Eligibility for a disability pension under the Québec Pension Plan

If you are under age 65

To be deemed disabled by Retraite Québec, you must:

• have a severe and permanent disability recognized by our team of medical professionals
• have contributed sufficiently to the Québec Pension Plan

You must not be receiving an unreduced income replacement indemnity from the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST).

The fact that an insurance company or other agency or government department considers you to be disabled does not automatically mean that you will be entitled to a disability pension under the Québec Pension Plan, since the eligibility requirements may be different.

Criteria for determining sufficient contributions under the Québec Pension Plan

You have contributed sufficiently to the Québec Pension Plan if you have:

• contributed for at least 2 of the last 3 years in your contributory period
• contributed for at least 5 of the last 10 years in your contributory period
• contributed for at least half of the years in your contributory period, but not less than 2 years

Check your Statement of Participation in the Québec Pension Plan to see whether you have contributed sufficiently.

It is possible that certain months will not be taken into account when calculating the contributory period, which could render you eligible for a benefit or even increase the amount if they are: 

• months during which you received a disability pension under the Québec Pension Plan or the Canada Pension Plan or an unreduced income replacement indemnity from the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST).
• months (as of 1966, the year in which the Québec Pension Plan came into effect), any months during which you received family benefits paid by the Québec governmentor theCanadian government for a child under 7. The period can be extended up to 18 years for the parent of a child requiring exceptional care receiving a benefit under the Supplement for Handicapped Children Requiring Exceptional Care^{See Note 1} program.
  

Other eligible contributions

• If you contributed to the Canada Pension Plan, Retraite Québec takes those contributions into account when determining entitlement to benefits and calculating the amount of your pension.
• If you participated in the pension plan of a country with which Québec has a social security agreement, those years of contribution can be added to your participation in the Québec Pension Plan, possibly granting you eligibility for a disability pension.

Requirements for a severe and permanent disability to be recognized by our team of medical professionals

Your disability is recognized as severe and permanent if you are unable to do any type of full-time work. We do not consider your disability to be severe if you can do work that takes your limitations into account and for which you would earn $20 171 or more in 2023. Your severe disability must also be permanent. A severe disability is permanent if it is expected to last indefinitely, without any possibility for improvement.

Temporary disability (or temporary incapacity to work) is not covered under the Québec Pension Plan.

Factors such as language, the availability of work and place of residence are not taken into account in the medical evaluation of a contributor's ability to work.

If you are age 60 to 65

Contributors aged 60 to 65 can be deemed to be disabled because they are unable to do their regular work if they contributed to the Plan for at least 3 of the last 6 years^{See Note 2} in their contributory period.

In certain cases and under certain conditions, you could be eligible for a retirement pension under the Québec Pension Plan while your application for disability benefits is being processed.

In addition, if we deem you to be disabled and you choose to receive a disability pension, you must cancel your retirement pension and repay all amounts you have received since your first retirement pension payment.

If you become disabled before age 65 and you are receiving a retirement pension that you can no longer cancel in order to receive a disability pension, you could be entitled to an additional amount for disability.

At age 65

At age 65 the disability pension will automatically be replaced by a retirement pension. The amount of the retirement pension will be reduced.

You will probably also be eligible for an Old Age Security pension  paid by the federal government. However, you must file an application.

Other useful information

• Disability pensions under the Québec Pension Plan
• Application for a Disability Pension Under the Québec Pension Plan