Cet article est fourni à titre informatif uniquement et ne constitue pas un avis financier, fiscal ou juridique. Consultez un comptable ou un conseiller financier qualifié pour votre situation personnelle. Les montants et critères mentionnés peuvent changer — vérifiez toujours auprès de Revenu Québec et de l'ARC.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified accountant or financial advisor for your personal situation.
Quick answer
Quebec's home-support tax credit refunds seniors 70+ a percentage of eligible home-support expenses (housekeeping, meal prep, home nursing, RPA service fees). It's refundable — your parent receives it even owing no income tax — and can be paid monthly in advance instead of at tax time. Rates are indexed yearly; always confirm current figures with Revenu Québec.
If your parent is 70 or older and lives in Quebec — at home, in a condo, or in a private seniors' residence (RPA) — the province will refund a percentage of what they spend on home-support services. It's one of the most valuable credits available to aging Quebecers, and one of the most under-claimed, especially by families navigating the system in English.
Here's how it actually works. (Amounts and rates are indexed and have been rising year over year — always confirm the current figures on the official Revenu Québec page.)
Who qualifies
- Your parent is 70 or older (in the year the expenses are paid — special rules apply the year they turn 70).
- They live in Quebec — in their own home, an apartment, a condo, or a private seniors' residence.
- The credit is refundable: they receive it even if they owe no income tax.
There's no autonomy or medical requirement for the credit itself — a healthy, independent 72-year-old paying for housekeeping qualifies.
What expenses count
The eligible list is longer than most families realize:
Living at home (house or condo):
- Housekeeping, laundry, and grounds maintenance (snow removal, lawn care)
- Meal preparation or delivery services (like community meal programs' service portion)
- Nursing and personal-care services delivered at home
- A remote-monitoring or emergency-call service (the classic "help button")
Living in a private seniors' residence (RPA):
- A portion of the monthly rent attributable to services — meals, housekeeping, nursing presence. The residence's lease annex (Schedule to the lease) breaks this down; Revenu Québec provides tables for calculating the eligible share.
Living in a condo: part of the condo fees covering eligible services (like maintenance of common areas) can count.
What doesn't count: groceries themselves, medical services covered by RAMQ, renovations, and services paid to a person who is your parent's dependant.
How much it's worth
The credit refunds a percentage of eligible expenses, up to annual expense ceilings that differ for autonomous vs. non-autonomous seniors and singles vs. couples. Two moving parts to know:
- The rate has been legislated to rise annually — check the current rate on the official page rather than trusting any article's number (including ours).
- It's income-tested above a family-income threshold — higher-income households see the credit reduced, but non-autonomous seniors are protected from part of that reduction.
The two ways to receive it
At tax time: claim it on Schedule J of the Quebec income tax return.
Monthly, in advance: this is the option families overlook. Revenu Québec can deposit the credit every month instead of once a year — a real difference when RPA rent is due now, not in April. Your parent (or you, helping them) applies for advance payments through their Revenu Québec My Account or the paper forms listed on the official page. RPA residents typically apply once and renew when the lease changes.
The paperwork trap (and how to avoid it)
The claims live or die on documentation:
- Keep every invoice for eligible services — housekeeper, snow removal, monitoring service.
- Keep the lease and its schedule for RPA residents — the services breakdown is the whole calculation.
- Update after every change: a move, a new lease, the loss of a spouse, or a change in autonomy status all change the credit.
This is exactly the kind of scattered-paper problem that sinks families. Keeping the lease, invoices, and key dates in one shared place — where the sibling doing the taxes can actually find them — is precisely what Cercle's shared document space is for.
Don't stop at this credit
The home-support credit stacks with other help your parent may be owed — the caregiver tax credit for you, subsidized housekeeping through PEFSAD, free CLSC home-care services, and federal supplements. Our free financial-aid finder checks your family's situation against all of them in five questions.