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Death benefit of the Québec Pension Plan

Death benefit

The death benefit under the Québec Pension Plan is a payment of a maximum amount of $2500. It is paid if the deceased contributed sufficiently to the Plan, in accordance with the Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan.

Who can receive the death benefit?

The death benefit is paid to the person or charitable organization that paid for the funeral expenses or to the heirs, if they file an application. If there are no heirs or if the heirs have renounced the estate, the death benefit can be paid to other persons; contact Retraite Québec if this situation applies to you.

On what date was the application for the death benefit filed?

60 first days following the death

Priority is given to the person or charitable organization that paid for the funeral expenses upon filing an application and with valid proof of payment for funeral expenses.
If the amount of the expenses is less than $2500, the difference can be granted to the heirs if they have not renounced the estate and have filed an application.

Between 61 days and 5 years following the death

If no application has been filed, the death benefit is paid to the person who filed the application first, whether it is a person who paid for the funeral expenses, an heir, liquidator of the estate, or should there be no one, to another person.

Prearranged funeral services

The expenses related to a funeral services contract previously paid by the deceased are not accepted and cannot be reimbursed with the death benefit. If a family member has paid for the deceased's expenses related to a prearranged funeral services contract, those expenses could be accepted.

However, accepted expenses not included in the contract may sometimes be incurred after the death. The person who paid for those additional expenses may apply to be reimbursed, up to the amount of the expenses or a maximum amount of $2500.

Accepted expenses and proof of payment

Proof of payment of accepted expenses can be sent online or mailed to the following address:

Retraite Québec
Case postale 5200
Québec (Québec) G1K 7S9

It must be sent to us at the same time as the application for the death benefit under the Québec Pension Plan.

We will reimburse expenses related to the disposal of the body and funeral expenses to the person who paid for them, up to $2500, upon presentation of proof of payment.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of accepted expenses:

transportation, storage and preservation of the body
embalming of the body
coffin
urn, funeral jewelery, reliquaries, tree of life
visitation at the funeral home
funeral service
interment, cremation, aquamation
services of a funeral director
publication of death notices
cemetery plot, niche and funerary recess (in proportion to the expenses incurred for the deceased (e.g., Retraite Québec would give $2000 of funeral expenses for a plot of $8000 paid for 4 persons))
funerary monument (or inscription) (in proportion to the expenses incurred for the deceased (e.g., Retraite Québec would give $2000 of funeral expenses for a monument of $8000 paid for 4 persons))
acknowledgement cards, memorial bookmarks
taxes related to eligible expenses.

The following expenses are not reimbursed:

purchase of flowers
expenses related to the reception after the funeral (hall rental, caterer, etc.).

Retraite Québec accepts the following documents as proof of payment for funeral expenses:

the Reçu pour frais funéraires acquittés (Receipt for funeral expenses paid; French only), duly completed
a copy of a receipt from the funeral home
a copy of the invoice or funeral contract confirming payment.

The receipt from the funeral home must:

clearly mention the name of the funeral home by means of a printed letter
head or legible stamp
indicate the name of the deceased and the name of the person who paid for the funeral expenses
indicate the amount paid for the funeral expenses
indicate the date on which the receipt was issued
bear the signature of the person authorized to issue such a receipt.

A paid invoice or funeral contract must indicate:

the name of the deceased and the name of the person who paid for the funeral expenses
that the expenses were paid by means of:

a stamp on which the name of the funeral home is shown or bearing the signature or initials of an authorized person and the date
a handwritten (or initialed) signature and dated by an authorized person.

These documents must contain all the information necessary to determine the eligibility of the expenses.

If necessary, Retraite Québec can request additional proof of payment.

If the payer had ties with the funeral home

A payer who has ties with the funeral home can be, for example:

the owner of the funeral home
a family member or friend of the owner of the funeral home
an employee of the funeral home.

In that case, we require the following documents as proof of payment, in addition to the usual documents and any other documents deemed necessary for establishing the eligibility of the expenses:

a copy of the
- personal cheque cashed by the financial institution OR
- personal credit card transaction record and monthly account statement
invoice detailing the paid funeral expenses.

Amount and payment

The benefit, which is a maximum of $2500, will be paid by cheque to the person or charitable organization that is eligible for the benefit.

Note that the benefit amount is taxable. It must be declared in the income of the estate, regardless of the name to whom the cheque was made out.

If the deceased did not make sufficient contributions to the Québec Pension Plan, a special benefit for funeral expenses This link will open in a new window. could be paid by the Ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale.