Required conditions to study in Québec

To study in Québec, you must respect the following conditions: 

• Be admitted to a designated educational institution in Québec ; 
• Demonstrate your financial capacity to assume the costs of living and studying, including health and hospitalization insurance in Québec in Québec; 
• Pay the fees required to process your application; 
• Commit to respecting all the conditions of your Québec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ). 

You must demonstrate your financial capacity to assume the costs of living and studying in Québec:  

• Tuition fees; 
• Transportation costs; 
• Living expenses;  
• Settlement fees for the first year; 
• Costs of health and hospitalization insurance and additional health insurance policy, if required.  

You must provide proof that you can afford these costs. 

If you do not respect the conditions of your Québec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ), it could be revoked. You must commit to:  

• Receiving the level of education that appears on your CAQ for studies or on your Attestation of issuance of your Certificat d’acceptation du Québec  (CAQ – Québec Acceptance Certificate) for studies;;  
• Having health and hospital insurance for you and your accompanying family members for the duration of your stay; 
   
• Making your studies your main activity (study full time). This condition does not apply if you are a:  
  • Temporary worker; 
  • Family member accompanying a temporary worker; 
  • Family member of a foreign student; 
  • Person who has refugee or protected person status in Canada; 
  • Person seeking asylum;
  • A foreign student who is in the last semester of your study program.  

You must have health and hospital insurance for the duration of your studies. This obligation also applies to accompanying family members.  

Check if your country of origin has signed a social security agreement with Québec .  

If your country of origin has a social security agreement with Québec  

You can benefit from the protection of the Québec public health insurance plan free of charge.  

Contact the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec  as soon as possible upon your arrival in Québec to request a health insurance card.  Your accompanying family members can usually benefit from this health insurance.

Otherwise, they'll have to get private health insurance quickly.

A waiting period of usually three months applies to all new registrations with RAMQ (with a few exceptions).

Please note that in the event of billing for services and care received during the waiting period, a surcharge of 200% will be applied to anyone not insured with RAMQ (except for a few exemptions).

It is strongly recommended that you take out private insurance and arrange for any additional coverage you or your accompanying family members may need, especially for certain services that may not be covered, such as medication, dental care, pregnancy care or mental health care.

Check with your educational institution.

If your country of origin does not have a social security agreement with Québec  

If you come to study at a university in Québec, you will be automatically registered for the group health insurance plan for foreign students. You must pay the premium established by your university. 

Other educational institutions also offer a group health insurance plan for foreign students. Check with your educational institution. 

If you come to study at an educational institution in Québec that does not offer this option, you must obtain private health and hospital insurance for you and your accompanying family members.

This private insurance may not cover certain non-covered services, such as medication, dental care, pregnancy care or mental health care.

It is therefore strongly recommended that you arrange any additional insurance you or your accompanying family members may need.

Please note that all health and social services not covered by RAMQ will be billed to you, with a 200% surcharge (except for certain exclusions).

Your educational institution can suggest private insurance. Otherwise, contact the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association  (CLHIA) for information on insurance companies that offer this type of protection.  

When you arrive in Québec, you will have 5 to 30 days to obtain private insurance. After this time, you may not be able to get insurance. In this case, you will not respect the conditions of your stay and your CAQ could be revoked.