How to Apply

For instructions on how to apply for the CAQ:

1. See Immigration Quebec’s step by step instructions
2. Follow our application guide below
3. Follow our PDF step by step guide 
4. Watch our video tutorial that covers:
   • The CAQ online application (questionnaire) and application payment.
   • Obtaining your personalized document checklist and submitting your documents on Arrima.

After you complete the online questionnaire portion of the CAQ application,

• You will have one hour to submit your payment
• You will have 15 days from the payment date to submit your supporting documents on Arrima

CAQ Application Guide

The CAQ application process is entirely online. To apply for your CAQ, you must:

1. Create your Arrima account on the Arrima portal. NOTE: At this time, the Arrima system is available in French only. You can use a webpage translation tool for assistance and/or refer to our PDF step by step guide.
2. Complete an online application for temporary selection for studies in the Immigration Quebec portal.
3. Return to the Arrima portal and pay the application fee.
4. Return to the Immigration Quebec portal to obtain your personalized Document Checklist.
5. Return to the Arrima portal to upload and submit your supporting documents.

6. Create an account on the Arrima portal

   1. On Arrima, click on the Accéder aux services en ligne/Access online services option and then click on Créer un compte/Create an account. Enter your email and create a password and choose Je suis un individuel/ I am an Individual to continue.
   2. Enter your personal information (name, birthdate, place of birth, current address, etc.). Enter your first and last names as they appear in your passport – you must enter your names on Arrima exactly the way you will enter them in your online application for temporary selection for studies.
      • Enter your name exactly as it appears in your passport.
      • If you have a first name and middle name on your passport, enter your first and middle name in the first name section.
      • If you only have one name on your passport (no first name or no last name) enter your name in both twice in the first and last name sections of the CAQ application.

7. Complete the online application for temporary selection for studies

   Complete the online application on the Immigration Quebec portal (you can also access the application by clicking the “Access the application for temporary selection for studies” button on Immigration Quebec’s Applying for temporary selection for studies webpage).

   1. Personal Information Section:
      • Enter your name exactly as it appears on your passport.
      • If you have a first name and middle name on your passport, enter your first and middle name in the first name section.
      • If you only have one name on your passport (no first name or no last name) enter your name in both twice in the first and last name sections of the CAQ application.
      • You must enter your names and other personal information (e.g. place of birth, address, etc.) exactly the way you entered them in your Arrima account. Refer to your Arrima account to ensure that all the information matches what you are entering in the online application – verify everything, including your use of capital letters, commas, etc.
      • For the question "Does an exemption specified in the application management rules apply to you?", most applicants should answer "No". Very few students meet an exemption from the application management rules. See the CAQ Application Management Rules Tab in this Guide and Immigration Quebec’s table of exemptions for more information. 
   2. Accompanying Spouse Section:
      • Immediate family members include: De facto (common law) spouse, child, spouse (married), mother and father who are temporary residents in Canada (visitors, students, workers), refugees, persons without status, foreign diplomats and consulars, permanent residents or Canadian citizens.
   3. Start and End Date of Program:

      CAQs can be issued for a maximum of 4 years at a time.

      If your CAQ will expire before the end of your program, you must apply to renew it before it expires.

      • For the start date, indicate the first day of courses. See Key Academic Dates for details. If your starting term does not yet appear, see Future dates for information on upcoming terms.
      • For the end date, indicate an end date that reflects the approximate duration of your entire degree or program of studies. For example:
        • Undergraduate degree: Maximum 4 years
        • PhD degree: Duration of your program. NOTE: Your CAQ will be issued for a maximum of 4 years even if the duration of your program is longer. If you will not complete your program within the validity period of your CAQ and study permit, you must apply to renew these documents before they expire.
        • Master's Thesis degree: Maximum 2 years
        • Master's Non-thesis degree: Duration of your program
      • EXAMPLE: Undergraduate degree students admitted to Fall 2026:
        • Start date : August 31, 2026.
        • End date : August 31, 2030
   4. Annual Tuition Fees:

      Refer to the McGill Fee Calculator for Undergraduate and Graduate tuition and fees. If the fees have not yet been announced for the upcoming academic year, you may estimate the fees using last year’s total and calculating the proposed annual increase.

   5. Who will pay for Tuition and Living Expenses?

      Depending on your current country of residence you may be required to provide proof of your financial capacity. The current place of residence means the country or territory where you are currently living, whether it is a permanent or temporary address.

      If you are required, based on your country of residence, to provide proof of your financial capacity, you will be asked who will be paying for your living expenses and tuition.

      • If you are a graduate student receiving a stipend, award or grant, select “Myself” as the person who will be responsible for your living expenses and tuition.
      • If more than one parent will be paying for the cost of your studies, select either “My father” or “My mother”. Your Personalized Document Checklist will contain one Declaration of Financial Support form that is partially filled out with one of your parent’s contact information. The second parent will also need to complete their own form. You can access a blank Declaration of Financial Support form on Immigration Quebec’s website.
   6. After you have completed all of the required questions:
      • Save a copy (“print this page”) of all of the answers you provided (Step 9 – Verification of information provided).
      • Create your consultation profile (Step 10).
      • Save your application.
      • Receive and record your CAQ application number.
      • Pay your CAQ application fee in your Arrima account within 1 hour of completing your CAQ online application for temporary selection for studies.

8. Return to your Arrima account and pay the CAQ application fee

   After you complete the online application on the Immigration Quebec portal, login to your Arrima account and pay the processing fee using your CAQ application number. You must make the payment within 1 hour of completing your CAQ online application.

   Troubleshooting:

   1. Login to your Arrima account and go to the Mes Paiements/My Payments page to pay your CAQ application fee.
      • Select Programme pour étudiants étrangers /Foreign Student Program and enter your CAQ application number.
      • If all of the information you entered on Arrima is exactly the same as the information you included in your online CAQ application, you should be able to proceed with the fee payment.
      • The credit card does not need to be in your name.
   2. You must pay the processing fee within 1 hour of completing your CAQ online application. If you are not able to pay within 1 hour, you may have to restart the CAQ online application on the Immigration Quebec portal.
   3. After making the payment, you may have to wait up to 48 hours to obtain your numéro de dossier/ file number and your Personalized Document Checklist. You will need these in order to upload your supporting documents to Arrima and complete your CAQ application.
   4. You can view your payment confirmation on the Mes Documents/My Documents page in your on Arrima account.
   5. If you receive an error message that your CAQ application cannot be found, this may be because the information you entered in the online questionnaire portion of your CAQ application and the information you entered in your Arrima profile does not match exactly.
   6. You can modify your profile on Arrima by clicking on the person icon in the top left corner.
   7. We have noticed that the Arrima profile sometimes automatically changes the date of birth as one day earlier even when students have entered the correct date. In order to overcome this technical issue, try logging into Arrima on a PC or try entering the date as one day later than the real birth date and proceed to make a payment.

9. Obtain your CAQ file number and Personalized Document Checklist

   48 hours after paying your application fees on Arrima, you can log into the Immigration Quebec portal to view your Personalized Document Checklist and your CAQ file number.

   • Your CAQ numéro de dossier/file number starts with “C00” and is followed by 8 digits (C00XXXXXXXX). This number is different from your CAQ application number.
   • Gather all the documents on your Personalized Document Checklist. See the Required Documents section in this guide for more information.

10. Submit supporting documents on Arrima

    Log back into your Arrima account in order to upload your documents.

    You will have 15 days from the payment date to submit your supporting documents.

    Troubleshooting:

    1. Go to your Mes Dossiers/My Folders page and click Créer un nouveau dossier/Create a new folder.
    2. Select Programme des étudiants étrangers – Dépôt de documents/Foreign Student Program – Submission of Documents and enter in your CAQ numéro de dossier/file number (C00XXXXXXXX), not your CAQ application number.
    3. Attach your required documents by clicking Joindre des Documents/Attach Documents (the paper clip icon) at the bottom of the screen. Select the type of document you will be uploading using the drop-down menu.
    4. You will receive a confirmation pop-up message once all your required documents have been uploaded.
    5. You can upload additional document(s) that are not included in your checklist combined into one pdf file. When selecting the type of document from the drop-down menu, choose “Autres types de documents” (other types of documents).
    6. When you have finished uploading all of your documents, click Soumettre/Submit IMPORTANT: If you do not click Soumettre/Submit, your documents will not be transmitted to Immigration Quebec and you will not get a decision on your application.
    7. Within a few minutes of submitting your application successfully, the File Status of your application should change from Dépôt des documents en cours/Submission of Documents in progress to Deposer/Deposit.
    8. If you start attaching your documents and then leave the Arrima page, the “Attach Documents” button (paperclip icon) will disappear.
    9. To continue attaching documents, go to your Mes Dossiers/My Folders page and scroll your screen all the way to the right of the page using the bottom scrollbar. You should see 3 dots appear on the right of the screen on the same row as your file number.
    10. Click on the 3 dots and then click on Continuer à mettre à jour les documents/Continue Filing Documents”. The Joindre des Documents/Attach Documents and Soumettre/Submit buttons will reappear on the screen.

11. Obtain your Letter of attestation of issuance of your CAQ for studies from Immigration Quebec

    The CAQ processing time is about 25 business days.

    • Your CAQ application decision will be issued to you on your Immigration Quebec portal, not on Arrima.
    • If your application is approved, a PDF of your CAQ (Letter of Attestation) will appear in your Immigration Quebec portal. This is the only version of the CAQ you will receive. You can use this CAQ to apply online for the study permit. Print a copy of your CAQ and bring it with you when you travel to Canada.
    • If you are a US citizen or US permanent resident and will be applying for the study permit at a Port of Entry (POE), print your CAQ (Letter of attestation of issuance of your CAQ for studies) and bring it with you when you travel to Canada. See our Study Permit Application Guide for US Citizens & US Permanent Residents for information on what documents you will need to show at the POE.

If you receive an Intention of refusal letter (Intention de refus) from Immigration Quebec requesting that you provide them with additional documents, contact us right away for guidance on how to proceed. You will have to submit your additional, required documents to Immigration Quebec electronically through the Arrima system. For a tutorial on how to submit your additional document(s), see our CAQ: Intention of Refusal Tutorial.

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