send us clear and legible copies of your documents as proof via the
Sending a document online service. If necessary, we may request the originals or certified copies.
Important!
Once you have sent your application with the documents as proof, avoid sending a new application or documents as proof. The process of your first application could be delayed. We will contact you if you need to provide other information. A decision regarding your application for Family Allowance will be mailed to you, at the address indicated on your application.
Once your application for Family Allowance has been accepted, we will contact you so that you can send us information concerning your income earned outside Québec and/or Canada. We need that information to calculate the amount of your Family Allowance payments.
To estimate the amount of Family Allowance payments you could receive, use the
CalculAide tool.
The
Family Allowance section provides more information on financial assistance.
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