Your mother is getting older in Trois-Rivières, she’s set on staying in her own home, and you’ve just discovered private help runs $40 to $55 an hour. Take a breath. Quebec is, honestly, the most generous province in Canada when it comes to helping seniors age at home — but you have to know where to look, and nobody hands you the list. Here it is.
Every amount below is a verified 2025-2026 figure from Revenu Québec, the RAMQ and the SHQ. One warning before we start: almost everything in Quebec flows through the tax return. No return, no money — even at zero income.
The Home-Support Tax Credit for Seniors (CMD): Start Here
If you remember one program from this guide, make it this one. The CMD refunds 39% of home-support expenses for anyone 70 or older (the rate rises to 40% in 2026). It’s a refundable credit: even if your mother pays no tax at all, Revenu Québec sends her the money.
The eligible expense ceilings for 2025:
- Single, autonomous: $19,500 in eligible expenses, for a maximum credit of $7,605 a year
- Single, non-autonomous: $25,500, worth up to $9,945
- Couple (both 70+), both autonomous: $39,000, worth up to $15,210
- Couple with one non-autonomous member: $45,000, worth up to $17,550
- Couple, both non-autonomous: $51,000, worth up to $19,890
What counts as an eligible expense? Home-help services (EÉSAD or private agency), housekeeping, meal preparation, personal care — and if your parent lives in a private seniors’ residence (RPA), part of the rent itself. For a single non-autonomous senior in an RPA, 75% of the rent is automatically treated as an eligible service expense. That’s enormous, and plenty of families have no idea.
One detail that matters: above $71,010 in family income, the credit shrinks by 3% of the excess — but that reduction never touches the portion claimed by a non-autonomous senior. Claim it on line 458 of the provincial return, or sign up for advance payments to get the money monthly instead of waiting for spring.
The Senior Assistance Tax Credit: Money With No Receipts Required
This one asks for no invoices at all. If your parent is 70 or older with a modest income, they get up to $2,000 a year (single) or $4,000 (couple where both are 70+) just for filing a tax return.
The credit melts away at 5.40% for every dollar of family income above $27,835 (single) or $45,270 (couple). Around $64,873 of income for a single person, it’s gone. Practical translation: this is a program for low- and middle-income seniors, and it stacks on top of the CMD — the two combine without any problem.
PEFSAD: Housekeeping Help for $9.52 an Hour
The Financial Exemption Program for Domestic Help Services is Quebec’s best-kept secret. It subsidizes services delivered by EÉSADs (social-economy home-help enterprises) — non-profits operating in every region of the province.
The math: an EÉSAD bills about $35.60 an hour for housekeeping. Every Quebec resident gets a fixed $4-an-hour subsidy, regardless of income. The income-tested variable portion adds up to $22.08 an hour for those 65 and over. The result:
- Low-income senior: roughly $9.52 an hour out of pocket for cleaning, groceries or meal preparation
- Higher-income senior: roughly $31.60 an hour — still below private agency rates
And the amount paid stays eligible for the CMD at tax time. A subsidy on top of a subsidy — that’s allowed, and it’s the whole point. Find your region’s EÉSAD at eesad.org or call your CLSC.
The New Home Autonomy Allowance (AAD)
Since January 29, 2026, the old Chèque emploi-service has a new name: the Allocation autonomie à domicile. The idea: if the CLSC recognizes a loss of autonomy, your parent can directly hire the person of their choice — including, under conditions, a family member — instead of going through an agency that bills double the worker’s wage.
The CLSC sets the hours based on the ISO-SMAF assessment, and the CTAAD handles all the employer paperwork (payroll, deductions, tax slips). The money never passes through the senior’s hands. Watch for the tax trap: a family member paid through the AAD cannot also claim the caregiver tax credit for the same hours. Run both scenarios before choosing — for many families, the credit is worth more than the salary.
For Caregivers: Up to $2,988 a Year
Supporting a parent who’s 70 or older? The caregiver tax credit (Schedule H of your own return) can pay you up to $2,988, in two parts of $1,494 each: the first if you’ve lived with the senior for at least 365 days, the second if the person you care for has a severe and prolonged impairment — and that one doesn’t require living together.
It’s a refundable credit, and it gets missed constantly because it goes on the caregiver’s return, not the senior’s. If you do your parents’ taxes but never think of your own as a “caregiver” return, go check that schedule.
Adapting the Home: Up to $50,000, No Income Test
The SHQ’s Residential Adaptation Assistance Program (PAD) pays for the renovations that make staying home possible despite a significant, persistent disability: access ramps, curbless showers, widened hallways, platform lifts.
Two recent changes deserve your attention. The maximum jumped from $16,000 to $50,000 per eligible person. And the income test was abolished — your parent’s savings no longer disqualify them. The process runs through an occupational therapist and an SHQ-accredited inspector (the Professional Support option). Fair warning: the program is a victim of its own popularity, and the SHQ sometimes pauses new applications to clear backlogs. If that’s the case in your region, apply the moment intake reopens — don’t give up on it.
Equipment Paid 100% by the RAMQ
Manual or motorized wheelchairs, hearing aids, mobility aids: the RAMQ’s Assistive Devices Program covers the equipment at 100%, with no income test whatsoever. The condition: a clinical justification from a health professional, usually the CLSC’s occupational therapist or physiotherapist. You can’t buy first and claim later — the assessment comes first, then the equipment (often on loan).
The Solidarity Credit: A Boost for Housing
For senior renters and homeowners with modest incomes, the housing component of the solidarity tax credit pays, for July 2025 through June 2026, $356 per household member plus $169 for a person living alone — up to $525 for a senior on their own. It arrives automatically (monthly or quarterly) as long as the tax return is filed with Schedule D completed.
Adapted Transit: Same Price as the Regular Bus
Quebec law requires adapted transit to cost the same as the municipality’s regular public transit. In Montreal (STM), a trip is $3.50, with a reduced senior fare of $2.75. In Quebec City, the STAC offers $2.00 trips for lower-income residents through ÉquiMobilité, with an unlimited monthly pass at $50. Eligibility is clinical — a professional must certify that a mobility loss prevents using the regular network. Contact your local transit authority; assessment timelines vary.
What About the Federal Programs?
Everything above stacks on top of the federal layer: Old Age Security (OAS) from 65, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for low incomes, and — a Quebec particularity — the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) rather than the CPP. If your parent receives the GIS, several of the provincial programs above line up almost automatically. The golden rule is the same everywhere: file the tax return every single year, even with no taxable income.
Where to Start: The Four-Call Plan
- 1. The CLSC (or 811, option 2) — ask for a home-care needs assessment. It’s the doorway to public support, the AAD and assistive devices.
- 2. Revenu Québec — make sure the CMD (line 458), the senior assistance credit and the solidarity credit are all being claimed. An accountant who knows seniors pays for themselves right here.
- 3. Your region’s EÉSAD (eesad.org) — for subsidized housekeeping and meals through PEFSAD, often without an endless waitlist.
- 4. The SHQ — if the home needs adapting, start the PAD application early; the wait is measured in months.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the home-support credit worth per month?
With advance payments, a single non-autonomous senior spending the full $25,500 ceiling receives up to about $829 a month ($9,945 a year at 39%). Most people claim less — but even $300 a month in services brings back about $117.
Can you stack the CMD, PEFSAD and the senior assistance credit?
Yes, and that’s exactly the smart way to do it. PEFSAD cuts the bill at the moment of service, the CMD refunds 39% of the net amount you paid, and the senior assistance credit arrives with no spending requirement at all. All three programs are designed to layer.
My father lives in an RPA — does home support apply to him?
Yes. An RPA counts as a home. Depending on his situation, 70% to 80% (75% for a single non-autonomous person) of the rent is automatically treated as a CMD-eligible expense. On a $2,300 monthly rent, that’s several thousand dollars of credit a year.
Pay a family caregiver through the AAD, or claim the caregiver credit?
You can’t do both for the same hours. An AAD salary is taxable and can reduce the caregiver’s other benefits; the $2,988 credit is tax-free money. For a caregiver who already works full-time elsewhere, the credit wins almost every time. Run both numbers, or ask an accountant.
What if the CLSC doesn’t offer enough hours?
That’s the system’s weak spot: public hours are rationed. The reflex: fill the gap with your EÉSAD (subsidized through PEFSAD) for domestic tasks, keep private agencies for personal care, and run everything through the CMD. Free public care first, subsidized second, private last — in that order.
