Grandparent Raising a Grandchild in Quebec: Your Legal Options

You have your grandchild living with you. Maybe the school is asking for paperwork. Maybe the doctor's office won't let you authorize treatment. Maybe you just need to know where you stand legally before things get more complicated.

Quebec handles this differently from every other Canadian province. There is no "guardianship" order here — the legal framework runs on tutorship under the Civil Code of Québec, and the options range from doing nothing formal to obtaining a full court order.

Informal Care: The Starting Point Most Grandparents Are In

If a parent asked you to take the child — or the child just ended up with you — and no court or notary has been involved, you are providing informal care. This is common, and it works for a while. You can handle basic daily tasks: meals, school pickup, homework.

The problem is that informal care gives you no formal legal authority. Parental authority stays with the legal parents. Institutions can refuse your requests. You cannot act independently to:

• Make school-enrollment decisions without parental authorization or formal proof of authority, if the school requires it
• Change the child's RAMQ file without authorization accepted by RAMQ
• Receive Family Allowance or CCB automatically just because the child lives with you
• Consent to medical treatment on your own authority
• Act as the child's tutor in a passport application

If a parent who retains parental authority seeks the child's return, informal caregiving alone does not give you tutorship or override that authority.

Suppletive Tutorship: The Most Common Route for Grandparents

Introduced by Bill 113 in 2017, suppletive tutorship under Article 178 CCQ was designed specifically for situations like yours. It lets a parent delegate or share tutorship and parental authority with an eligible relative.

Who qualifies: grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings, or the spouse of a parent or an eligible relative. The applicant pool is limited by statute — a family friend does not qualify for suppletive tutorship.

What makes it distinctive: up to two tutors to the person can be appointed simultaneously. A grandparent and a parent can share parental authority, or both grandparents can serve together.

If the application is uncontested (both parents agree), a notary can handle the entire process — drafting, family assembly, notarial act, and submission to the Superior Court for homologation. Notary fees typically run $1,500 to $3,500. If a parent objects, the matter goes before a Superior Court judge.

Dative Tutorship: When Parents Are Gone

Dative tutorship applies when both parents have died, been deprived of parental authority, or are permanently incapable of exercising it. This completely replaces parental care — the tutor assumes full parental authority.

Any interested person can apply, not just the restricted family list that suppletive tutorship requires. The application goes through the Superior Court (filing fee: $205). A psychosocial assessment from a CISSS/CIUSSS social worker is standard.

YPA Tutorship: The Youth Protection Route

If the child came to you through a DPJ (Director of Youth Protection) placement, a different path applies. Under Articles 70.1 and 70.2 of the Youth Protection Act, the Court of Québec (Youth Division) can appoint you as tutor after a continuous placement in substitute care with you as a foster carer or ressource de type familial for at least six months immediately before judgment.

This route transfers parental authority to you and ends DPJ involvement. If you meet the placement requirements, financial assistance under Decree 1914-2023 includes an indexed daily rate plus a $5/day personal allowance for the child. Apply to your regional CISSS/CIUSSS within 60 days of the tutorship judgment.

What Changes Once You Have Tutorship

With a tutorship judgment in hand, you can:

• Enroll the child in school and access educational records
• Consent to medical and dental treatment under your RAMQ coverage
• Apply for a passport for the child
• Claim the Quebec Family Allowance from Retraite Québec
• Apply for the Canada Child Benefit (Form RC66) from the CRA
• Manage the child's property (with Curateur public oversight if assets exceed $40,000)

The tutorship judgment is a key document establishing your legal authority when dealing with schools, hospitals, benefits offices, and federal agencies.

Choosing Your Route

The right route depends on whether a parent is available and willing to cooperate, whether DPJ is involved, and how permanent the arrangement needs to be. For a detailed comparison of all four routes — including costs, timelines, and which benefits each one unlocks — the Quebec Tutorship and Kinship Care Guide lays out each path with document checklists and bilingual term references.

See more Quebec guides →