About

The association was born in 1983 from the initiative of a group of children’s-book illustrators, under the name Association des illustrateurs et illustratrices du Québec (AIIQ). It became Illustration Québec in 2010, adopting a new visual identity that it retains to this day.

From the beginning of its history, the organization has worked to develop concrete tools to assist illustrators in their practice: as early as 1985, it published a “Survival Kit” containing a standard contract, a code of ethics, a rate chart and a members’ directory. In 2010, it published the first edition of the Illustrator’s Survival Guide, in French and in English. To this day, IQ periodically publishes guides for its members and the public on various aspects of illustration.

Since its founding, IQ has sought to promote the work of illustrators and help potential clients discover them. It published a first printed directory in 1987. It created its first website in 1998, then revamped it between 2007 and 2010 to offer an online directory that showcases and disseminates members’ work. In 2026, the directory was once again redesigned and improved as part of a complete overhaul of IQ’s website.

Over the decades, IQ has brought illustrators together through community events — from the Portfolio Nights (starting in 1985) to the Symposium Illustration Québec (2022), by way of the Salons de l’illustration, the Biennales de l’illustration, life-drawing sessions, exhibitions at its former gallery in the Belgo building, and exhibitions in various venues in Québec and abroad. Since 2018, IQ has organized networking events in Montréal and in different regions of Québec: the Chillustrations.

Since its founding, IQ has celebrated the quality of Québec illustration through competitions and awards. Over the years, IQ has presented awards or collaborated on initiatives that celebrate excellence in illustration, such as the LUX competition, the “Les écrivains de demain” contest, and the Prix Illustration Québec awarded to a graduating illustration student.

IQ has carried illustrators’ voices within the cultural sector and before government bodies and agencies since its early days. Notably, the association submitted a brief to a parliamentary committee on the Copyright Act and the bill on the status of the artist in the visual arts in 1988, and another during the review of the Act respecting the status of the artist in 2022.