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Quebec resident eligibility

Learn if you're eligible for lower tuition rates in Quebec and the documentation you'll need to submit with your application based on:

  1. Legal status in Canada
  2. Quebec residency situation

Last updated: November 7, 2024, 8:30 p.m.

Prove your legal status in Canada

Discover additional documentation required for your application based on your citizenship and residency status in Canada. International students cannot apply for Quebec residency status but may be eligible for an International fee exemption

Legal status in Canada: Required document:
  1. You were born in Quebec
Quebec Birth Certificate issued by the Quebec Directeur de l'état civil with the mention "Certified" or "certifié conforme"
  1. You were born in Canada but not in Quebec
Canadian Birth Certificate
  1. You are a Canadian citizen born outside Canada
Certificate of Canadian Citizenship (both sides)
  1. You are a Permanent Resident of Canada
Permanent Resident Card (both sides) or Confirmation of Permanent Resident status dated within the past 6 months or letter from IRCC confirming that you are now a Permanent Resident of Canada dated within the past 6 months.
  1. You belong to a First Nations or Inuit group in Canada.
Federal Certificate of Indian status and Makivik Society card.

Quebec residency situations

Choose the Quebec residency situation that applies to you and upload the required documents via your student centre. If you are not currently eligible you may apply at a later date when you qualify. Note that the University cannot retroactively adjust a student’s residency if a term’s deadline has passed.

  • Only situations 1, 4, 12 and 13 are considered permanent and do not require updated documentation after you apply.
  • All other situations may be subject to change and you may need to re-apply for residency status if you've been away from school.

Submit ONE of these documents:

A birth certificate (either the long or the short form) issued by the Directeur de l’état civil du Québec after January 1, 1994, with the notation « Certifié conforme » or « Certified » showing that your actual place of birth was in Quebec.

OR

A birth certificate (the long form) issued by the Directeur de l’état civil after January 1, 1994, with the notation « Certifié conforme » or « Certified » even if the student's actual place of birth was outside Quebec.

OR

A Canadian passport if Quebec is indicated as place of birth and if you already have a Quebec Permanent Code. If you do not have a Quebec Permanent Code then you MUST submit a Quebec Birth Certificate.

Unfortunately, these documents will not be accepted: 

  • Birth Certificates with the notation « Certifié conforme à l'article 137 »
  • Baptismal Certificates
  • Quebec Birth Certificates issued by a municipality, a court, a religious institution or a hospital.

Order a Quebec Birth Certificate

If you were born in Quebec you can order a Quebec Birth Certificate from the Directeur de l'état civil du Québec.

We will attempt to retrieve your Quebec Resident status from your electronic CEGEP file using your permanent code but if you left CEGEP more than a year ago then you should select a different Quebec Resident situation.
 
If there is no Quebec Residency information in your electronic CEGEP file then you should select a different Quebec Resident situation.
 

Students that have a perm code do not automatically qualify for Quebec residency.

We will attempt to retrieve your Quebec Resident status electronically from the Quebec Ministry of Higher Education using your permanent code, but if your past University studies were more than a year ago then you should select a different Quebec Resident situation. 

Students that have a Permanent code do not automatically qualify for the Quebec resident rate.

Submit ONE of these documents:

A copy of your CSQ (Certificat de sélection du Québec).

OR

A copy of an official letter from the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Diversité et de l'Inclusion attesting that a CSQ has been issued to you.

OR

A copy of your IMM-1000, IMM- 5292 or IMM- 5688 (the landing paper for permanent residents) with a CSQ number appearing.

You may fit into one of these two scenarios:

One of your parents lives in Quebec

Submit these documents:

  • Long form birth certificate showing your name and the names of your parent(s)
  • Your parent’s valid Quebec Medicare card or a copy of parent’s current lease or property tax documents and 2 pieces of official correspondence at that address

Or, this related situation is also valid: 

The person who sponsored you to immigrate to Canada lives in Quebec.

Submit these documents:

  • Your IMM 1000 or IMM 5292 Or IMM 5688 form showing the name of your sponsor.
  • Your sponsor’s valid Quebec Medicare card or a copy of parent’s current lease or property tax documents and 2 pieces of official correspondence at that address

Please see more information about proof of residing in Quebec.

If you have held a valid Quebec Medicare for more than a year, submit these documents:

  • Your Quebec Permanent Code
  • A sworn statement that you were not a full time student for an entire year during the 18 months prior to this semester.  
  • Your valid Quebec Medicare card that you have held for at least a year. We will validate your Medicare card to establish proof of residency for the 12 reference months. If your card does not validate, you will be required to submit proof of domicile. In general, cards with a sequence number of 01 and 02 (on the card between your name and date of birth) will likely not fulfill the residency requirement. Expired RAMQ cards are not accepted.

If you have not held a valid Quebec Medicare card for at least a year, please see the following requirements for proof of residing in Quebec

What is a full-time student?

The Quebec government defines full-time and part-time student status as the following:

For Undergraduate students

  • Part-Time is defined as registration in fewer than 12.0 credits per session
  • Full-Time is defined as registration in 12.0 credits or more per session

For Graduate students in a Graduate Independent, Diploma or Certificate program:

  • Part-Time is defined as registration in fewer than 9.0 credits per session 
  • Full-Time is defined as registration in 9.0 credits or more per session.

Also, when counting the number of credits per term, courses with the grade DISC are included but courses that were withdrawn before the deadline to obtain a refund and that received the grade DNE are not included.

Graduate students in a Masters or PhD program are classified as Full-Time or Part-Time at the time of initial registration in the program. This classification of Masters FT/PT status may be used for Quebec Residency purposes.

Please take note that we must receive your permanent code from the Quebec Ministry of education before we can update your status.

Submit these documents:

  • A copy of the Financial Aid letter or Certificate of Guarantee confirming that you are receiving financial aid for the current academic session.
  • If you received Financial Aid for a previous academic session, please submit that Financial Aid letter or Certificate of Guarantee, as well as transcripts showing that you were continuously registered at a Quebec educational institution since then.

Students receiving Quebec Financial Aid (AFE) are not automatically billed the Quebec rate of tuition.

This situation can be applied in three different ways:

  1. You immigrated to Canada, established your residence in Quebec and stayed here.
  2. You immigrated to Canada to get Permanent Resident status. Then you left Canada for a while and returned later to establish your residence in Quebec.
  3. You obtained Canadian citizenship at birth because one of your parents was a Canadian citizen and you have not lived in another Canadian province or territory for more than three months before coming to Concordia. You have come to live in Canada for the first time in your life. Students born in Canada may not apply under this situation.

Read more about how to satisfy any of these three scenarios.

Notice: As of the Summer 2014 session, the Ministry of Higher Education has changed its definition of common-law spouses.

You may fall into one of these three categories for this situation:

Your legal spouse qualifies as a Quebec Resident

Submit these documents:

  • A clear copy of your marriage or civil union certificate
  • Proof that your spouse is a Quebec Resident according to one of the other situations.

Your common-law spouse, with whom you are raising a child, qualifies as a Quebec Resident

Submit these documents:

  • A sworn statement as proof of a common law relationship for at least a year.
  • A clear copy of the student’s or spouse’s child’s birth certificate that states the names of both parents of the child
  • Proof that your spouse is a Quebec Resident according to one of the other situations.

Your common-law spouse, with whom you are not raising a child, qualifies as a Quebec Resident

Submit these documents:

  • A sworn statement as proof of a common law relationship for at least three consecutive years.
  • Proof that your spouse is a Quebec Resident according to one of the other situations.

Submit these documents:

If you are a First Nations member and your band is located in Quebec.

  • A clear copy of both sides of your valid Federal Certificate of Indian Status, OR your valid Makivik Society Card.
  • A Letter signed by your band council on band letter-head and attesting that you currently reside on the reserve which is in the Québec territory. (The band letter is not needed if status card lists reservation in Quebec). 

If you are a member of the Cree Grand Council (James Bay Treaty beneficiary) 

  • A clear copy of both sides of your valid Cree Grand Council Card showing your beneficiary number.

If you are Inuit

  • A clear copy of both sides of your valid Makivvik Society Card.
  • A letter from the Makivvik Society confirming your residence in Quebec. You may obtain this card by contacting:

Société Makivvik,
C.P. 179, Kuujjuaq
Québec
J0M 1C0

Tel: 819-964-2925

Submit these documents:

  • Long form birth certificate showing your name and the names of your parent(s) 
  • Your parent’s expired Quebec Medicare card.
  • A copy of the rental agreement or property taxes where your parents last lived in Quebec in the year prior to departing.
  • Two different pieces of official correspondence addressed to your parents, proving the receipt of mail during the 12-months at the address indicated on the lease.  These documents are acceptable:
    • public service invoices
    • driver’s license
    • official correspondence from a municipal, provincial or federal government
    • official correspondence from a financial institution
    • correspondence from an educational institution (correspondence from Concordia University is not accepted). 
  • A clear copy of your parents’ airline/train/bus tickets and passport stamps indicating the date when your parents left Quebec.
  • A complete signed legible copy of your lease(s) covering the all the time since your parents left Quebec.
  • Two different pieces of official correspondence addressed to you, proving the receipt of mail during the time since your parents left Quebec.  These documents are acceptable:
    • public service invoices
    • driver’s license
    • official correspondence from a municipal, provincial or federal government
    • official correspondence from a financial institution
    • correspondence from an educational institution (correspondence from Concordia University is not accepted). 

If you lived at more than one address during this time period then you must submit a copy of each lease and one item of correspondence mailed to each address.

Submit these documents:

  • A clear copy of your adoption order issued by a Quebec court.

Submit these documents:

  • A clear copy of your long form Birth Certificate
  • A clear copy of your mother’s death certificate
  • A clear copy of your father’s death certificate

At least one of the death certificates was issued by the Quebec Directeur de l'état civil.

Or, this scenario also applies: 

The person who sponsored you to immigrate to Canada has died. He or she lived in Quebec at the time of his or her death

Submit these documents:

  • A copy of your immigration landing paper (IMM-1000, IMM 5292 or IMM 5688) naming your immigration sponsor
  • A clear copy of your sponsor’s death certificate which was issued by the Quebec Directeur de l'état civil

Submit these:

  • Your Quebec Permanent Code.
  • A clear copy of your valid Quebec Medicare Card that establishes proof of dwelling in Quebec for thirty-six consecutive months during the last five years. We will have to authenticate your card according to the Ministry of Higher Education guidelines to establish 36 months residence in Quebec.

Next step: submit proof of eligibility

You must submit the application for Quebec residency in your Student Centre and upload the documents required for your chosen situation by the prescribed deadlines. Retroactive adjustments are not possible.

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