Provincial attestation letter or territorial attestation letter
Most study permit applicants need to provide a provincial attestation letter (PAL) or territorial attestation letter (TAL).
Unless you meet one of the exceptions, you must submit a PAL/TAL
- with your application, not after
- even if you’re applying for a prerequisite course or program, including language courses or programs
- for each study permit applicant, even if you’re applying as a family and submitting your applications together
How long a PAL/TAL is valid for
Unless it has an expiry date on it, it’s valid until
- January 21, 2025, for the 2024 study permit cap year
- This means that your PAL/TAL was issued between January 22, 2024, and January 21, 2025.
- December 31, 2025,for the 2025 study permit cap year
- This means that your PAL/TAL was issued between January 22, 2025, and December 31, 2025.
Your PAL/TAL needs to be valid when you apply. You can’t use a PAL/TAL that was issued during a previous study permit cap year.
Make sure your PAL/TAL is valid when you apply
- If your study permit application was not accepted for processing, you can submit a new study permit application with the same PAL/TAL (if it’s still valid).
- This means that your fee was refunded and you were told that your application was not processed.
- If your application was accepted for processing but it was refused, you must get a new PAL/TAL before you reapply.
- If you’re changing schools , you need a new PAL/TAL before you submit your application.
How to get a PAL/TAL
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For schools outside of Quebec
Provincial attestation letters and territorial attestation letters are now available
Contact your school to find out how to apply for a PAL/TAL. Once you have one, you can apply for a study permit.
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For schools in Quebec
Quebec Acceptance Certificate
If you want to study in Quebec, you need an attestation of issuance of your Quebec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ), which is issued by the Government of Quebec. Contact your school to find out how to apply for the CAQ.
For your CAQ to act as your provincial attestation letter, it needs to include the following line:
“This attestation letter confirms that the applicant has a place in Quebec’s share of the distribution of study permit applications or is exempt from it.”
CAQs for applications received before 8:30 a.m. ET on January 22, 2024, do not require the above line.
Who doesn’t need a PAL/TAL
You don’t need a PAL/TAL when applying for a study permit if any of the following applies to you.
- You’re applying to study at a
- preschool
- primary school (including kindergarten)
- secondary school (up to grade 12)
- school participating in the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot (FMCSP) and you have a letter of acceptance from this school identifying you as an applicant under the FMCSP
- federally designated military college or
- school in Quebec in a vocational training program that leads to one of the following:
- a diploma of vocational studies (DVS)
- an attestation of vocational specialization (AVS)
- a skills training certificate (STC)
- You’re an exchange student studying under an exchange arrangement between your home institution and a designated learning institution (DLI) in Canada, and you don’t pay tuition fees to the DLI.
- You’ve received a scholarship from Global Affairs Canada.
- You’re in Canada or entering Canada at a port of entry and are eligible for an exemption from certain study permit requirements based on a public policy as part of a migration response to a crisis or other pressure.
- You’re exempt from certain study permit requirements under the temporary measures to reunite families of Indigenous people separated by Canada’s border.
- You’ve entered Canada and one of the following situations applies to you:
- You’re applying for a study permit extension at the same DLI and level of study as your current study permit.
- You’re under a removal order, but can’t be removed from Canada at this time.
- You have a temporary resident permit valid for at least 6 months.
- You’re a protected person.
- You’re eligible for permanent residence
- based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds , or
- based on a current public policy, or
- as a spouse or common-law partner (through the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class)
You need to provide proof that you meet one of the above exceptions if you don’t provide a PAL/TAL with your study permit application.
Studying in Quebec
Most students who don’t need a PAL/TAL and want to study in Quebec must still get a Quebec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ). There are very few exceptions.
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