When I first arrived in Quebec, like many newcomers and people who live here, I spent a lot of time and energy feeling my way through an administrative system and a language that were entirely new to me. Whether it was understanding the RAMQ (health card), the SAAQ (driver’s licence) and taxes, or taking on the challenges of studying, finding an internship and settling into everyday life, we often had to piece answers together from countless scattered web pages, in a language we were still learning.
To get through local procedures more efficiently and save time and energy, I created VieAuQc. At first it was just my personal assistant, built to solve the real problems I ran into in Quebec. When I realized that these difficulties, and these hopes, were shared by many people, I decided to build it out and share it with everyone living in Quebec.
VieAuQc is a completely free web app. As a developer and a newcomer, I gradually came to feel a sense of mission: I want it to genuinely help people who are about to move to Quebec or who already live here. From the very start, I have handled VieAuQc’s code, its user-experience improvements, the development of its features and more, on my own.
VieAuQc sets out to explain administrative procedures in plain language. Every fact links straight to the official source, and clear navigation makes it easier to read and find what’s useful, and even to practise your French along the way.
Living in Quebec is a long and rich journey. Like you, I benefit from this site, and I am making the journey alongside you.