Bill 18 Quebec: How It Changed Protection Mandates and Tutorship

What Bill 18 Changed

Bill 18 — An Act to amend the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, the Public Curator Act and various provisions as regards the protection of persons — came into force on November 1, 2022. It was the most significant reform to Quebec's adult protection regime in decades, and it affects anyone who has an existing protection mandate, anyone who serves as a mandatary, and anyone who might need court-ordered protection.

The core philosophy: protect vulnerable adults while preserving as much of their autonomy as possible. The practical result: new accountability requirements for mandataries, a restructured court protection system, and several new mechanisms families should know about.

Curatorship and Advisership Are Gone

Before Bill 18, Quebec had three court-ordered protective regimes:

• Curatorship — for total, permanent incapacity (the curator managed everything)
• Tutorship — for partial or temporary incapacity
• Advisership — for adults who needed mild assistance but retained most decision-making ability

Bill 18 abolished curatorship and advisership entirely. Every court-ordered protective regime is now called tutorship, but it works differently than the old version. The judge must "modulate" each tutorship — evaluating the person's specific abilities and specifying which rights they can still exercise independently (voting, managing a small budget, choosing daily activities) and which the tutor manages.

This means there's no more all-or-nothing approach. A person with moderate dementia keeps the rights they can still exercise. A person with severe incapacity has more authority transferred to the tutor. The judge decides on a case-by-case basis, based on the medical and psychosocial assessments.

For people with existing protection mandates, this change matters at the margins. If a mandatary is ever replaced by a court-appointed tutor (due to mandatary misconduct or a family dispute), the replacement regime is now modulated tutorship rather than the old blanket curatorship.

The 60-Day Asset Inventory Rule

This is the Bill 18 change that hits mandataries most directly. For any protection mandate homologated on or after November 1, 2022, the mandatary must complete a detailed inventory of the incapacitated person's patrimony within 60 days of the homologation judgment.

The inventory must include:

• All bank accounts (balances as of the homologation date)
• Investment accounts and retirement savings (RRSPs, TFSAs, pension entitlements)
• Real property (addresses, estimated values, mortgage balances)
• Vehicles
• Life insurance policies
• All debts and liabilities
• Personal property with significant value (jewelry, art, collections)
• Personal effects worth less than $100 are excluded

The inventory must be executed before a notary or in the presence of two witnesses — the same formality options as creating the mandate itself. A kitchen-table list on a napkin doesn't satisfy the requirement.

Why does this matter? Because the inventory creates a baseline. When the mandatary renders accounts (see below), the inventory is the reference point. If $200,000 was in the accounts at homologation and only $80,000 remains three years later, the mandatary must account for every dollar of the difference. Without the inventory, there's no baseline, and accountability becomes nearly impossible.

For mandataries who took over before November 1, 2022, the 60-day rule doesn't apply retroactively. But the Curateur public recommends that all mandataries prepare an inventory regardless, as it protects them from allegations of mismanagement.

Triennial Rendering of Accounts

The second major accountability measure: mandataries must now submit a detailed financial report at least once every three years to an independent person designated in the protection mandate.

The report must cover:

• All income received on behalf of the mandator (pensions, investment returns, rental income)
• All expenditures made from the mandator's patrimony (care costs, housing, utilities, medical expenses, taxes)
• Any changes to assets (property sold, investments liquidated or purchased)
• The current state of the patrimony compared to the previous report (or the initial inventory)

If the protection mandate doesn't name someone to receive the triennial report, the court will appoint a person during the homologation process. This means additional judicial involvement and potentially higher legal costs — one more reason to include this clause in the mandate.

The independent recipient is typically a family member who isn't the mandatary — a sibling, another adult child, or a trusted family friend. Their role isn't to approve the report but to review it and flag any concerns to the Curateur public or the court.

The Assistance Measure

Bill 18 introduced an entirely new mechanism called the mesure d'assistance (assistance measure). This is designed for capable adults who have difficulty managing their affairs due to physical limitations, mild cognitive decline, or language barriers — but who don't need a full protective regime.

Under the assistance measure, the adult and a chosen assistant file a joint application with the Curateur public. The assistant is officially recognized as an intermediary who can:

• Communicate with banks, government agencies, and utility providers on the adult's behalf
• Gather information and relay it to the adult
• Help the adult understand documents and correspondence

But the assistant has no decision-making power and cannot sign documents on the adult's behalf. The adult retains full legal capacity and makes all their own decisions. The assistant is a facilitator, not a representative.

No medical or psychosocial assessments are required. The process is free through the Curateur public's online portal and typically takes four to eight weeks to set up.

This fills a gap that previously had no good solution. Before Bill 18, if a parent needed help dealing with their bank but was still mentally capable, the only options were an informal arrangement (which banks might not recognize) or a full procuration (which gives the mandatary actual authority the parent might not want to delegate). The assistance measure provides official recognition without transferring any authority.

Temporary Representation

Another Bill 18 addition: temporary representation allows a court to authorize someone to perform a single, specific legal transaction on behalf of an incapacitated adult without establishing a full tutorship.

The scenario: an elderly parent with moderate dementia owns a home that needs to be sold to fund care. The family doesn't want to go through a full tutorship — they just need authority for this one transaction. Under temporary representation, they file an application with the Superior Court specifying the exact transaction (sell the property at 123 Rue des Érables). The court appoints a representative for that transaction only, and the authority ends when the transaction is complete.

Cost: the standard court filing fee of $205, plus a medical assessment and legal fees for the application. Timeline: two to four months. Significantly faster and cheaper than establishing a full tutorship for a single transaction.

What This Means for Existing Mandates

If you signed a protection mandate before November 2022 and it hasn't been homologated yet, the mandate itself is still valid. Bill 18 didn't invalidate existing mandates. But when the mandate is eventually homologated, the new accountability rules apply:

• The mandatary must complete the 60-day asset inventory
• The mandatary must render triennial accounts to the person named in the mandate (or a court-appointed recipient)

If your existing mandate doesn't name someone to receive the accounts, consider updating the mandate to include this clause. It's simpler than having the court appoint someone during homologation.

If the mandate has already been homologated before November 2022, the new rules don't apply retroactively — but the Curateur public has signaled that mandataries should follow them voluntarily as best practice.

The Bottom Line

Bill 18 made Quebec's adult protection system more nuanced and more accountable. Mandataries face real reporting obligations. Court-ordered protection is more individualized. And new mechanisms (assistance measures, temporary representation) fill gaps that previously forced families into heavier legal processes than their situation required.

Our Quebec Power of Attorney Kit is fully updated for Bill 18. It includes a Bill 18 Asset Inventory worksheet that meets the 60-day reporting requirement, a Mandatary Duties Checklist covering triennial accounts, and guidance on the assistance measure and temporary representation options.

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