Certain activities are reserved for travel agents who hold a licence from the Office de la protection du consommateur.

However, you are authorized to organize a group trip (without a travel agent licence or without the assistance of a travel agent) if you are in one of the situations described below:

Please note that only customers who purchase tourist services through a travel agency that holds a licence benefit from the protection provided by the Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents.

You are organizing a trip on a voluntary basis

You may be in charge of organizing a group trip if you do so on a voluntary basis. You may not reap any benefits for organizing this trip, such as remuneration or a discount on the cost of your trip.

No fees may be charged to the participants to cover the organization of the trip. The travellers share the actual costs of transportation and accommodation, e.g. the amount that is billed to the organizer.

You are organizing a short occasional trip in Québec

You may also organize a group trip if it meets all of the following conditions:

  • it is occasional (a trip that occurs at the end of every school year or on the 1st Sunday of every month is not an occasional trip);
  • the destination is in Québec;
  • it lasts not more than 72 hours, if the trip is organized by a legal person (such as a corporation), a company or an association, and that it is reserved exclusively for its employees or members;
  • it lasts less than 48 hours, in other cases.

You are organizing a trip for your students

As an educational institution, or as a teacher mandated by that institution, you may organize a trip for your students if it meets all of the following conditions:

  • the destination is in Québec;
  • it lasts not more than 72 hours;
  • the educational institution (or teacher) reaps no benefits other than the teacher's participation in the trip.

The educational institution may be any of the following:

  • an institution under the authority of a school service centre;
  • a CEGEP;
  • a university;
  • a private educational institution.

Group trip organized by an agency

If the group trip does not comply with any of the situations presented above, it must be organized by a travel agency that holds a licence. The agency must make the accommodation and transportation reservations.

Participants must pay for the travel services directly to the agency, e.g. pay for the services by credit card. In doing so, participants will benefit from the financial protection provided by the Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents. It is important to get a receipt from the agency: this document will be necessary if they claim a reimbursement in the event of a problem.

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Last update : March 22, 2024

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The information contained on this page is presented in simple terms to make it easier to understand. It does not replace the texts of the laws and regulations.