MONTREAL (AFP) - Envelopes containing a suspicious white powder were sent Thursday to the Quebec regional offices of three Canadian government ministers, police said.

"In each case, a staffer found white powder in an envelope," Quebec provincial police Sergeant Richard Gagne told AFP, adding that tests were scheduled to determine the nature of the substance.

The envelopes were delivered to the constituency offices in Quebec of Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel, International Development Minister Christian Paradis and Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism Maxime Bernier.

The episode calls to mind anthrax scares and hoaxes in October 2001 in the United States and other countries, in which anthrax-laced letters were sent to journalists and lawmakers, infecting several people.