Quebec teaches French to newcomers for free, and pays some of them to attend. It is one of the most generous programmes of its kind anywhere, and it is also more conditional than most people are told.
Here is what is actually on offer.
Who can register
Three conditions, and that is the whole test for the immigrant stream:
- You were born outside Canada
- You are 16 or older
- You live in Quebec
Temporary workers and international students can register — students must be enrolled in a recognised programme as their main occupation. If you are a temporary resident, check that your status permits it before you enrol: the government warns that non-compliance can cost you your status or your re-entry.
People born in Canada are not shut out of French classes; they have a separate part-time track.
What it costs: nothing
The courses themselves are free at every level and in every format. Registration is online through the Apprendre le français platform. One small practical warning that catches people out: the application form does not work in Safari.
Phone support is at 514-864-9191 in Montreal, or 1-877-864-9191 elsewhere.
The money, and who does not get it
Full-time students receive a participation allowance of $230 a week. There are also childcare and transport allowances:
- Participation: $230 per week — full-time courses only
- Childcare: reimbursed up to $25 per day of training per child, full-time. Child under 13, receipts required. Part-time attracts a smaller daily rate — check the current figure on the government page
- Transport: $25 per week — full-time in-class only, and only if you receive Employment Insurance, social assistance, MFOR-I, CNESST, RQAP, PAFFARC, PSAU or SAAQ replacement benefits
You cannot receive the participation allowance and the transport allowance together. They are mutually exclusive.
And the participation allowance excludes several groups outright:
- People receiving employment insurance, social assistance, parental leave benefits, CNESST or SAAQ compensation
- Asylum seekers
- Canadian citizens by birth or filiation — note that naturalised citizens are not excluded on this ground
- Members of a consular or diplomatic corps, or of an international organisation
- People taking online-only courses, or workplace French courses
- Anyone who has already accumulated 1,980 course hours
Full-time or part-time — the real decision
Full-time is 25 to 30 hours a week, Monday to Friday, roughly 08:30 to 16:00, in sessions of about ten weeks. It pays $230 a week and it is essentially a job.
Part-time runs 6, 9, 12, 16 or 20 hours a week, in the day, the evening or at weekends. It pays nothing beyond childcare support.
There are also fully online self-paced courses at intermediate and advanced levels, and specialised courses tied to a field of work — eleven weeks, usually 6 or 9 hours a week, at a distance.
So the arithmetic is stark. Full-time means no other work and $230 a week; part-time means you can keep a job but you learn more slowly and you are paid nothing for it. Most people underestimate how long the part-time route takes.
Start the paperwork before you are ready
The ministry commits to starting 80% of students in full-time courses within 50 working days of a first application, and part-time within 70. It is a service target, not a guarantee — but even met, that is ten to fourteen weeks of waiting before a single class.
Apply in your first month even if you cannot start for six. The queue is the slow part, not the teaching.
Why the level matters beyond the classroom
French is not just useful here; for permanent selection it is required. Under the PSTQ — now Quebec's only permanent skilled-worker selection programme — the principal applicant in the highly qualified stream needs oral level 7 and written level 5. The intermediate and manual stream needs spoken level 5. A spouse needs spoken level 4. There is no English requirement at all.
Accepted proof is a TCF, TEF or DELF/DALF result less than two years old at the time of application, or certain French-language diplomas.
If you are aiming at permanent residence through Quebec, the classroom is not optional and the clock starts the day you land.
If you already have Quebec experience, read this now
The Programme de l'expérience québécoise closed in November 2025 and has been temporarily reopened. The current intake window runs from 2 July to 31 October 2026, and you must already have met the criteria as of 19 November 2025. The English government page has not been updated and still says the programme is closed — read the French one.
That window closes in about ten weeks. If you graduated from a Quebec institution within the last three years, or you have two years of skilled work experience in Quebec, check your eligibility this week rather than next month.
