The Québec Pension Plan

The Québec Pension Plan (QPP) is a compulsory public insurance plan for workers aged 18 and over. Its purpose is to provide persons who have worked in Québec and their families with basic financial protection in the event of retirement, death or disability. Elsewhere in Canada, the equivalent plan is the Canada Pension Plan.

The QPP is composed of the base plan and the additional plan. Both plans are financed by persons working in Québec and their employers. The additional plan was created in 2019 for persons who contribute to receive higher pensions.

Contributions

A person contributes to the QPP as soon as he or she earns more than $3500 during a given year.

This year, the contribution rate for the Québec Pension Plan is 10.6%. The employee pays half the contributions (5.3%) and his or her employer pays the other half (5.3%). These rates apply to the employment earnings between $3500 (general exemption) and $74 600 (maximum pensionable earnings) in 2026.

In 2026, the contribution rate for the additional plan is 8% for employment earnings between $3500 and $74 600. The employee pays half the contributions (1%) and his or her employer pays the other half (1%). Another contribution rate of 8% applies to earnings between $74 600 and $85 000 (additional maximum pensionable earnings). The employee pays half the contributions (4%) and the employer pays the other half (4%).

Self-employed workers pay both shares of the contributions. All contributions are collected by Revenu Québec.

Financial protection offered

The QPP provides different pensions and benefits to individuals who have made sufficient contributions and, in certain cases, to their families:

At retirement
- retirement pension;
- retirement pension supplement.
In the event of disability
- disability pension;
- pension for a disabled contributor's child.
In the event of death

If you contributed to the Canada Pension Plan, we will take it into account to determine whether you could receive a pension or benefit under the QPP and its amount.

Maximum pension amounts

The Québec Pension Plan Figures web page shows the maximum amounts of pensions paid per month in 2026.

Financial protection offered when working abroad

A person who worked or is working abroad could receive a retirement or disability pension from a foreign country. His or her family could also receive a surviving spouse's or an orphan's pension. The person must meet the following conditions:

He or she must work or have worked in a country that signed a social security agreement with Québec.
He or she must be a resident of Québec.

The Bureau des ententes de sécurité sociale (BESS) also offers the possibility of obtaining a certificate of coverage for work abroad.

How is the QPP managed?

La Caisse manages the QPP's assets. As at 31 December 2024, they were 126 billion dollars.

The QPP is subject to rigorous financial monitoring. Two safeguards have been implemented to ensure adequate funding of the QPP and to meet the clients' needs:

an actuarial valuation carried out every three years to determine whether the QPP funds will be sufficient to pay future benefits to beneficiaries;
a public consultation held every six years to obtain the population's opinion on amendments to be made to the QPP.

These steps allow the QPP and its funding to be adapted to demographic and socioeconomic changes in Québec.