How to Apply for the Quebec Family Allowance

The short answer

Quebec is the one province whose provincial child benefit is not run by the Canada Revenue Agency. The Family Allowance (Allocation familiale) is paid by Retraite Québec, and you apply for it through Retraite Québec — not through the CRA. The Canada Revenue Agency says so plainly: the Family Allowance program is related to the Canada Child Benefit but is not administered by the Canada Revenue Agency. That is the whole reason this guide exists: if you live in Quebec, the child-benefit application goes to Retraite Québec, through its My Account service or its own form — the CRA's child-benefit routes do not cover it.

And for many families there is no application at all. If your child was born in Québec, you do not need to file an application: when you send your newborn's birth certificate to the Directeur de l'état civil, you are automatically signed up to receive Family Allowance. You only apply in the situations listed below — an adoption, a child born outside Québec, a move to Québec, or a custody change.

This guide covers process only. It gives the 2026 amounts exactly as Retraite Québec publishes them, and no financial advice.

What the Family Allowance is

Family Allowance is financial assistance paid to eligible families with a dependent child under age 18 who lives with them. It includes three types of benefits: the Family Allowance itself, the Supplement for the Purchase of School Supplies, and supplements for handicapped children.

The amount is worked out from your family income on 31 December of the previous year, as shown on the income tax return sent to Revenu Québec — specifically the amount on line 275 of the Québec return. It is calculated each year in May and updated in July, based on the number of dependent children under age 18 residing with the family, the number of children in shared or sole custody, your conjugal status (single or with a spouse), and your family income. The amount is also adjusted to the cost of living each January. The payments are not taxable, and Retraite Québec sends no income tax slips for them.

To receive Family Allowance, you and your spouse must file your income tax returns each year, even if you have no income to declare. If Retraite Québec has not received your income tax return information from Revenu Québec, it cannot calculate your amount, and your payments are suspended until it receives the information.

The 2026 amounts

These are the amounts Retraite Québec publishes for 2026, from Retraite Québec, Family Allowance:

• Family Allowance, maximum annual amount per child: $3,068, plus $1,077 for a single-parent family.
• Family Allowance, minimum annual amount per child: $1,221, plus $430 for a single-parent family.
• A two-parent family with income of $60,000 or less receives $3,068 per child; at $107,000 or more, $1,221 per child.
• A single-parent family with income of $44,000 or less receives $4,145 per child; at $107,000 or more, $1,651 per child.
• Supplement for the Purchase of School Supplies: a fixed $127 per child per year.
• Supplement for Handicapped Children: a fixed $2,892 per child per year.
• Supplement for Handicapped Children Requiring Exceptional Care: $14,580 per child per year (Tier 1) or $9,696 per child per year (Tier 2).

Between the published income points, the amount falls gradually as family income rises. Retraite Québec's CalculAide tool estimates the amount for a first application or after a change in family situation. Do not rely on a figure from an older article: the amounts are recalculated each year.

Step 1: Check whether you need to apply

If your child was born in Québec, stop here — you do not need to file an application. Registration is automatic when the birth is declared to the Directeur de l'état civil.

You could be entitled to Family Allowance and need to apply if one of these situations concerns you, according to Retraite Québec, Application for Family Allowance:

• Birth outside Québec and adoption: you adopt a child, or your child was born outside Québec but lives with you in Québec.
• Separation and child custody: you are not receiving Family Allowance payments in your name, and you have at least 40% of custody time of the child following a separation, a change in custody, or the death of a parent.
• New resident: you become a resident of Québec, or your child returns to Québec.

Retraite Québec might also ask you to complete an Application for Family Allowance Payments if you are in a situation other than those described above.

Step 2: Apply through My Account

To file your application, access My Account with your Government Authentication Service. Create your account if you have not already done so. There are two ways to file, depending on whether you have a Social Insurance Number (SIN):

• If you and, if applicable, your spouse have a SIN, fill in the application for Family Allowance online through My Account.
• If you or, if applicable, your spouse do not have a SIN, complete the Application for Family Allowance Payments form and send it online. The form is LPF-800A, Application for Family Allowance, last updated September 2023. It covers the same situations: birth and adoption, separation or change in custody or death, and new residents.

Step 3: When payments arrive, and keeping them going

Family Allowance payments are made four times a year, in January, April, July and October. You can also receive your allowance on a monthly basis if you file an application after you receive your first payment.

Each year in mid-June, your annual notice is uploaded to the My documents section in My Account. The notice shows the amounts you will receive for 12 months, from July to June. Check that the information about your family situation is accurate, because the amounts vary with the number of dependent children and the number of children in shared custody. If the information is not accurate, tell Retraite Québec online by filing the application that matches your new situation — for example, an application for Family Allowance or an application for a change in conjugal status — or by telephone.

Two timing rules matter. First, if your notice is at zero, Retraite Québec has not received your income tax return information from Revenu Québec, so it has not been able to calculate your amount, and the financial assistance is suspended until it receives the information. Second, Family Allowance payments can be made retroactively only for a maximum period of three years, so a late tax return can cost you money you cannot recover.

Report changes as they happen — a separation or new union, a change in custody, a child arriving in or leaving Québec — through My Account, so the amount is recalculated rather than overpaid and recovered later.

What this guide could not verify

The Retraite Québec pages do not state how long it takes from a newborn's birth registration to the first Family Allowance payment, so this guide states no timing for that. They do not state the age range for the Supplement for the Purchase of School Supplies, so this guide states no age range for it — check the Retraite Québec page before relying on one. They do not publish a phone number for Family Allowance enquiries, so this guide gives none; use the My Account service or the Retraite Québec website to find the current contact route.

Related guides:

• How to Apply for the Canada Child Benefit — the federal child benefit, a separate CRA program from Quebec's Family Allowance.
• How to Apply for the Nova Scotia Child Benefit — Nova Scotia's provincial child benefit, which the CRA administers — the contrast with Quebec's Retraite Québec route.
• How to Apply for the Yukon Child Benefit — Yukon's provincial child benefit, also administered through the CRA.
• How to Get a RAMQ Health Insurance Card in Quebec — Quebec health insurance registration, another Quebec-run program with its own application.
• How to Apply for the Disability Tax Credit in Canada — the federal Disability Tax Credit, relevant if your child has a disability and you are looking at the Supplement for Handicapped Children.

Sources

• Retraite Québec, Family Allowance — the three types of benefits, how the amount is calculated from family income on 31 December of the previous year, the 2026 maximum and minimum amounts, the school-supplies and handicapped-children supplement amounts, the annual tax-return requirement, the mid-June annual notice, the three-year retroactivity limit, and that the payments are not taxable.
• Retraite Québec, Application for Family Allowance — the situations that require an application, the My Account route with the Government Authentication Service, the online application for SIN holders, the form route for those without a SIN, automatic registration for children born in Québec, and payments four times a year in January, April, July and October.
• Retraite Québec, Application for Family Allowance (form LPF-800A) — form LPF-800A, the situations it covers, automatic registration for children born in Québec, last update September 2023.
• Canada Revenue Agency, Province of Quebec — the Family Allowance program is related to the Canada Child Benefit but is not administered by the Canada Revenue Agency, and automatic registration by declaring a birth to the Directeur de l'état civil.