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Travel counsellor in Québec: OPC, pay and certification

Follow Québec’s counsellor route in the right order: create the OPC file, pass the ITHQ exam, link to a permitted agency and complete certificate issuance. Distinguish exam fees, certificate fees and annual renewal.

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Start free practice →Official application steps ↗How to read these numbers

Official figures, with their limits

Employee gross hourly median

CAD 21.63

NOC 64310 · Travel counsellors; not a TICO/OPC-only cohort.

2023–2024 LFS reference · annual release 19 Nov 2025 · later minimum-wage adjustments may apply.

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Official certificate population

12,234

valid counsellor AND agency-manager certificates, combined

31 March 2025 · 2024–2025 annual report

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Employment outlook

Limited

NOC 64310 · Travel counsellors; not a TICO/OPC-only cohort.

2025–2027 · published 10 Dec 2025 · NOC 64310, not a certificate-holder-only forecast.

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OPC’s report lists 12,234 valid certificates in the combined “travel counsellor and agency manager” category at 31 March 2025. It is not a counsellor-only headcount, a 2026 live total or a count of current jobs. The report listing checked for this guide linked the 2024–2025 report.

The work, certificate and agency

A Québec travel counsellor deals directly with clients, as an agency employee or an outside counsellor under an exclusive service contract with one permitted agency. OPC issues the individual certificate; the agency holds a separate permit. OPC identifies an exception for employees of restricted-permit agencies. Confirm that specific exception before relying on it.

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What the employment evidence means

Job Bank rates Québec travel counsellors, NOC 64310, Limited for 2025–2027, with employment decline and retirement openings. Montréal and Laval are Limited; Capitale-Nationale, Montérégie and Outaouais are Moderate. Some regions are Undetermined, which does not mean zero jobs. These forecasts are not restricted to OPC certificate holders.

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Your application checklist

Steps checked: 0/4

  1. Use OPC certificate management and the Government Authentication Service to obtain the CCV file number needed for ITHQ enrolment. The declarations and online application are your personal responsibility.

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  2. Register with ITHQ using the CCV number. The counsellor exam lasts 60 minutes, uses multiple-choice and true/false questions and requires 65%. The agency-manager exam is a different route. English service is subject to the provider’s stated Charter exceptions.

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  3. After passing, follow OPC’s email instructions, link to a permitted agency and pay the certificate issuance fee. OPC states a maximum two-year window after the exam to pay and establish the agency link; missing it requires another exam.

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  4. Check your issued certificate in the online account before practising and renew annually. Maintain accurate personal and agency details. Passing an exam or a free practice quiz alone does not create a valid certificate.

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These checks are a personal reminder on this page. They are not saved, sent or proof of eligibility.

Outside-agency work has specific limits

The agency relationship is exclusive: one agency holding an OPC permit. You cannot receive clients at home unless the required duplicate agency permit covers that establishment. A certificate or a home-office plan alone is not permission to open a travel agency.

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Questions before you apply

Are all 12,234 certificates held by travel counsellors only?

No. The official table combines travel counsellors and agency managers. It counts valid certificates at 31 March 2025, not jobs or a live 2026 total. This guide does not convert it into a counsellor-only headcount.

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Can I sell immediately after passing the ITHQ exam?

Not on the exam result alone. Complete OPC’s certificate process, including the agency link and issuance fee, and confirm the valid certificate. The ordinary individual route differs from a restricted-permit agency employee exception.

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Can everyone take the exam in English?

ITHQ restricts English service to people covered by applicable Charter of the French language exceptions. Check its current conditions directly. Our English practice page does not establish eligibility for English official service.

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Definitions, dates and limits

  • Regulatory population and employment are separate. No current individual-holder stock was found in the reviewed TICO 2025/26 report; its exam sittings and registered businesses are different measures. OPC’s 12,234 valid certificates at 31 March 2025 combine counsellors and agency managers. None is a live vacancy count.
  • Wages cover NOC 64310 travel counsellor employees across the occupation, not only TICO/OPC holders. Both provincial estimates use the 2023–2024 Labour Force Survey reference period and were released on 19 November 2025. Minimum-wage adjustments may affect published figures.
  • Amounts are gross CAD per hour. LFS wages include commissions, tips and bonuses and exclude self-employment. They are not base pay excluding commissions, take-home pay or the sales revenue/profit of a home-based travel business.
  • Outlooks cover 2025–2027 and were released on 10 December 2025. A later update to recent labour-market trends or the website is not a new three-year forecast. Moderate, Limited and Undetermined are occupation/region assessments, not individual hiring probabilities.
  • Official program, exam, certificate and business fees have different scopes. Confirm eligibility, agency arrangements, taxes and current charges directly before paying. Our bilingual editorial content does not establish eligibility for official English-language service in Québec.

Source availability: the provincial Job Bank wage and outlook profiles were directly readable during the final 25 October 2026 check. Several TICO and ITHQ pages blocked scripted access but opened normally in a browser; the cited program, fees and conditions were verified there. Figures retain their stated reference periods and are not a live data feed.

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Official references

The reference period describes the data; the checked date describes our editorial review. A page update is not a new statistical observation.