Homeschooling in Quebec: Complete 2026 Guide to the Learning Project and DEM Process

Quebec has the most regulated homeschooling regime in Canada and one of the more structured frameworks in the English-speaking world. The Loi sur l'instruction publique was substantially reformed by Bill 144 in 2017, and the operational rules are set out in the 2018 Règlement sur l'enseignement à la maison. The framework requires written notice, a learning project, a mid-year status report, two progress assessments, an annual follow-up meeting, and submission to provincial examinations.

None of this is insurmountable. Many Quebec families home-educate successfully under these rules, and the Direction de l'enseignement à la maison (DEM) administers the system in a way that respects parental authority within a structured framework. But it is a real registration regime, with real reporting and real assessment.

This guide explains how the Quebec framework works, walks through the timeline, and covers the CEGEP and university pathway. The structured legal reference is on the Quebec homeschool requirements page.

How Quebec home education law works

Quebec's framework rests on three legal documents:

1. Loi sur l'instruction publique (RLRQ c. I-13.3), article 15. Establishes home education as an exemption from compulsory school attendance, conditional on compliance with the regulatory framework.
2. Bill 144 (Loi modifiant la Loi sur l'instruction publique et d'autres dispositions législatives, 2017). The reform that restructured Quebec's home education framework, introducing the learning project and the structured DEM oversight.
3. Règlement sur l'enseignement à la maison (RLRQ c. I-13.3, r. 6.01). Published in the Quebec Official Gazette on 13 June 2018. Sets out the operational rules: timing, content, evaluation, and the ministerial examinations.

The framework is administered by the Direction de l'enseignement à la maison (DEM), a unit within the Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec. The DEM's role is to receive notices and learning projects, monitor progress, conduct annual follow-up meetings, and administer the ministerial examinations.

This produces Quebec's distinctive pattern: a structured registration-and-evaluation framework that demands real engagement from parents, supported by a centralized provincial unit that handles the administration consistently.

What the learning project includes

The Ministry lists what a learning project includes, among other things:

1. A description of the educational approach you've chosen.
2. The programs of study you're working towards, with a short description of the activities for each. The project must aim at the knowledge and skills in the compulsory programs for the language of instruction, second language, mathematics, science and technology, and social studies (univers social).
3. Any other knowledge and skills you want your child to gain, with a short description of the activities.
4. The educational resources you'll use.
5. A rough plan of the time given to learning activities.
6. The name and contact details of any organization that will contribute to your child's learning, and what it will do.
7. How you'll evaluate your child's progress.
8. The last level of schooling your child received from a school.

Forms for the project are in the Ministry's secure online space, and its Guide d'accompagnement pour parents-éducateurs explains each part.

The annual timeline

Quebec's framework operates on a fixed annual calendar:

• By 1 July: written notice (avis) to the DEM and the school service centre. The notice declares the family's intention to home-educate for the upcoming school year. Mid-year starts (when a child stops attending school after the school year has begun) require notice within 10 days of the child leaving school.
• By 30 September: learning project (projet d'apprentissage) to the DEM. The project sets out your approach, what compulsory subjects will be covered, what activities and resources will be used, and the broad time plan. If your child leaves school during the year, you have 30 days after their last day to send and start the project.
• Between the 3rd and 5th month after the learning project starts: the état de situation (status report). The parent gives a short account of the learning activities so far, the rough time spent on them, and any changes to the project.
• Two progress reports (bilans de progression): one at mid-point and one at the end of the project, by 15 June. In each, you comment on your child's progress against the programs of study in the project and say which evaluations were done.
• Follow-up meeting: your resource person agrees a time and format with you while the project is under way. You and your child both take part.
• Ministerial examinations: at the standard grade points (end of Grade 4, end of Grade 6, Secondary 5).

The deadlines are firm. Late submissions can trigger DEM follow-up; chronic non-compliance can lead to revocation of the home education exemption.

The ministerial examinations

Quebec requires home-educated students to sit the provincial ministerial examinations (épreuves ministérielles) at the standard grade points. These are the same exams that school-enrolled students sit:

• End of Grade 4 (Primary 4): mathematics and language of instruction.
• End of Grade 6 (Primary 6): mathematics and language of instruction.
• End of Secondary 5: mathematics, sciences, history, and language of instruction (subjects vary by year and reform).

The exams are administered at designated centres on the standard exam dates. Home-educated students sit alongside school-enrolled students. The DEM coordinates the registration. There is no fee for the standard exams.

Performance and continued recognition. Performance does not directly determine continued home education permission. The DEM uses exam results as one input among several. Very poor performance, particularly in language and mathematics, may trigger DEM follow-up to ensure the program is addressing identified gaps. Most home-educated students perform comparably to school-enrolled peers.

The mandatory subjects

The Ministry says the learning project must, among other things, aim at the knowledge and skills in the compulsory programs for:

• Language of instruction (French or English, depending on the family's language of education rights).
• Second language (English or French, the other of the pair).
• Mathematics.
• Science and technology.
• Social studies (univers social: history, geography, citizenship).

Arts, physical activity and other areas can go in the project as other knowledge and skills you want your child to gain.

At secondary level (Secondary 1 to 5):

• The same subjects as elementary, with additional content per the Quebec curriculum reform: ethics and religious culture (or its successor), additional sciences and mathematics streams in upper secondary, and elective options in arts and technology.

Curriculum delivery method is at the family's discretion: Waldorf, Charlotte Mason, classical, Montessori, eclectic, project-based, and unschooling-with-explicit-coverage all qualify if the compulsory subjects are addressed in the learning project.

Language of instruction in Quebec

Quebec's language laws apply to home education. Under the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101) and subsequent reforms:

• Children with English-language education rights (typically children of Canadian citizens whose parents received primary education in English in Canada, plus a few other categories) can be home-educated in English. The DEM accepts learning projects in English from these families.
• Children without English-language rights must be educated in French as the language of instruction. The home education learning project must reflect this. English can still be the second language requirement.

Determining the family's language rights is the family's responsibility. The Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec publishes guidance.

Withdrawing from a Quebec school to home-educate

If your child is currently enrolled in a Quebec public, private, or English-language school and you are starting home education:

1. Submit the written notice to the DEM through the Ministry's secure online space; it is passed on to your school service centre automatically. Within 10 days of your child leaving school, or by 1 July if planning for the next school year.
2. Notify the school of withdrawal in writing. Include the date and reference the DEM notice.
3. Send and start the learning project by 30 September, or within 30 days of your child's last day at school if you start mid-year.

The school service centre may follow up to confirm the home education arrangement; respond with the DEM notice.

CEGEP and university admission for home-educated Quebec students

Quebec's post-secondary system has a distinctive structure. After Secondary 5 (the equivalent of Grade 11 in other provinces), Quebec students typically attend CEGEP (Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel) for a 2-year pre-university program (DEC) or a 3-year vocational program (DEC professionnel). CEGEP is between high school and university.

For home-educated students:

• CEGEP entry: the standard route is the Diplôme d'études secondaires (DES). Home-educated students who complete the Secondary 5 ministerial examinations and meet the DES requirements can apply directly. Alternative pathways: mature student admission (typically 21+), recognized international credentials (Cambridge International, IB, A-Levels), or completion through Quebec Distance Education.
• CEGEP completion (DEC): opens the path to Quebec universities.
• Out-of-province universities: home-educated students can apply directly without CEGEP, using the ministerial examination results, parent-issued transcripts, and the destination university's alternative admission pathway. McGill, Université de Montréal, Concordia, and other Quebec universities also admit students with out-of-province secondary credentials.

Funding and resources

Quebec does not provide direct funding to home education families. The DEM funds its own oversight role but does not pay families. Common patterns:

• Free public library access through Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
• Museum education programs (Musée de la civilisation, Musée des beaux-arts, Musée canadien de l'histoire, Pointe-à-Callière, science centres).
• Parc national programs for nature study and outdoor education.
• AQED (Association québécoise pour l'éducation à domicile) conferences and resources.
• Quebec Distance Education for individual courses, particularly at secondary level.

Most Quebec home-educators finance the work entirely from their own resources.

What to do to start home-educating in Quebec

1. Read this article and the Quebec homeschool requirements page. Confirm you understand the learning project, the timeline, and the compulsory subjects.
2. Determine your language of instruction rights. This decision shapes the learning project.
3. Decide your educational approach. Waldorf, Charlotte Mason, classical, Montessori, project-based, eclectic. Map your approach to the compulsory subjects.
4. Submit the written notice to the DEM and your school service centre. By 1 July if planning for the next year, within 10 days of your child leaving school if mid-year.
5. Prepare the learning project for submission to the DEM by 30 September. Cover the eight elements the Ministry lists and the compulsory subjects.
6. If your child is enrolled in a Quebec school, withdraw after the DEM notice is filed.
7. Set up your record system: a folder per child per year with curriculum used, work samples (the bilans de progression require these), reading log, materials list, and external assessments.
8. Mark the deadlines in your calendar: status report (3rd to 5th month of the project), the two bilans (the last by 15 June), and the follow-up meeting your resource person arranges.
9. Plan ahead for ministerial examinations at end of Grade 4, end of Grade 6, and Secondary 5.
10. Connect with a local network: AQED (provincial), regional Waldorf homeschool groups in Montréal, Québec, and the Eastern Townships, and local home education co-ops.

Related reading

• Homeschooling in Canada: province-by-province guide
• Homeschooling in Ontario
• Homeschooling in Alberta
• How do I start Waldorf homeschooling?
• Is there a Waldorf homeschool curriculum?