--- title: "Benefits for Servers in Quebec" description: "In Quebec, reported tips raise your vacation and holiday pay and count for EI and QPIP. RAMQ drug insurance is compulsory; 2 sick days a year are paid." url: https://www.tipmaxapp.com/ca/answers/quebec/benefits language: en publisher: TipMax (Entermaurs Incorporated) date_published: 2026-09-23 last_verified: 2026-09-23 --- # What benefits can servers get in Quebec? **Short answer:** **Report all your tips: in Québec that raises your vacation pay, statutory holiday pay, and EI and QPIP benefits.** Register with RAMQ for health insurance; if you’re settling here, coverage usually starts within 3 months. Drug insurance is compulsory, so join your employer’s plan if you have access to one and RAMQ’s public plan if you don’t. After 3 months on the job, 2 sick or family days a year are paid. ## The rules in Quebec | Rule | What it says | | --- | --- | | Health insurance (RAMQ) | Free covered care with a valid Health Insurance Card. For people settling in Québec, coverage usually begins after a waiting period of up to 3 months; people coming from another province stay covered by their old plan meanwhile. | | Prescription drug insurance | Compulsory. If you have access to a private plan through work, you must join it; otherwise you register for RAMQ’s public plan, which covers around 8,000 drugs. Going without means paying Revenu Québec the equivalent of the public plan premium. | | Tips and paid leave | Vacation pay and pay for statutory holidays and family events are calculated on base wages plus the tips you report. If you report them all, your employer must count them. | | Tips and EI or QPIP | Tips you report, other than tips your employer allocates, count in calculating Employment Insurance and Québec Parental Insurance Plan benefits. | | Annual vacation | One day per month worked in your first year, 2 weeks after 1 year, 3 weeks after 3 years. Vacation pay is 4% of gross wages, rising to 6% after 3 years. | | Statutory holidays | 8 paid holidays, for part-time and casual workers too. Each pays 1/20 of wages from the 4 full pay weeks before, including reported or attributed tips. Skipping the workday before or after without a valid reason loses it, except June 24. | | Sick and family days | Job protected for up to 26 weeks of illness in 12 months. After 3 months of service, the first 2 days a year for illness or family obligations are paid. No medical note can be required for the first 3 absences of 3 days or less. | | Work premium (2025 tax year) | A Revenu Québec tax credit for workers 18 or older. You need work income over $2,400 living alone or as a single parent ($3,600 as a couple), and family income under $24,475 living alone, $38,017 for a couple without children, $43,280 for a single parent, or $59,369 for a couple with a child. | | Parental insurance (QPIP) | At least $2,000 of insurable earnings in the qualifying period, however few hours you worked, Québec residence when benefits start, and at least a 40% drop in your usual weekly pay. | > “Vacation pay as well as pay for statutory holidays and for family events such as a marriage, birth, adoption or death are calculated on your base wages plus tips.” (Revenu Québec: Employees who receive tips, benefits and obligations, https://www.revenuquebec.ca/en/citizens/your-situation/employees-who-receive-tips-benefits-and-obligations/) ## What’s different in Quebec Québec is where declaring tips pays off most directly. The Act respecting labour standards builds your reported tips into the indemnities for vacation, statutory holidays and the 2 paid sick or family days, so the tips you report raise your vacation and holiday pay, not just your wages. In Ontario, B.C. and Alberta the vacation-pay rules leave tips out. Revenu Québec adds that reported tips also feed EI and QPIP benefits; tips your employer allocates to reach 8% of sales don’t. Drug coverage works the other way round from most places: it’s mandatory. If you’re offered the group plan at work, you’re required to take it. The work premium rewards low earnings from a job, starting at $2,400 of work income for someone living alone. Plus the federal programs, including the dental plan. ## Official sources - [Revenu Québec: Employees who receive tips, benefits and obligations](https://www.revenuquebec.ca/en/citizens/your-situation/employees-who-receive-tips-benefits-and-obligations/) - [RAMQ: Know the eligibility conditions for health insurance](https://www.ramq.gouv.qc.ca/en/citizens/health-insurance/know-eligibility-conditions) - [RAMQ: Eligibility conditions for the Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan](https://www.ramq.gouv.qc.ca/en/citizens/prescription-drug-insurance/know-eligibility-conditions-public-plan) - [CNESST: Annual vacation](https://www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca/en/working-conditions/leave/annual-vacation) - [CNESST: Statutory holidays in Québec](https://www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca/en/working-conditions/leave/statutory-holidays/statutory-holidays) - [CNESST: Calculating the indemnity for a statutory holiday](https://www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca/en/working-conditions/leave/statutory-holidays/calculating-indemnity-statutory-holiday) - [CNESST: Maladie ou accident non lié au travail](https://www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca/fr/conditions-travail/conges/accidents-maladies/maladie-accident-non-lie-au-travail) - [Revenu Québec: Eligibility requirements for the work premium tax credits](https://www.revenuquebec.ca/en/citizens/tax-credits/work-premium-tax-credits/eligibility-requirements-for-the-work-premium-tax-credits/) - [Québec.ca: QPIP eligibility conditions for a pregnancy or birth](https://www.quebec.ca/en/family-and-support-for-individuals/pregnancy-parenthood/financial-support-pregnant-women-families/quebec-parental-insurance-plan/pregnancy-childbirth/eligibility-conditions) ## Last verified September 23, 2026. Checked the agency pages linked above. **Still open:** Work premium thresholds shown are for 2025; Revenu Québec indexes them. The public drug plan premium is set each year and wasn’t on the pages we read. ## About TipMax In Québec your reported tips raise holiday and vacation pay, so a shift-by-shift tip record lets you check every indemnity against what you declared. TipMax is an iPhone app for servers and bartenders that tracks tips and tip-outs and turns a restaurant menu into study flashcards. Download TipMax free: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tipmax-study-track-earn/id6744850146 --- TipMax Answers explains public government guidance on pay and workplace rules in plain English for tipped workers. It is **not legal, tax, or accounting advice**. Rules change and local rules can add to them. Confirm with the agency linked on this page or a qualified professional. TipMax the app helps you track tips and pay; it doesn’t enforce wage law or decide disputes.