Power of Attorney
Procuration in French
Quick definition
A power of attorney is a legal document in which you authorize someone you trust to act on your behalf. The enduring or continuing versions keep working if you become mentally incapable, which is exactly when they matter most. In Québec, that role belongs to the protection mandate.
Two documents, two jobs
Most provinces split the job in two. A power of attorney for property and finances lets your attorney pay your bills, manage your investments, file your taxes and even sell your home. A separate document for personal care and health decisions covers where you live, what care you receive and medical consent.
The names change as you cross provincial borders. Alberta calls the health-side document a personal directive; British Columbia uses representation agreements; Québec wraps both roles into the protection mandate. The concepts travel well even when the labels do not, so this article keeps it general.
Ordinary vs enduring: the distinction that matters
An ordinary power of attorney is automatically cancelled the moment you lose mental capacity. That makes it useful for convenience (someone handling a real estate closing while you travel, say) and useless for the scenario people actually worry about: dementia, a stroke, a coma.
An enduring (or continuing) power of attorney contains wording that keeps it in force after incapacity. That survival clause is the whole point of the document as a planning tool. When you sign also matters: some documents take effect immediately, while springing versions only take effect once incapacity is confirmed, usually by one or two physicians, a trigger you define in the document itself.
Québec: the protection mandate
Québec handles incapacity through a distinct instrument, the mandat de protection (protection mandate). It names the person who will manage your property and your personal care if you become incapable, but it does not spring to life on its own. Before it takes effect, it must be homologated by the court: a medical assessment and a psychosocial assessment confirm the incapacity, and a judge (or a court clerk) then activates the mandate. That homologation step, which typically takes a few months, is distinctly Québécois and worth planning around.
While you remain capable, an ordinary procuration covers day-to-day financial matters, but it stops working exactly when the protection mandate is designed to begin.
Choosing your attorney, and what they owe you
The person you name needs three qualities: you trust them completely, they are competent with money and paperwork, and they are actually willing to serve. Many people name two attorneys jointly so no one acts alone, and almost everyone should name an alternate in case the first choice dies or declines.
Whoever acts for you takes on real legal duties: act in your interest and not their own, keep your money separate from theirs, keep records of every transaction, and avoid any self-dealing. An attorney who treats your account as a family pot can be sued by you, your estate or other family members. One practical note: banks sometimes push their own in-house power of attorney forms, which cover only accounts at that bank; a properly drafted general document is what your lawyer or notary prepares.
What happens without one
If you become incapable with no document in place, nobody automatically gets authority, not even your spouse. Your family must apply to court (or, in Québec, open a protective supervision regime, possibly involving the Curateur public) to be appointed your guardian. The process is slow, costly and public, and the court, not you, decides who is in charge.
The flip side: every power of attorney ends at death. At that moment your will takes over and your executor steps in, with probate confirming their authority. The power of attorney and the will are companion documents, and most lawyers and notaries prepare them together.
In Canada
Powers of attorney are provincial law, so the terminology, witnessing rules and default powers vary from province to province, and a move should prompt a review. Documents from one province are generally recognized in another, but financial institutions can be slow to accept unfamiliar formats. Québec stands apart with its civil-law protection mandate and the mandatory homologation step, which has no equivalent in the rest of Canada.
Worked example
Robert, 68, signs an enduring power of attorney for property naming his daughter Léa, plus a personal care document naming his son. Two years later a stroke leaves him incapable. Léa presents the document at the bank and starts paying his bills within days. His neighbour Gilles, same age, same stroke, had nothing signed: his wife spent months and several thousand dollars obtaining a court-ordered guardianship before she could touch his accounts. In Québec, a signed protection mandate would have needed homologation first, a few months of assessments and court steps, but still far faster and cheaper than no mandate at all.
Related terms
Reviewed by Alexandre Bernier, CFP®, CIM®, PFP®·Updated July 2026