Supplement for the purchase of school supplies

The purpose of the supplement is to help families with the purchase of supplies at the beginning of the school year. Retraite Québec provides financial assistance of $121 each year for each eligible child. The supplement is paid in July and is part of the Family Allowance measure.

In order to receive the supplement, you must :

• be eligible for Family Allowance for the month in which the supplement for the purchase of school supplies is paid AND
  • have a dependent child aged 4 to 16 on 30 September of the school year for which the supplement is paid. OR
  • be receiving the supplement for handicapped children for a child aged 4 to 17 on 30 September of the school year for which the supplement for the purchase of school supplies is paid.

No. You do not need to file an application in order to receive the supplement for the purchase of school supplies. The supplement is paid automatically to all families who Family Allowance payments.

The yearly amount of the supplement for the purchase of school supplies is $121 per eligible dependent child. This amount is indexed each year.

No, it is not taxable.

If custody is shared in July, each parent will receive half the supplement ($51), provided they are both already receiving Family Allowance.

Custody is considered to be shared when a child lives with each parent between 40% and 60% of the time in a given month.

The parent who has sole custody in July will receive the entire $121 payment.

Eligibility is determined based on the child's age and not on whether he or she attends school. The child's state of health is not taken into consideration either. The child must be aged :

• 4 to 16 on 30 September of the school year for which the supplement is OR
• 4 to 17 on 30 September of the school year for which the supplement is paid, if the person who has custody is receiving the supplement for handicapped children for that child.

In Québec, school attendance is mandatory from ages 6 to 16. However, most children attend the optional year of full-time kindergarten a year earlier. Some handicapped children or children who live in underprivileged areas may also attend pre-kindergarten at 4 years of age.