To be entitled to receive advance payments of the tax credit for childcare expenses for the 2023 taxation year, you must meet the following requirements:

• You are (or are the spouse of) the biological or adoptive mother or father (legally or in fact) of a child living with you when the application is filed.
• You are resident in Québec at the time you apply and are a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident or a person on whom Canada has conferred refugee protection.
• You have a document from the childcare services provider confirming the childcare fees and the number of days for which childcare services will be provided in the year.
• By your estimate, you will be entitled for the year, to a tax credit of more than $1,000. However, this requirement does not apply if you estimate that you will also be entitled for the same year to a work premium or an adapted work premium of more than $500.
• You incur expenses for an eligible child living with you or your spouse while you or your spouse was:
  • carrying out the duties of an office or employment;
  • actively operating a business;
  • practising a profession;
  • doing research under a grant;
  • actively seeking employment;
  • attending secondary school or taking a course at a qualified educational institution (see “Qualified educational institutions” below) as a student enrolled in an educational program of at least three consecutive weeks, either on a full-time basis (courses and assignments must take up a minimum of 10 hours per week) or on a part-time basis (courses alone must take up a minimum of 12 hours per month);
  • receiving Québec parental insurance plan benefits or benefits related to a birth or an adoption under the Employment Insurance plan.
• You agree to receive the payments by direct deposit. 

Online and correspondence courses

Effective January 1, 2020, you can take courses offered by a qualified educational institution (see “Qualified educational institutions” below) at a distance without any virtual presence at a fixed or interactive time with the professor or the class being required. However, presence (either physical or virtual) will remain mandatory for courses offered by a secondary school. 

Qualified educational institutions 

The following are qualified educational institutions:

1. an institution where you or your spouse was enrolled in a post‑secondary program or occupational skills courses that are not at the post-secondary level;
2. an institution recognized by the Minister of Revenue where you or your spouse was enrolled for the purpose of acquiring or upgrading skills necessary for a remunerated activity;
3. a university outside Canada that you or your spouse attended full time for at least three consecutive weeks (the course of study must lead to a diploma);
4. an institution in the United States where you or your spouse was enrolled in a post-secondary program, provided you lived in Canada near the U.S. border throughout 2023 and regularly commuted between your home and the institution.

The educational institutions referred to in points 1 and 2 must be located in Canada unless, during the period for which the tuition fees were paid, you were temporarily living outside Canada.

If you and your spouse both believe you are entitled to claim the tax credit for childcare expenses for the year, only one of you can apply for advance payments for both of you.