Tool · Updated August 10, 2026
QPP death benefit and surviving spouse
This tool works out the funeral cost reimbursement provided by the death benefit, then checks whether you meet the surviving spouse criteria published by Retraite Québec. It calculates no pension amount.
This tool does your own arithmetic, in your browser. It does not calculate a premium and it transmits nothing: no figure you enter here ever reaches us. The result is an estimate based on your numbers, not a quote. Learn more.
This tool does two separate things: it calculates a capped reimbursement from the costs you paid, and it tells you whether you appear to meet the published criteria. It shows no insurance price, and it deliberately calculates no surviving spouse's pension amount — the reason is explained below.
The result updates as you type.
1. Estimated reimbursement of funeral costs
Calculated from the amounts you entered, capped according to the published rule.
Nothing to calculate yet. Enter the amount of eligible funeral costs you paid.
You are inside the priority window. In the first 60 days after the death, Retraite Québec (2026) gives priority to the person or the charitable organization that paid the funeral costs, on filing an application with valid proof of payment.
The priority is gone. Between 61 days and 5 years, Retraite Québec (2026) pays the benefit to the first person who applies for it — whoever paid the costs, an heir, the liquidator or, failing that, someone else. Do not wait.
Past the published window. Retraite Québec (2026) sets out the payment rules up to 5 years after the death. Beyond that we estimate no reimbursement: contact Retraite Québec directly.
Reimbursement brought down to zero. Two openings remain according to Retraite Québec (2026): if it was a relative who paid the costs under the contract, those could be eligible; and eligible costs not provided for in the contract, incurred after the death, can be claimed up to a maximum of $2,500.
No benefit counted. If the person had not contributed enough, Retraite Québec (2026) points to a special funeral expenses benefit paid by the ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale, under rules that take the deceased's means into account.
2. Surviving spouse's pension: eligibility
A reading of the published criteria, not a decision.
Answer the question about your relationship to see how the criteria read.
You appear to meet the surviving spouse criterion. The second condition remains, and only Retraite Québec can settle it: that the deceased contributed enough to the Plan. Note as well that special rules apply if the death occurs in the first year of the marriage or the civil union.
You do not appear to meet the published criterion. This reading has no official standing. If there is a wrinkle in your situation — an interrupted period of living together, a child on the way, an adoption — have Retraite Québec settle it rather than this tool.
To be confirmed by Retraite Québec. According to Retraite Québec (2026), where the deceased was legally separated, the pension is paid to the person recognized as their common-law spouse. Your situation therefore depends on who the organization recognizes, which no tool can establish in its place.
We do not calculate the amount of the pension, and that is deliberate. According to Retraite Québec (2026), it depends on the earnings recorded in the deceased's file under the QPP and the Canada Pension Plan, on the retirement pension supplement where one applies, on your age, on the children in your care, on whether your disability is recognized, and on any retirement or disability pension you already receive. On top of that sits the ceiling on the combined pension, which is not the sum of the individual pensions. None of that information lives in a web form. The figure that applies to you is in your Statement of Participation, which contains an estimate of the financial assistance your family could receive on your death.
See the coverage available in Québec One request, with partners licensed in Québec. Free and with no obligation.
Where to find your figure. Consult your Statement of Participation in the Québec Pension Plan, in My Account at Retraite Québec.
Do not wait. Retraite Québec (2026) warns that you can receive a payment equal to a maximum of 11 months of retroactive pension, counted from the month the application is received. Every month of waiting beyond that window cannot be made up. The Application for Survivors' Benefits service lets you apply in one step for the death benefit, the surviving spouse's pension and the orphan's pension.
Sources for the public figures used
- Retraite Québec, “The death benefit” — maximum of $2,500, order of priority at 60 days and then from 61 days to 5 years, ineligibility of prearranged funerals paid for by the deceased, referral to the special benefit (accessed August 2026): retraitequebec.gouv.qc.ca
- Retraite Québec, “The surviving spouse's pension” — recognition criteria, factors determining the amount, ceiling on the combined pension, 11 months of retroactivity (accessed August 2026): retraitequebec.gouv.qc.ca
- Retraite Québec, “Statement of Participation in the Québec Pension Plan” (accessed August 2026): retraitequebec.gouv.qc.ca
- Our detailed guides: the death benefit and the surviving spouse's pension
This result is an estimate produced from the amounts and answers you entered yourself, together with a reading of the criteria published by Retraite Québec. It is not a decision, not a quote, not a price and not advice. Only Retraite Québec can establish your eligibility and the amount owed to you. Nothing you enter in this tool is transmitted, recorded or stored: the entire calculation runs in your browser.