Tutoring in Quebec in 2026: Every Academic Support Option, Its Price and Its Limits

When a child struggles at school, most parents think first of hiring a tutor. Sometimes that is the right answer, but it is not the only one, and not always the first. This page goes through every form of academic support available in Quebec, free or paid, with what it costs, who it suits and where it falls short.

The facts come from official websites or each organization’s public pages, read on October 18, 2026. Every claim links to its source, and the full list is at the bottom of the page. TutorAide, which publishes this page, is a tutoring company: we appear in one of the categories, like the others.

At a glance

Option	Cost	For whom	Main limit
Alloprof	Free	Elementary and high school students, parents	No ongoing personal follow-up
School services	Free	Every student, intervention plan if needed	Limited resources, waiting times
Libraries	Free	Mostly elementary, depending on the city	Limited spots and hours
Tutoring companies	About $33 to $97/h	Regular follow-up, exams, catching up	Cost
Platforms (e.g. Superprof)	Set by each tutor	Families ready to choose for themselves	No follow-up, subscription to contact tutors
Independent tutor	Set by each tutor	Simple need, word of mouth	No replacement, receipts must be requested
Private special education teacher	Set by each professional	Persistent difficulties, learning disability	Cost, waiting times
Summer school	$100 per course at the CSSDM (2026)	High school failure between 45% and 59%	Fixed schedule, limited spots

1. Free help

Alloprof

Alloprof is free for students from Grade 1 to Secondary 5. It offers study sheets, exercises, videos, a help zone that is always open and, at set hours, a chat with a teacher. A section for parents answers questions about helping at home.

Who it suits: a student stuck on a specific assignment or reviewing a concept. It is often the first habit to give an independent child.

Limit: every exchange starts from scratch. Nobody follows your child from one week to the next or notices what keeps coming back.

School services

Before paying anyone, talk to the teacher. Many schools offer extra-help periods, and the teacher often knows better than anyone where the problem lies.

If the difficulty persists, the school can set up an intervention plan. Quebec’s Education Act (section 96.14) provides that the principal draws up the plan with the parents, the staff who provide services to the student, and the student. The ministry’s reference framework (in French) recommends acting early, as soon as a difficulty appears. The plan is how a student gets adapted measures and, depending on the school’s resources, help from professionals such as the special education teacher.

Who it suits: every student, especially one whose difficulty lasts.

Limit: resources vary from school to school, and the wait can be long. Nothing stops you from combining: a tutor or private special education teacher can work in line with the intervention plan.

Libraries

Some libraries run free homework help sessions. In Montreal, membership is free for residents and sessions are listed in the City’s activity calendar (in French). The offer changes from one library and season to the next: check your own branch.

Ministry documents

For years with a ministry exam, the ministry publishes free preparatory documents. They are the most reliable way to know what the exam will look like. Keep the weighting in mind too: 20% of the final mark in elementary school and Secondary 2, 50% in Secondary 4 and 5.

2. Tutoring companies

A tutoring company chooses the tutor for you, handles scheduling, replaces the tutor if the match does not work and issues receipts. In Quebec, they include TutorAide, Tutorax, Succès Scolaire and SOSprof. Their published rates ranged from about $33 to $97 an hour as of October 18, 2026, depending on the service, the school level and the tutor’s profile.

The gaps come mostly from three things: the tutor’s profile (student, graduate, teacher, special education teacher), travel fees for in-home sessions, and plans. Our comparison of tutoring services puts them side by side, criterion by criterion, with a link to each company’s page.

Who it suits: families who want regular follow-up without searching themselves, for homework help, catching up or exam preparation.

Limit: it is the most structured paid option, and the cost adds up over a year. Look at the real price of an in-home session, travel included, not just the advertised rate.

3. Matching platforms

On a platform such as Superprof, each tutor sets their rate and the family chooses from the profiles. The student pays a subscription to contact tutors, then pays the tutor directly. Sessions can be in person or online.

Who it suits: families ready to sort through profiles and do their own checks.

Limit: nobody does the matching or the follow-up, and checking references and background is up to you.

4. The independent tutor

The student down the street, a friend’s teenager, a notice on a bulletin board: it is often the cheapest option, and it works well when you find the right person.

Who it suits: a simple, well-defined need, when you already know the person.

Limit: no replacement if the tutor has exams or moves away, and no receipt unless you ask. Without a receipt, the tax credit is hard to claim.

5. Specialists

The special education teacher (orthopédagogue)

An orthopédagogue assesses and remediates learning difficulties, mainly in reading, writing and math. At school, access usually comes through the intervention plan. In private practice, the Association des orthopédagogues du Québec keeps a directory of orthopédagogues in private practice (in French). Each sets their own rate, and the Association does not publish one.

When to consider it: when the difficulty resists the usual help, when the child reads or writes clearly below other students their age, or when a learning disability is suspected or diagnosed. A tutor helps a child understand the material; an orthopédagogue works on how the child learns.

The speech-language pathologist

When the difficulty involves language, a speech-language pathologist is the right professional. The Ordre des orthophonistes et audiologistes du Québec explains where to find one (in French), in the public network or in private practice, and lets you check that a person is a member of the Ordre.

6. Summer school and retakes

A high school failure is not necessarily fixed with a tutor. School service centres and school boards offer summer courses and ministry exam retakes in August. At the CSSDM (in French), in 2026, catch-up courses were open to Secondary 2 to 5 students who scored between 45% and 59% in the subject, at $100 per course; ministry exam retakes were free. Conditions vary from one school service centre or English school board to another: check yours as soon as the June report card arrives.

7. What taxes give back

The tax credit for children’s activities. Tutoring that lasts at least 8 consecutive weeks may qualify for the tax credit for children’s activities (line 462). It covers children at least 5 and under 16 at the start of the year. The credit is 20% of fees, on up to $500 of fees per child, so $100 at most, and it is not available if family income exceeds $168,470 (2025 tax year). It is not the childcare expense credit (line 455).

Federal medical expenses. Tutoring fees can also count as a federal medical expense when tutoring is in addition to school for a child with a learning disability, a medical practitioner certifies in writing that it is needed, and you pay a business or person whose trade it is. Ask your accountant how to combine it with the children’s activities credit.

In both cases, keep the receipts.

How to choose

Start with the need, not the option. An assignment blocking tonight, a subject slipping for two terms, an admission exam in three months and a suspected learning disability call for different kinds of help. To read a disappointing report card and decide what comes next, see our article on the first report card.

Talk to the school first. It is free, and what the teacher sees will save you from paying for the wrong kind of help.

Before hiring anyone, ask four questions:

• What is the precise goal? Not “do better in math”, but “understand fractions” or “pass the June exam”.
• How was the tutor chosen, and was their criminal background checked?
• How will progress be reported to you?
• What happens if the match does not work?

Take stock after a few weeks. If nothing moves after five or six sessions, neither in marks nor in attitude toward homework, change tutors or approach. Sometimes the answer is an orthopédagogue rather than a tutor.

Method and sources

This page was read on October 18, 2026 from the pages below. We update it at least once a year, and whenever a rate or rule changes. If you see something inaccurate, write to us at [email protected]: we will correct it and note the date of the correction.

• Alloprof: alloprof.qc.ca and parents section
• Education Act, section 96.14: LégisQuébec
• Intervention plan, reference framework: Ministry of Education (in French)
• Montreal libraries: free services and activity calendar (in French)
• Ministry exams: weighting and preparatory documents (quebec.ca)
• Tutoring companies: sources listed under the table in our comparison
• Superprof: how it works
• Special education teachers: Association des orthopédagogues du Québec directory (in French)
• Speech-language pathologists: Ordre des orthophonistes et audiologistes du Québec (in French)
• Summer school: CSSDM (in French)
• Tax credit for children’s activities: Revenu Québec
• Medical expenses: Canada Revenue Agency, guide RC4065