CAQ Renewal Guide

The CAQ

The Certificat d'acceptation du Québec (CAQ), issued by Immigration Quebec, is a mandatory immigration document for all international students at McGill.

Students whose program length is more than 6 months in total are required to have a valid CAQ for the entire duration of their studies. If your CAQ expires at any point during your program, you must renew it – even if it expires in your final semester of studies.

Some students do not need a CAQ to study in Quebec. See Immigration Quebec’s website for a full list of students who are exempt from the CAQ requirement.

CAQ Conditions:

You must respect the conditions of your CAQ during your studies. These conditions include:

• Making your studies your main activity. You must be enrolled as a full-time student for the entire duration of your studies, with the exception of your final semester. International undergraduate and masters non-thesis students are considered full-time as long as they are registered for at least 12 credits. Thesis students (masters thesis and PhD students) are considered full-time in every term that they are registered in.
• Receiving the level of education that appears on your CAQ. The CAQ is level specific – i.e., your CAQ is only valid to use in the same level of studies it was issued for. If you change level of studies (e.g. Bachelors to Masters), you must obtain a new CAQ for your new level of studies, even if your current one is still valid.
• Receiving education at the designated learning institute (DLI) that appears on your CAQ. If your CAQ was issued to you for a different DLI on or after December 6^th 2024, you cannot use it for your studies at McGill, even if the CAQ is for the same level of studies as your new program at McGill. You must apply for and obtain a new CAQ with your Letter of acceptance from McGill before starting your studies.
• Holding valid health insurance for the entire duration of your studies.

When to Apply

You should apply to renew your CAQ approximately 6-9 months before your current CAQ expires. Ideally, you should provide proof of enrolment for a future term when applying renew your CAQ. If you apply to renew your CAQ before course registration opens see our CAQ FAQs > Current Students for information on what additional documents to provide.

You must renew your CAQ first and then apply to renew your study permit.

IMPORTANT: Applying to renew your CAQ before your current CAQ expires does not give you maintained status in Canada. In order to have the valid immigration status required to continue your studies, you must have a valid study permit or maintained status (i.e., you submitted an application to extend your study permit from inside Canada before it expired and you have remained in Canada since the expiration of your study permit).

If you are worried that you will not obtain your new CAQ before your study permit expires contact our office.

Processing times:

The standard processing time for the CAQ is 25 business days from the day Immigration Quebec confirms in your online portal that they have received your supporting documents. Note that processing times may be longer. If the estimated processing time has passed, you may wish to contact Immigration Quebec by telephone to follow up on your application. We do not recommend that you resubmit your supporting documents or start a new application.

How to Apply 

• Follow our renewal guide below
• Follow our PDF step by step guide
• Watch our video tutorial that covers:
  • CAQ Online Questionnaire and Application Payment
  • Obtaining Personalized Document Checklist and Submitting Documents on Arrima
• After you complete the online 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 Renewal Guide

The CAQ application process is entirely online and involves two steps:

• Completing an online application on the Immigration Quebec portal; and
• Creating an account with Arrima, paying the application fee, and uploading and submitting your supporting documents. 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.

 

Step 1: Complete the online application

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

PERSONAL INFORMATION SECTION

Enter your name exactly as it appears in your passport.

• If you have a first name and middle name in your passport, enter your first and middle name in the first name section.
• If you only have one name in your passport (no first name or no last name) enter your name in both the first and last name sections of the CAQ application.
• For the question "Does an exemption specified in the application management rules apply to you?", answer "No". Only in very limited circumstances would a student qualify for this exemption. For the list of exemptions, see Immigration Quebec’s table of exemptions.

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.

START & END DATE OF PROGRAM

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

• For the start date, indicate your first day of classes. See Key Academic Dates for details.
• For the end date, indicate:
  • August 31^st if your final registered term will be Winter
  • November 30^th if your final registered term will be Summer
  • March 31^st if your final registered term will be Fall

ANNUAL TUITION FEES

Refer to the McGill Fee Calculator for Undergraduate and Graduate tuition and fees.

WHO WILL BE PAYING FOR YOUR LIVING EXPENSES & TUITION

In order to renew your CAQ, you must provide proof of your financial capacity to pay for your next year of studies (or for the remainder of your studies, if you will finish in under a year). 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.
• All person(s), other than yourself, who will be paying for the cost of your studies must sign a Declaration of Financial support form and provide proof of their financial capacity. If multiple people will be supporting you, you can access blank Declaration of Financial Support forms on Immigration Quebec’s website.

COMPLETING THE QUESTIONNAIRE & OBTAINING YOUR CAQ APPLICATION NUMBER

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.

 

Step 2: Create an Arrima profile and pay the CAQ application fee

After you complete the online application on the Immigration Quebec portal, you will be prompted to create an account or login to your existing Arrima account and submit the payment for the processing fee using your CAQ application number. You must pay your processing fee within 1 hour of completing your CAQ online application.

• If you do not already have an Arrima account, 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 address and create a password to make a profile on Arrima and choose Je suis un individuel/ I am an Individual to continue.
• Enter your personal information (name, birthdate, place of birth, current address, etc.) exactly the way you entered it in your CAQ application. You can go back to your saved CAQ application summary to ensure all the information matches what you are entering on Arrima. Verify everything, including your use of capital letters, commas, etc.
• Once you are logged into in your Arrima profile, go to the Mes Paiements/My Payments page to pay your CAQ application fee. There you will select Programme pour étudiants étrangers /Foreign Student Program and enter your CAQ application number. If all of the information you entered is exactly the same as the information you included in your online CAQ application and in your Arrima profile, you should be able to proceed with the fee payment. The credit card does not need to be in your name.
• 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.
• 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 the numéro de dossier/file number in order to upload your supporting documents to Arrima and complete your CAQ application.
• You can view your payment confirmation on the Mes Documents/My Documents page in your Arrima account.

 

TROUBLE SHOOTING:

• 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. You can modify your profile on Arrima by clicking on the person icon in the top left corner.
• 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.

 

Step 3: 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 Documents section in this guide for more information.

 

Step 4: Submit supporting documents on Arrima

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

• Go to your Mes Dossiers/My Folders page and click Créer un nouveau dossier/Create a new folder. 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.
• 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.
• You will receive a confirmation pop-up message each time a documents have been successfully uploaded.
• 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).
• 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.
• 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 Déposer/Deposit.

TROUBLE SHOOTING:

• If you start attaching your documents and then leave the Arrima page, the “Attach Documents” button (paperclip icon) will disappear. 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. 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.

 

Step 5: Obtain your Letter of attestation of issuance of your CAQ for studies from Immigration Quebec

The standard CAQ processing time is approximately 25 business days. However, processing could take longer.

• 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 on your Immigration Quebec portal. This is the only version of the CAQ you will receive. You can use this CAQ to apply online to renew your study permit.
• If you are a US citizen or US permanent resident and will be applying for your 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 Renewal Guide for US Citizens & US Permanent Residents for information on what documents you will need to show at the POE.

 

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

Required Documents

After you pay your CAQ application fee, you will receive a Personalized Document Checklist in your Immigration Quebec portal. You must gather all the documents listed on your checklist and then submit these to Immigration Quebec via your Arrima profile.

• Save a copy of all the documents on your checklist before submitting them to Immigration Quebec. You may be using some of these documents in support of your study permit renewal application.
• Review your Personalized Document Checklist and this guide before submitting your documents on Arrima. Not all students will have the same documents listed on their checklist.
• Any document not in English or French must be accompanied by a certified translation.

 

SIGNATURES

We recommend that you print and sign all documents/forms, including the Declaration, Commitments, and Authorization form, by hand in blue or black ink before uploading them on Arrima.

Even though Immigration Quebec indicates that it will accept other types of signatures (e.g., a handwritten signature using a stylus, touch screen or mouse), we have seen Immigration Quebec reject signatures that have not been signed by hand in ink.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR ALL STUDENTS

• Declaration, Commitments and Authorization (DCA) form: Along with your document checklist, you will receive a Declaration, commitments and authorizations form that you must sign.
  • It is very important that you carefully read the form as it describes the obligations that you must respect as a student in Quebec.
  • Your name and signature must match the name and signature in your passport. For example, if the name in your passport is written in Chinese characters, you must sign your DCA form in Chinese characters as well.
• A photocopy of the identity pages of your passport. Make sure to include the page (or pages) that contain:
  • Your personal information;
  • Your picture;
  • Your passport expiry date
  • Your signature
• Official electronic transcript (eTranscript). When ordering your etranscripts on MyCreds, send them to your email and then save the etranscript (including the cover page) as a PDF. Upload the PDF on Arrima. It is not possible to send the etranscript directly to Immigration Quebec from the MyCreds website.
• If you are an undergraduate student include a Proof of Credits Completed To-Date letter that you can print from Minerva. If this letter does not accurately reflect the number of credits you have completed, or if you have already completed 120 or more credits, include a letter from your Academic Advisor indicating your expected graduation date.
• If you are a graduate student, include a letter from your department stating your expected graduation date and any other relevant information (e.g. funding, expected dates for initial and final thesis submission, etc.).
• Proof of Enrolment letter(s) that you can print from Minerva. Your Proof of Enrolment letters should be for your most recent academic term and any upcoming term(s) for which you are already registered. If you are applying for the CAQ renewal before you are able to register for future terms, refer to our CAQ FAQ’s under Current Students for instruction.
• Include a letter of explanation with your application. Your cover letter should indicate: (1) Your program name and program start date, (2) Your expected date of graduation – i.e., indicate your expected final semester of studies (Fall/Winter/Summer and Year) and the month/year your degree will be granted, (3) The amount of tuition and fees for your next year of studies, and (4) How you will be paying for your tuition and fees and living expenses for your next year of studies.
  • If you were not a full-time student in every academic semester (not including regularly scheduled breaks and your final semester of studies) explain your reason(s) for this in your letter of explanation. Where applicable, include supporting documents that help to confirm the explanations you have provided. Contact ISS if you have any questions about what documents to include. Examples of not maintaining a full-time student status include: taking less than 12 credits in a semester; starting off full-time but then withdrawing from a course (or courses) and attempting less than 12 credits; withdrawing from the university; being on a leave of absence (LOA); not being registered for a semester and then being re-admitted.
  • If your transcript includes semesters where you earned less than 12 credits due to failed or abandoned courses (e.g. Fs, Ws, Js, Us, Ks, etc.), explain your reason(s) for this in your letter of explanation. Where applicable, include supporting documents that help to confirm the explanations you have provided.

 

FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS REQUIRED

You must demonstrate to Immigration Quebec that you have sufficient funds to pay for the cost of your studies (tuition and fees and living expenses) for at least your next year of studies or until your final term (whichever comes first).

• See McGill’s Tuition Fee Calculator for the tuition and fees amount in undergraduate programs and in graduate programs.

• To determine how much money you need to show to cover living expenses, see Costs of studies and living on Immigration Quebec’s website. If you have accompanying dependents, the amount will be higher.
• If you are receiving U.S. government aid, a copy of your application for future aid will not be sufficient: the approval of aid awarded will be required.

The Personalized Document Checklist includes a list of documents that you can provide as proof of financial capacity. You do not have to provide all of them.

In general, we recommend that you include the following document(s), where applicable, as proof of financial capacity:

1. A cover letter briefly explaining how you will be paying for your next year of studies or until your final term (whichever comes first). The letter should clearly indicate the estimated cost of your studies, living expenses and the source and amount of funds available. We suggest putting some of this information in a table and/or using bullet points.
2. If applicable, proof of financial aid, departmental funding, scholarship/award, or student loan. A document proving you have applied for financial aid or a scholarship is not sufficient. You must have proof that the funds have been awarded.
3. A recent bank letter and the 4 most recent bank statements indicating the balance in the account(s) of the person(s) paying for the cost of studies – e.g. your own, parent(s), family member, etc.
4. Declaration (Statement) of financial support form. Required if someone other than yourself is paying for your studies – e.g. parent(s), family member, friend, etc. If you are providing bank statements with more than one account holder listed, all account holders named must sign a Declaration of financial support form. This form is not required for graduate students who are receiving departmental funding.
5. If the above documents do not, on their own, demonstrate that you have sufficient financial capacity, you can try to supplement them with:
   1. Proof of employment (e.g. parents’ employment contract)
   2. Recent pay stubs (e.g. parents’ 3 most recent pay stubs)
   3. Other documents indicated on Immigration Canada’s website or Immigration Quebec’s website.

CAQ FAQ's

Visit our  CAQ FAQs for more information.