Organisations helping immigrants in Quebec: TCRI, Accompagnement Québec and Montreal's community organisations

Information checked on 2 November 2026.

You live in Quebec and are looking for free help: the organisations helping immigrants in Quebec are called organismes communautaires (community organisations) there. Two entry points are enough to find the right one. The TCRI member directory brings together more than 150 organisations across the province, and Accompagnement Québec is the government's free service. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For care without a health insurance card (RAMQ), the Doctors of the World (Médecins du Monde) clinic in Montreal sees migrants with precarious status.

This page is part of our series on organisations helping foreigners in Europe and the Americas. For the other provinces, see organisations helping immigrants in Canada outside Quebec.

The essentials in one table

These organisations sometimes change their hours and address: we only give the link to their contact page here. Call or write before you go.

Understanding the network of community organisations

In Quebec, the reception of newcomers relies on a network of non-profit organisations, often partly funded by the Government of Quebec and by Centraide. They help with settling in, learning French, employment, housing and family life.

TCRI, the map of the whole network. The Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et immigrantes (TCRI) brings together the community organisations of Quebec's immigration and integration network: more than 150 members across the province. It does not provide services to individuals. It refers people to its members through a map-based directory: you enter your postal code and a distance, then filter by group (for example « Sans statut », without status, or « Femmes immigrantes », immigrant women) and by service (« Francisation », French classes, or « Soutien juridique », legal support). It is the best starting point outside Montreal, where neighbourhood organisations are less well known.

The government directory. Quebec also publishes a list of « Services de soutien à l'intégration offerts par les organismes communautaires partenaires » (integration support services offered by partner community organisations): around a hundred organisations, which you can filter by administrative region and city. These services are for immigrants, temporary foreign workers and study permit holders. According to the official page, asylum seekers are only eligible for the housing search service and part-time French classes.

The public service: Accompagnement Québec and Services Québec

Accompagnement Québec is the free, personalised service of the Ministère de l'Immigration et de l'Intégration (MII, formerly known by the acronym MIFI). An integration assistance agent assesses your needs and drafts an action plan with you: settling in, community life, French, skills recognition, employment, information on immigration procedures. They then refer you to partner organisations.

What the service does not do: it is not an immigration programme. It issues no documents and speeds up no applications.

For whom: people who already have immigration status in Quebec and hold a Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ), a Certificat d'acceptation du Québec (CAQ) or an IRCC client number. Registration is on the Arrima platform (Accompagnement Québec menu). The government states that an appointment is usually offered within 5 business days. A free mobile app lets you follow your action plan.

For a general question, the ministry answers on 514 864-9191 (Montreal) and 1 877 864-9191 (elsewhere in Quebec, toll-free).

Services Québec is the government's general information desk, on 1 877 644-4545 (toll-free), with an online office locator. It provides information on public programmes but does not handle your immigration file.

Asylum seekers: PRAIDA, health, housing, legal aid

Asylum claims fall under the federal government. Once your claim has been filed, if you live in Quebec, you have access to certain Quebec services, which the official page for asylum seekers (updated on 29 October 2026) details:

• PRAIDA (Programme régional d'accueil et d'intégration des demandeurs d'asile), run by the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal: social workers and first-line care;
• health care goes through the federal Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP, PFSI in French);
• legal aid is available while the claim is being examined, including to prepare it;
• housing: temporary accommodation, then designated organisations that help find permanent housing (CSAI and CARI St-Laurent are among the organisations offering this service);
• last-resort financial assistance can be requested if your situation is precarious.

The government also publishes a guide to services in several languages. For the details of rights, refer to the official page: we only point the way here.

Montreal's community organisations

PROMIS. For more than 35 years, this organisation has helped immigrants and refugees settle. Each person first has their needs assessed, then receives an action plan. Services: reception and integration, free French classes, family support, school support, employment, food aid, settling in the regions, entrepreneurship. PROMIS also runs the Résidence Maria-Goretti, presented by the organisation as the only residence for single immigrant women in Montreal. One section is dedicated to asylum seekers.

CSAI (Centre social d'aide aux immigrants). Serving newcomers for almost 80 years, CSAI receives people according to their profile: permanent residents, temporary workers, asylum seekers, accepted refugees, government-assisted refugees, international students. It offers reception, settlement, employment help, French classes, programmes for youth, women and families, and intercultural matching. Its service points are in south-west Montreal, Verdun, Île-des-Sœurs and Lachine, and a virtual centre provides remote support. Appointments are booked online.

CARI St-Laurent (Centre d'accueil et de référence pour immigrants). It mainly serves the Saint-Laurent borough: reception, settlement, information and referral, French classes, employment help, intercultural matching, a community worker for women, a parents' space, and housing search for asylum seekers.

INICI, formerly ALPA. ALPA, active since 1984, has announced it is becoming INICI. It describes itself as a « professional and free service helping immigrants »: housing, registering with public services, family allowances, sponsoring relatives, French classes, employment and settling in the regions. In the evenings and on Saturdays, it receives people by appointment.

La Maisonnée. Five areas: immigration and settlement, French and languages, youth and families, community life, employment and education. The organisation advertises « many free services » and specifies that some services are not open to every immigration status: call before you go.

Health care without RAMQ: the Doctors of the World clinic

Doctors of the World Canada runs a clinic for migrants with precarious status in Montreal. Care is free, confidential and provided by volunteer doctors. The clinic does not judge immigration status.

The conditions published by the clinic: having no RAMQ, no IFHP and no private insurance; having limited means; being without status or with temporary status; living in Quebec on a lasting basis. It does not see asylum seekers (who are covered by the IFHP), children (who are entitled to RAMQ) or tourists. If in doubt, the clinic invites you to come: triage assesses each situation.

Services, depending on availability: first-line consultations, basic tests, sexual health, psychosocial assessment and help with paperwork. It does not issue medical certificates for administrations or employers, and does not provide pregnancy follow-up (it refers people to other resources). Places are limited: how to get access, by phone or in person, is explained on the clinic's page. A mobile clinic also visits certain neighbourhoods.

Your procedures: who to trust with your file

Legal aid. Quebec's legal aid network lists immigration law among its services. Depending on your income, the lawyer is free or asks for a contribution. The legal aid website explains eligibility and helps you find an office.

Paid representatives. The Government of Canada is clear: only lawyers who are members of a law society, notaries who are members of the Chambre des notaires du Québec and consultants who are members of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) may be paid to represent or advise you. You can check this online before paying anything. The details are in our guide to organisations helping immigrants in Canada.

Beware of scams

A serious organisation never promises a CSQ, a permit or permanent residence. Accompagnement Québec and community organisations are free or nearly free, and none can speed up an application. Be wary of any intermediary who asks for money without being a lawyer, a Quebec notary or a CICC-registered consultant, of any « adviser » who contacts you through social media, and of any promise of results. Keep your original documents.

Students will find other traps, specific to scholarships, in our article on scholarship scams.

Compatri: your compatriots in Quebec

An organisation guides you through the paperwork. Your compatriots know the city: the neighbourhood to live in, the office that answers quickly, the shop with food from home. On Compatri, find the community of your country in your city, in Montreal as in Quebec City (communities in Canada). Those who arrived before you have often gone through the same steps: our article on mutual help between compatriots shows how to ask for and return help.

Coming to study? Our guide to scholarships to study in Canada and Quebec lists verified fee exemptions and scholarships, and volunteer mentors from the diaspora share their experience. Compatri's directory of associations mainly lists, for now, diaspora associations in Belgium.

Compatri is not linked to any of the organisations mentioned: we present them to help you find the right contact.

Sources

• TCRI: home page
• TCRI: member directory
• Québec.ca: Accompagnement Québec
• Québec.ca: integration support services offered by partner community organisations
• Québec.ca: asylum seekers
• Québec.ca: contact us (Services Québec)
• PROMIS
• Centre social d'aide aux immigrants (CSAI)
• Québec.ca: CSAI partner listing
• CARI St-Laurent
• Québec.ca: CARI St-Laurent partner listing
• ALPA (announcement of the move to INICI)
• INICI
• La Maisonnée
• Doctors of the World Canada: clinic for migrants with precarious status
• Quebec legal aid
• Canada.ca: check if your representative is authorised