Birth or adoption
After the birth or the adoption of a child, you may need to take certain steps regarding their health and prescription drug insurance coverage. These steps vary depending on your child’s place of birth and immigration status in Québec.
This webpage contains 2 sections:
Procedure concerning health insurance
Before registering a child for the Health Insurance Plan, we must determine that the child fulfills the eligibility conditions. In that case, we will issue a Health Insurance Card, giving the child access to insured healthcare services.
Child born in Québec
The procedure varies depending on the parents’ situation:
You do not need to contact us to register your child born in Québec. All you need to do is register your child with the Directeur de l’état civil, using the form obtained from the hospital or given to you by the midwife. The information needed for registering your child with the Health Insurance Plan and, where applicable, for the Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan will be sent automatically to us.
If neither parent is registered with the Québec Health Insurance Plan at the time we receive the information from the Directeur de l’état civil to register your child, we will send you a letter containing a list of the documents you need to send us to prove your presence in Quebec (example: work or study permit, sworn statement). Upon receipt of these documents, we will assess your child’s eligibility to the health insurance and public prescription drug insurance plans.
Child born outside Québec or adopted
You may register your child for health insurance online if they were born outside Québec and you or the other parent are, at the time of birth, in one of these situations:
- Settled in Québec
- Temporarily staying in Québec for more than 6 months
For any other situation of birth outside Québec or for an adoption, you must make a telephone appointment with one of our agents.
In any case, make sure you gather your child’s proof-of-identity documents before registering them online or when making a telephone appointment.
Family allowance from Revenu Québec
You may be entitled to the Family Allowance from Retraite Québec when you give birth outside Québec or adopt a child. For further information about the eligibility criteria and the application procedure, please refer to the Application for Family Allowance on the Retraite Québec webpage.
Procedure concerning prescription drug insurance
If you or the other parent are eligible for a private prescription drug insurance plan, you must provide coverage under it for your child. You are required to notify your insurer as quickly as possible of the birth or adoption. Otherwise, here are the steps to register with the public drug insurance plan.
Child born in Québec
If your child is born in Québec, we will be informed by the Directeur de l’état civil. As for health insurance, your child will be registered, if applicable, with the public prescription drug insurance plan. We will send you a letter if documents are required to assess eligibility.
Child born outside Québec or adopted
The registration of a child with the public prescription drug insurance plan is done at the same time as the registration for health insurance. You must make a telephone appointment if your child was adopted (in Québec or elsewhere). Otherwise, you may register your child online.
If you are in Québec for a temporary stay, you are not eligible for the public prescription drug insurance plan. However, your children under age 18 are eligible if you do not have access to a private plan.