Amounts and payment of Family Allowance
The amount of the Family Allowance payments varies from one family to another. The calculation takes into account:
- the number of dependent children under age 18 who live with you
- the number of children in shared custody
- the family situation (single-parent or two-parent)
- the family income, that is, the combined income of both spouses, if applicable. To obtain an overview of the amount you could receive in 2023, see the table below. You can also estimate the amounts to which you could be entitled under the Family Allowance measure by using our
CalculAide tool.
Maximum and minimum yearly amounts –
2023
| Maximum amount |
Amount |
|---|
| Each child | $2782 |
| Single-parent family | + $976 |
|
Minimum amount |
Amount |
|
Each child | $1107 |
| Single-parent family | + $389 |
Yearly amount for the purchase of school supplies – 2023
| Supplement for the Purchase of School Supplies | $115 |
Yearly amounts for a handicapped child –
2023
| Supplement for Handicapped Children | $2616 |
| Supplement for Handicapped Children Requiring Exceptional Care | |
| Tier 1 | $13 224 |
| Tier 2 | $8796 |
Your first Family Allowance payment
We will send you your first Family Allowance payment within a
maximum of 40 days following receipt of the declaration of your child's birth from the
Directeur de l'état civil 
.
Payment methods
Family Allowance can be paid to only one person in the family. In the case of shared custody, the amount is divided and paid to both parents, according to the payment frequency (quarterly or monthly) chosen by each parent.
We make the
Family Allowance payment on the
1st working day of each quarter, that is, four times a year:
- in July for July, August and September
- in October for October, November and December
- in January for January, February and March
- in April for April, May and June
Payments can be received monthly but a
request must be made. In this case, payments are made on the first working day of each month.
Sign up for
direct deposit to receive your payments in your bank account.
Consult the
payment dates for Family Allowance.
Note that...
- We can pay Family Allowance retroactively for
a period of 11 months from the date an application is received if all of the eligibility requirements are met.
- To receive Family Allowance, both parents must file their Québec income tax return, even if one or both of them do not have any income to declare.
If money is owed to us
A change in family situation can affect the amounts to which a person is entitled. If an overpayment is received, it will have to be repaid.
The amount withheld from payments in order to repay a debt will be calculated according to the following rules:
-
50% of the payment if the annual family income is less than or equal to $35 000. Note that we can withhold more than 50% of the payment if the amounts that remain to be paid are not sufficient to repay the debt. In certain cases, we can withhold more than 50% of the payment even if the family income is less than or equal to $35 000.
-
100% of the payment if the family's annual income is more than $35 000.