Quebec

Employment Retention Bonus

Easy application

Tax filing not required

The Employment Retention Bonus provides a one time payment of $1,000 to individuals who have left the Social Assistance, the Social Solidarity Program, or the Aim for Employment Program and have held a job for at least a year.

To be eligible, your employment must meet the following conditions:

  • Be a full-time job (at least 30 hours per week) unless severe limitations to the job justify a reduced number of hours.
  • Be insurable employment within the meaning of the Employment Insurance Act.
  • Be employment that meets the minimum working conditions set out in the Act respecting labour standards and that is not likely to endanger your health and safety or harm your integrity.

The bonus may be paid to you if you meet all of the following conditions:

  • You have been a beneficiary of the Social Assistance Program or the Social Solidarity Program or have participated in the Aim for Employment Program for at least 12 months in the 24 months before your benefits end.
  • you have held a full-time job or jobs for 12 consecutive months;
  • you ceased to be eligible for one of these programs no later than March 31, 2023, because of your employment income;
  • you were not eligible for the Work Premium Supplement, a refundable tax credit paid by Revenue Québec, when you stopped receiving financial assistance under one of these programs;
  • you are not attending an educational institution on a full-time basis during the period covered by the application; you are not participating in an active measure of the public employment services, with the exception of the Work Integration Contract measure or the Subsidy Program for Adapted Businesses; you have not already benefited from a job maintenance bonus.

Eleven months after you stop getting benefits from the Social Assistance Program, the Social Solidarity Program or the Aim for Employment Program because of your work income, you will automatically get a letter and a form to apply for a job maintenance bonus.

You must then send the application within 45 days after you have worked the required 12 months.

Applying for a bonus during the public health emergency

Given the public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the requirements regarding the work period may be relaxed.

If the expected end date of your 12 consecutive months of full-time work falls during the public health emergency declared on March 13, 2020, you may be eligible for the bonus even if the 12-month total required was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

You must submit your application within 45 days after the initial date on which your 12 consecutive months of full-time work were expected to end.

For example, if your work was expected to end on May 27, 2020, you must submit your application no later than July 11, 2020.

You must enclose the following documents with your application:

  • The first pay slip of the work period
  • Your most recent pay slip

Last updated: May 9, 2022