According to the New York new driver's manual, a motorist with a learner's permit, junior permit or junior license may drive outside of New York State if it is allowable by the laws of the other state(s) or jurisdiction(s).

If you drive out of New York, you must obey that state's learner or junior permit and license restrictions that may apply. The NYS DMV suggests that you check with the police or motor vehicle authorities of the states or areas which you plan on visiting in your automobile. So NYS allows you to drive out of state with your learner's permit and leaves it up to the other state, or in your case Canadian province, to determine if they allow you to drive with only a permit.

To the best of our knowledge you cannot drive in the Canadian province of Quebec with an out of province learner's permit. We have previously asked a representative of the SAAQ (Québec's motor vehicle bureau) about a driver with only an Ontario permit (G1) being allowed to drive in Quebec and she said no, one was not allowed to operate a vehicle with only a learner's permit.

The representative did say however that a G2, which is similar to a NYS junior license, is accepted and would allow a driver to operate a vehicle legally in Quebec. So from this information it would appear that you cannot use your NYS permit in the province of Quebec but likely could drive there if you had a junior license.

You should contact the SAAQ directly to find out for certain if your New York State permit is accepted and if you can drive in Montreal with your mother if there for a visit. In case you may move up to a junior license before you get to Canada you may also want to see if they will allow you to drive there with a graduated driver's license, just as a junior license. If they will permit you to drive there with a junior license you should find out what restrictions and conditions they may place on you as a driver without a full license.

Whether you or your mother is driving in the Canadian province of Quebec your mom should check to make sure her insurance policy would properly cover both of you while operating a car in Canada.