How to Apply for Social Assistance in Quebec
Apply for Quebec last-resort financial assistance through SimulAide and forms 3003-01A and 3003-02A — one application route, online or in person, and the four streams it can lead to.
How to Register for the Quebec Prescription Drug Insurance Plan
Quebec drug insurance is compulsory. If you have no access to a private plan, you register for the RAMQ public plan online or by phone, and pay $0 to $789 a year through your tax return.
Applies in: Quebec
The short answer
Quebec drug insurance is compulsory, and the public plan is the plan you register for when you have no access to a private plan. The Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) states that prescription drug insurance is compulsory for any person living in Quebec on a permanent basis, and that you register online or by telephone if you do not have access to a private plan.
This guide uses the French plan name once: the Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan is the régime public d'assurance médicaments. The rest of this guide is in English. It walks through the registration process only and gives no advice on which plan suits you.
Public plan or private plan: which one applies
Two types of plans provide the compulsory coverage:
- Private plans are group insurance or employee benefit plans, offered through an employer or a professional group such as a union, association or order, or through your spouse or your parents.
- The public plan is administered by RAMQ. It covers around 9,000 prescription drugs.
You cannot pick freely between them. If you are under 65 and eligible for a private plan, you must join it, at least for prescription drug coverage, and you must provide coverage under it for your spouse and children if they are not already covered by a private plan. Only people with no access to a private plan register for the public plan. Eligibility for drug insurance also depends on your eligibility for health insurance.
Some people are not eligible for either plan in the usual way. Temporary Quebec residents age 18 and older are not eligible for the public plan, though they can take out private insurance. RAMQ also lists people who have coverage another way, including beneficiaries of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement and the Northeastern Quebec Agreement, people registered with Indigenous Services Canada and Inuit recognized by that department, and people living in a public or private residential and long-term care centre under agreement.
Who registers automatically
For these people, registration with the public plan is automatic and they have nothing to do:
- People who turn 65
- Holders of a claim slip (carnet de réclamation) and their children
- Children registered with the plan, when they turn 18: they are registered as an adult, unless their parents extend their coverage because the person is studying or has a functional impairment
- Newborns whose parents are registered with the public plan
At 65 there is a choice to make if you also qualify for a private plan. You can be covered only by the public plan, only by a private plan that offers at least basic coverage, or by both, with the public plan as basic coverage and the private plan as supplemental coverage. If you want a private plan only, RAMQ asks you to contact it before you turn 65 so it does not register you automatically. If your private plan provides supplemental coverage only, you must still be registered with the public plan, because supplemental coverage adds to the compulsory basic coverage rather than replacing it.
How to register
Step 1: Check which route fits your situation. If you are not sure whether you are eligible for the public plan, RAMQ points you to its eligibility conditions page first. Its online registration service also starts by asking a few questions to work out which procedure is right for you.
Step 2: Gather what registration asks for. You will have to provide:
- Your Health Insurance Number
- The end date of your eligibility for a private plan
Step 3: Register online if your situation allows it. You can register online if you are between 18 and 64 and you are single, living with a spouse with no child, living with a spouse and one or more children who are the biological or adoptive children of the couple, or head of a single-parent family. Online registration needs a Government Authentication Service account. If you do not have one, you can create one when you register.
Step 4: Register by telephone if your situation requires it. These people must register by telephone at 1-800-561-9749:
- Separated spouses with a child or children
- Members of a blended family
- Students aged 18 to 25 who do not meet the definition of a child
- People aged 65 or older who cancelled their automatic registration
Step 5: Deregister when your situation changes. If you gain access to a private plan, you join that plan and deregister from the public plan. If you lose access to a private plan, you register with the public plan. RAMQ puts the onus on you to check your registration and take the steps your situation needs.
At the pharmacy, show your Health Insurance Card if you are covered by the public plan, or your private insurer's card if you are covered by a private plan.
What you pay on the public plan
The rates in effect are adjusted every year on July 1. For July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027:
- Annual premium: $0 to $789 per person, depending on your net family income. You pay it to Revenu Québec through your tax return, not at the pharmacy.
- Monthly deductible: $21.25. This is the set amount you pay on your first purchases of the month.
- Co-insurance: 30% of the cost of covered drugs once the deductible has been paid.
- Maximum contribution: $105.25 per month and $1,263 per year if you are 18 to 64, or 65 or older and do not receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement. If you are 65 or older and receive 1% to 93% of the maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement, the maximum is $58.08 per month and $697 per year.
Some people are generally covered free of charge:
- Holders of a valid claim slip
- Children of people covered under the public plan: under 18 with no access to a private plan, and age 18 to 25 with no access to a private plan who are in full-time attendance at a secondary, college or university institution, spouseless, and living with their parents or legal guardian
- People with a functional impairment set out in the regulation that occurred before age 18, spouseless, living with their parents or legal guardian, with no access to a private plan and not receiving last-resort financial assistance with a claim slip
- People age 65 or over receiving 94% or more of the maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement
If you miss the obligation
RAMQ states two consequences. If you have no prescription drug insurance coverage at all, you pay Revenu Québec an amount equal to the public plan premium for each full month during which you had no coverage. If you are registered with the public plan even though you are eligible for a private plan, you repay the cost of the prescription drugs RAMQ paid during the time you had access to the private plan.
You can ask RAMQ to review a decision it makes about you. RAMQ's review page sets out that process.
What the opened pages do not state
The RAMQ pages opened for this guide state the registration routes, the information registration asks for, and the rates in effect from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. They do not state how long registration takes to process, or the date coverage starts after a manual registration, so this guide gives neither. They also do not state a fee to register, so this guide does not describe registering as free or as paid.
Related guides:
- How to Start Getting Your Prescription Drugs Covered in Canada — how public drug programs fit together across Canada.
- How to Apply for BC PharmaCare — British Columbia's public drug coverage and its income-based deductible.
- How to Apply for Manitoba Pharmacare — Manitoba's income-based drug program and its deductible.
- How to Apply for the Ontario Trillium Drug Program — Ontario's program for high drug costs relative to household income.
- How to Apply for the Canadian Dental Care Plan — the federal dental plan and its four requirements.
Quebec public drug plan rates, July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027
| Annual premium, paid to Revenu Québec through your tax return | $0 to $789 per person, depending on net family income |
|---|---|
| Monthly deductible at the pharmacy | $21.25, paid on your first purchases of the month |
| Co-insurance after the deductible | 30% of the cost of covered drugs |
| Maximum contribution, age 18 to 64 and age 65 or older without the Guaranteed Income Supplement | $105.25 per month, $1,263 per year |
| Maximum contribution, age 65 or older receiving 1% to 93% of the maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement | $58.08 per month, $697 per year |
Rates are adjusted every year on July 1. Some people are covered free of charge, including holders of a valid claim slip and children of people covered under the public plan who have no access to a private plan.
Questions people ask
Do I have to have prescription drug insurance in Quebec?
Yes. Prescription drug insurance is compulsory for any person living in Quebec on a permanent basis. Coverage comes from a private plan, usually through an employer or professional group, or from the public plan administered by RAMQ.
Who registers for the public plan?
You register for the public plan if you do not have access to a private plan. If you are under 65 and you can access a private plan, you must join that plan instead, and you must also provide coverage under it for your spouse and children if they are not already covered by a private plan.
How do I register for the RAMQ public plan?
Register online or by telephone at 1-800-561-9749. You need your Health Insurance Number and the end date of your eligibility for a private plan. To register online you need a Government Authentication Service account, and you can create one during registration. Some people must register by telephone, including separated spouses with children, members of a blended family, and people 65 or older who cancelled their automatic registration.
Is registration ever automatic?
Yes. Registration is automatic for people who turn 65, holders of claim slips and their children, registered children when they turn 18 unless their parents extend their coverage, and newborns whose parents are registered with the public plan. Those people have nothing to do.
How much does the public plan cost?
From July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 the annual premium is $0 to $789 per person depending on net family income, paid to Revenu Québec through your tax return. At the pharmacy you pay a monthly deductible of $21.25, then 30% co-insurance, up to a maximum contribution of $105.25 a month or $1,263 a year for most adults.
What happens if I have no drug coverage at all?
RAMQ states that if you have no prescription drug insurance coverage, you pay Revenu Québec an amount equal to the public plan premium for each full month you had no coverage. If you stay on the public plan while you are eligible for a private plan, you repay the cost of the drugs RAMQ paid during that time.
Sources
- Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), Know the eligibility conditions for the Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan — drug insurance being compulsory, the public plan covering around 9,000 drugs, who must join a private plan and cover a spouse and children, who is ineligible for the public plan, the choice at age 65, supplemental-only plans still needing public registration, and the consequences of having no coverage or staying on the public plan while eligible for a private plan.
- Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), Register for or deregister from the Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan — automatic registration groups, registering online or by telephone with a Health Insurance Number and the end date of private plan eligibility, who can register online, who must register by telephone, the Government Authentication Service account, and the 1-800-561-9749 number.
- Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), Rates in effect — the July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 premium of $0 to $789, the $21.25 monthly deductible, 30% co-insurance, the maximum contributions of $105.25 a month and $1,263 a year and of $58.08 a month and $697 a year, the groups covered free of charge, and rates being adjusted every July 1.