Before you leave, gather the originals of your personal documents and sort them by what they will be used for in Quebec: health insurance, driver's licence, enrolling your children in school, recognition of your diplomas. Some are only easy to get in your home country — the certificate of coverage under your country's social security plan, detailed transcripts, certified true copies. Have anything that is neither in French nor in English translated, and keep copies apart from the originals.
1. Think about what each document will be used for
In Quebec, your home-country documents will follow you long after you land. Each organization — RAMQ for health insurance, SAAQ for the driver's licence, your children's school, the immigration ministry for your diplomas — will ask for its own list. Once you are there, getting a paper from your home country can take weeks and has to be done from a distance. The right time to gather everything is now, while you still have access to your schools, your employer and your local offices.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) also advises you to have your important documents translated before you arrive and to keep photocopies in a different place from the originals. This guide builds on that idea and sorts each document by what it will be used for after you arrive.
Our practical tip: keep the originals in a document folder that travels with you in the cabin, and scan every page into a secure online space you can reach from Quebec. This is not an official rule, but a digital copy will save you time if an original gets lost.
2. Summary table
The table below summarizes the most common documents, what they will be used for in Quebec and the organization that will ask for them. The following sections go through each case. Not all of them apply to you: keep only the ones that match your situation.
| Document | What it will be used for | Who asks for it |
|---|---|---|
| Valid passport and Confirmation of Permanent Residence (or your permit) for each family member | Entering Canada, then proving your status in every procedure | IRCC |
| Québec Selection Certificate (CSQ), if you have one | Registering for health insurance | RAMQ |
| Certificate of coverage from your country's social security plan (signatory countries only) | Health coverage under a social security agreement | RAMQ — agreements |
| Vaccination records for each family member | Enrolling children in school, health follow-up | IRCC, school |
| Valid driver's licence and proof of your driving experience | Driving during the first months, then getting a Quebec licence | SAAQ |
| Each child's birth certificate, translated if needed | Enrolling children in school | School service centre |
| Children's latest report cards | Making enrolment and placement easier | School service centre |
| Diplomas and detailed transcripts for every year of study | Comparative evaluation, professional orders | MIFI |
| Marriage certificate, divorce judgment, name-change certificate | Explaining a name difference, proving a family tie | MIFI, IRCC |
| Letters from former employers, professional certificates | Job search, professional order | Regulatory body |
3. Health: health insurance and vaccines
To register for health insurance, RAMQ asks, depending on your situation, for your Permanent Resident Card or Confirmation of Permanent Residence, your Québec Selection Certificate if you have one, or proof of Canadian citizenship if you are a citizen. You register once you have arrived in Quebec, with a Quebec mailing address: the details are in our guide to RAMQ.
One document, however, has to be requested before you leave. If you come from one of the 11 countries that have signed a social security agreement with Quebec — among them Belgium, France, Portugal and Romania —, ask your country's social security body for your certificate of coverage. The agreement spares you a waiting period before you are covered. Documents written in a language other than French or English must be translated at your own cost.
Also bring the vaccination record of each family member. IRCC recommends that you bring official documents showing the vaccines you have already received and points out that your children will need vaccination records to enrol in school. For adults, our guide to vaccines for newcomers explains the next steps.
4. Driving: your licence and your driving experience
If you plan to drive, bring your valid driver's licence. As a new resident, you can drive a car for at most 6 months in a row with a valid licence obtained outside Quebec; after that, SAAQ has to recognize your driving experience before you can get a Quebec licence. Depending on the country that issued your licence, you will be able to exchange it without a test or will have to pass the competency tests: everything is explained in our guide to SAAQ.
Why deal with it before you leave? Because your driving experience is what counts. If your licence comes from a country without an agreement with Quebec, you must have held a licence for at least one year before settling in Quebec, and if SAAQ recognizes less than 24 months of experience, you will get a probationary licence. IRCC also suggests bringing your international driving permit and a letter from your car insurer. Our tip: if your licence was recently renewed or replaced, keep proof of how long you have been driving, such as your old licence.
5. Children and family: school, benefits and civil status
For a first enrolment in public school, the education ministry says you will generally be asked for the child's birth certificate and a proof of residence, and the exact list varies from one school to another. The proof of residence is obtained here; the birth certificate comes from your country.
The information leaflet for immigrant parents states that you must present, as originals or certified copies, each child's birth certificate translated into French or English, as well as your immigration documents. It adds that a passport, a report card, the health record and assessments by a psychologist or speech therapist make enrolment easier. So ask your children's current school for their latest report cards before you leave. How schools work is explained in our guide to the Quebec school system.
For the Family Allowance, Retraite Québec mainly asks for your Canadian immigration documents and proofs of residence in Quebec, which you get after arriving. Once your application is accepted, however, it will ask for information about your income outside Quebec or outside Canada: bring your latest income statements from your country. See also our guide to the Family Allowance.
Finally, take the civil-status records of the whole family: birth certificates, marriage certificate, divorce judgment or adoption papers. IRCC lists them among the other documents you may need, and they are often used to prove a family tie or to explain a change of name. If you plan to sponsor a relative later, see our guide to family sponsorship.
6. Diplomas and trade: comparative evaluation and professional orders
To place your studies against the Quebec system, the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration (MIFI) issues a comparative evaluation. For completed post-secondary studies, it asks for your diplomas and detailed transcripts for each of your years of study, including internships. It also requires a photocopy of an identity document and, if the name on your school documents is different, a document explaining that difference, such as a marriage certificate.
This is where leaving matters: MIFI accepts school documents sent directly by your institution in a sealed envelope, or a certified true copy. Ask your university or school for these papers while you are still there: getting a transcript from a distance is often more complicated. And do not send your originals unless you are asked to.
If your trade or profession is regulated in Quebec — nurse, engineer, teacher, electrician —, it is the professional order or regulatory body that sets its own requirements, and some also ask for a comparative evaluation. Read its section for people trained abroad before you leave. IRCC also advises you to bring your reference letters from former employers and your professional certificates. The whole process is explained in our guide to diploma recognition.
7. Translation, certified copies and apostille
Several organizations require a translation of documents that are neither in French nor in English. For its procedures, MIFI accepts a translation made outside Canada only if it comes from a translator who is a member of a professional order, or from a translation service linked to the document: the institution that issued it, the embassy or consulate, or a ministry of the country of origin. Where to find a certified translator in Quebec and what to watch for: see our guide to certified translators.
A certified true copy requested by MIFI must be certified by a recognized authority of the country that issued the original. In Quebec, neither lawyers nor translators are recognized to do so: the simplest is therefore to take care of it before you leave.
Some organizations may also require a foreign document to be apostilled or authenticated. Check this before you leave with the organization that will receive it; our guide to apostille and authentication explains the difference between the two.
8. Your action list
Follow these steps before you leave. Check each box as you go — your progress is saved if you're signed in.
Your action list
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9. Frequently asked questions
The most common questions: should you bring the originals, what to do when a document is already in French or English, what changes if there is no social security agreement, and what to do if a document cannot be found.
Should I bring the originals, or are copies enough?
Bring the originals: you will have them on hand if an organization asks for them. But do not send an original when it is not required — MIFI, for example, asks you not to provide originals unless otherwise indicated. Keep digital and paper copies, stored separately.
My documents are already in French or English: is there anything to do?
No translation, but check the seals. MIFI requires that a seal written in another language be translated, even when the rest of the document is in French or English. Look at the stamps and seals on your diplomas and certificates before you leave.
My country has no social security agreement with Quebec: what should I plan for?
You have no certificate of coverage to request. The agreements exist precisely to spare their beneficiaries a waiting period before they are covered. Without one, read our guide to RAMQ to understand the waiting period and how to protect yourself during that time.
What if a document cannot be found or obtained before I leave?
Contact the Quebec organization that will ask for it: some accept alternatives. For comparative evaluation, for example, MIFI accepts for some school documents another type of document, specific to a country and a level of study. Write down exactly what is missing and why, so you can explain it.
10. See also
These related guides may be useful:
- Preparing your move to Quebec — the countdown of everything to do before you leave.
- Moving your belongings and clearing customs — the list of personal effects to prepare for the border.
- Getting your diplomas recognized in Quebec — what comes next for the comparative evaluation and professional orders.
- Registering with RAMQ — signing up for health insurance once you arrive.
11. Official sources
For official, up-to-date information, see the websites of these organizations:
Author's Note: A well-organized file is invisible, but you feel it from the very first week. Every document you gather today is one email abroad, one postal delay or one last-minute translation you will not have to deal with once you are in Quebec.
