The Social Assistance Summaries series tracks the number of recipients of social assistance (welfare payments) in each province and territory.
In this section you will find:
Quebec’s social assistance program
Social assistance is the income program of last resort. It is intended for households who have exhausted all other means of financial support. Every province and territory has its own social assistance program(s), and no two are the same. For the total incomes available to those relying on social assistance, visit the Welfare in Canada report.
In Quebec, social assistance is known as Last Resort Financial Assistance, which includes the Aim for Employment Program (objectif emploi), the Social Assistance Program (aide sociale), the Social Solidarity Program (solidarité sociale), and the Basic Income Program (revenu de base).
Aim for Employment (objectif emploi)
The Aim for Employment Program was introduced in April 2018 to help recipients improve their employability. It is a 12-month program that is mandatory for new social assistance recipients (with some exceptions). In addition to the basic benefit, recipients receive a participation allowance for carrying out the activities in their labour market entry plan.
Social Assistance Program (aide sociale)
The Social Assistance Program provides basic benefits to adults only. Between September 1997 and 2005, children’s basic benefits were delivered through the Quebec Family Allowance; since 2005, children’s basic benefits have been available through the Child Assistance Measure.
Social Solidarity Program (solidarité sociale)
The Social Solidarity Program is for those with severely limited capacity for employment. To obtain a Social Solidarity allowance, a medical report must be produced confirming that the applicant’s physical or psychological condition is significantly impaired and will be so permanently or for an indeterminate time. Such conditions, in combination with their socio-occupational profile (little schooling, no work experience), qualify the applicant as having a severely limited capacity for employment. In the case of a family composed of two adults, only one adult must prove their severely limited capacity for employment for the family to be eligible for the program.
Basic Income Program (revenu de base)
The Basic Income Program was introduced in January 2023 and is intended for individuals with a persistent severely limited capacity for employment. Access to this program is automatic for individuals who are receiving Social Solidarity and who have had severely limited capacity for employment for at least 66 of the previous 72 months. Basic Income provides a higher benefit amount than Social Solidarity, as well as a greater asset limit and a higher employment income exemption.
In Quebec, for a person to be eligible for Social Solidarity or Basic Income, the term “disability” is not used. Instead, they need to have a “severe limited capacity to employment,” which is defined as serious health problems that limit an adult’s opportunities to work. These health problems may relate to an adult’s physical or mental condition and must be noted by a doctor in a medical report.
How many people claim social assistance?
Before analyzing the data, it’s important to note the following: For the entire dataset, the 2022-23 data was converted from a point-in-time snapshot (March 2023) to a fiscal year average (April 1 to March 31). The only exception to this conversion is the Basic Income Program, where the data reflects an average over the first three months of 2023. Starting with the 2024-25 data, it reflects the average number of cases and beneficiaries for the full fiscal year (April 1 to March 31), with no exceptions.
In 2024-25, there were 268,950 cases (family units and unattached single adults) and 346,724 beneficiaries (individual claimants, their partners, and dependent children) in Quebec’s social assistance programs.
Among cases, 3 per cent (7,043) received Aim for Employment, 59 per cent (157,877) received the Social Assistance Program, 9 per cent (23,633) received Social Solidarity, and 31 per cent (82,767) received Basic Income.
Among beneficiaries, 3 per cent (9,895) received Aim for Employment, 65 per cent (223,958) received the Social Assistance Program, 9 per cent (26,581) received Social Solidarity, and 25 per cent (86,289) received Basic Income.
Between 2023-24 and 2024-25, the total number of social assistance cases increased by 11,115, or 4.3 per cent, and the total number of social assistance beneficiaries increased by 12,048, or 3.6 per cent. Among the programs, Aim for Employment and the Social Assistance Program cases saw notable increases, while the cases of Social Solidarity saw a substantial decrease. Comparisons between 2022-23 and 2023-24 for the Basic Income Program are limited as 2022-23 numbers are the average of the first three months of 2023, while the 2023-24 numbers are averaged over the full fiscal year. However, comparisons between 2023-24 and 2024-25 for the Basic Income Program are possible and show a marginal decrease of 1.6% for both cases and beneficiaries.
To access data on cases and beneficiaries of social assistance in Quebec, including disaggregated data, download the spreadsheet here.
Aim for Employment Program (objectif emploi)
The Aim for Employment Program was introduced in April 2018. Most individuals and families seeking income assistance in Quebec receive support through this program for between 12 and 24 months. Those still in need of income support at the end of this period may then transition to the Social Assistance Program or Social Solidarity Program.
The number of Aim for Employment Program cases and beneficiaries increased in its first two years, reaching a peak of about 6,200 cases and 9,400 beneficiaries in 2019-20. After two years of decreases, cases and beneficiaries increased in 2022-23, and continued to follow this trend in 2024-25, with cases increasing by 34 per cent to 7,043, and beneficiaries increasing by 33 per cent to 9,895.
Figure 1QC: Yearly cases and beneficiaries of the Aim for Employment Program in Quebec, 2018-19 to 2024-25
Social Assistance Program (aide sociale)
After a gradual decline in the number of the Social Assistance Program cases and beneficiaries since the mid-1990s, both increased in 2023-24 and 2024-25. Compared to the previous year, the number of cases increased by 8 per cent to 157,877, and the number of beneficiaries increased by 6 per cent to 223,958.
Figure 2QC: Yearly cases and beneficiaries of the Social Assistance Program in Quebec, 1997-98 to 2024-25
Social Solidarity Program (solidarité sociale)
The cases and beneficiaries of Social Solidarity increased gradually from 1997-98 to 2003-04, after which they remained stable until 2019-20 at between 124,000 and 130,000 cases and between 141,000 and 151,000 beneficiaries. Starting in 2019-20, cases and beneficiaries gradually decreased. In 2022-23, Social Solidarity cases and beneficiaries dropped significantly as recipients transitioned to the newly introduced Basic Income Program.
In 2024-25, the trend continued; both cases and beneficiaries declined by about 5 per cent to 23,633 cases and 26,581 beneficiaries, respectively.
Figure 3QC: Yearly cases and beneficiaries of Social Solidarity in Quebec, 1997-98 to 2024-25
Basic Income Program (revenu de base)
In 2024-25, cases and beneficiaries for Basic Income decreased by 1.6 per cent to 82,767 cases and 86,289 beneficiaries.
Figure 4QC: Yearly cases and beneficiaries of Basic Income in Quebec, 2022-23 to 2024-25
What proportion of the population receives social assistance?
In 2024-25, around 4.9 per cent of people in Quebec under 65 received the Aim for Employment Program, the Social Assistance Program, the Social Solidarity Program, or the Basic Income Program, which is roughly one in 20.
The proportion of people under 65 receiving the Aim for Employment Program has remained around 0.1 per cent since its introduction in 2018-19.
After consistent decreases since 1997-98, reaching a low of 2.4 per cent in 2021-22, the proportion of people under 65 receiving the Social Assistance Program increased to 3.2 per cent in 2024-25.
The proportion of people under 65 receiving the Social Solidarity Program has remained relatively stable, with a slow decline starting in 2008-09. In 2022-23, the proportion dropped to 1.4 per cent, followed by a drop to 0.4 per cent, where it remained in 2024-25.
The proportion of people under 65 receiving the Basic Income Program was around 1.3 per cent in 2022-23 and has remained at 1.2 per cent for 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Figure 5QC – Yearly beneficiaries of social assistance as a proportion of the under 65 population of Quebec, 1997-98 to 2024-25
Who is receiving social assistance?
This section examines disaggregated data on cases by household type and adult beneficiaries by age group.
Household type
In 2024-25, unattached singles comprised the majority of social assistance cases among households for each program, representing about 83 per cent for Aim for Employment, 77 per cent for the Social Assistance Program, just over 91 per cent for Social Solidarity, and around 94 per cent for Basic Income.
Single parents were the second-largest household type among cases for all programs.
Additional disaggregated data on the number of beneficiaries by household type for each program is available for download here.
Figure 6QC: Cases of Aim for Employment by household in Quebec, 2020-21 to 2024-25
Figure 7QC: Cases of the Social Assistance Program by household in Quebec, 2020-21 to 2024-25
Figure 8QC: Cases of Social Solidarity by household in Quebec, 2020-21 to 2024-25
Figure 9QC: Cases of Basic Income by household in Quebec, 2022-23 to 2024-25
Age of adult beneficiaries
From March 2021 to 2024-25, the most common age group among adult beneficiaries was 30-54, followed by 55-65, 18-29, and over 65. This pattern was consistent among adult beneficiaries receiving Social Assistance, Social Solidarity and Basic Income. The 18-29 age group was the most common for Aim for Employment, followed by 30-54, 55-65, and over 65.
The share of adult beneficiaries aged 30-54 increased overall among all programs.
The share of those aged 18-29 saw increases among those receiving Aim for Employment and Social Assistance, but there were marginal decreases among those receiving Social Solidarity and Basic Income.
The share of recipients aged 55-65 was steady for those receiving Aim for Employment. It decreased among those receiving Social Assistance, Social Solidarity, and Basic Income.
Recipients aged over 65 saw an upward trend among those receiving Social Assistance, Social Solidarity, and Basic Income. The share of those receiving Aim for Employment remained stable.
Figure 10QC: Percentage of adult beneficiaries of Aim for Employment by age group in Quebec, March 2021 to 2024-25
Figure 11QC: Percentage of adult beneficiaries of the Social Assistance Program by age group in Quebec, March 2021 to 2024-25
Figure 12QC: Percentage of adult beneficiaries of Social Solidarity by age group in Quebec, March 2021 to 2024-25
Figure 13QC: Percentage of adult beneficiaries of Basic Income by age group in Quebec, 2022-23 to 2024-25
Access to data
The data on social assistance recipients in Quebec is available for download, including:
- Total number of cases and beneficiaries;
- Percentage of beneficiaries relative to the total under-65 population;
- Cases and beneficiaries by household type;
- Beneficiaries by sex;
- Single households by sex;
- Adult beneficiaries by age group; and
- Percentage of cases receiving employment income.
Data notes
- For total data, household type data, and total sex data (except for single households by sex, adults by age group, and employment income): 2021-22 and prior, data reflects the average number of cases and beneficiaries over the fiscal year (April 1 to March 31).
- For single households by sex, adults by age group, and employment income, data reflects the number of cases and beneficiaries in March 2021 and 2022. From 2022-23 onward, data is from fiscal year average.
- For the entire dataset, the 2022-23 data was converted from a point-in-time snapshot (March 2023) to a fiscal year average (April 1 to March 31). The exception to this conversion is the Basic Income Program, where the data was averaged over the first three months of 2023.
- Starting from 2023-24 onward, the data for the Basic Income Program reflects the average number of cases and beneficiaries for the entire fiscal year (April 1 to March 31) with no exceptions.
- The Aim for Employment Program (objectif emploi) was introduced in April 2018.
- The Basic Income Program (revenu de base) was introduced in January 2023.
- The sum of the average caseloads and beneficiaries within each program will not equal the total average across all social assistance programs if a program only operated for part of the year. For example, the Basic Income Program was implemented in January 2023, part way through the 2022-23 fiscal year. Averages over the entire fiscal year will be lower than the sum of the averages for each individual program, as the latter adjusts for how many months each program operated.
- The Basic Income Program operates on a per-beneficiary basis. As a result, the Quebec government reconstructed the data to create a count of cases. Caution is needed when comparing the number of cases between the Basic Income Program and other programs. Additionally, because the data is aggregated differently, the sum of the averages within each program may not always equal the total average across all social assistance programs.
- Data for single households by sex was not available for single-parent households. Data for beneficiaries by sex is included for this household instead.
- While the gender distribution of Aim for Employment, the Social Assistance Program, Social Solidarity, and Basic Income Program is typically balanced between males and females, the gender of single households reveals a more pronounced gender pattern. Typically, unattached singles are predominantly male, while single parents are primarily female.
- For household type, a fifth household category, “partner of a student,” is included in the “couples without children” category.
- The sex of some child beneficiaries is unknown.
- From 2024-25 onward, age groups were redefined as 18-29, 30-54, 55-65, and over 65. Previous data on adult beneficiaries by age group was revised to maintain consistency across reporting years.
- In Quebec, employment income is defined as any remuneration paid for the performance of work. Benefits, indemnities, or pensions granted to compensate for the loss of such income because of, among other things, a disability or retirement do not constitute work income.
- The numbers do not include First Nations living on reserves.
- Information about how the data is gathered.
Resources
- Download the all-Canada report as a PDF
- Download the data for Quebec
- Download the data for all of Canada
- Further breakdowns of social assistance data in Quebec can be found on the province’s website