Provincial attestation letter

The letter confirms that there is a study space for you in the province or territory where you'll study. Territories call the same document a territorial attestation letter, so you'll commonly see the shorthand PAL/TAL.

You get the letter through your school. Officially it's called a designated learning institution, or DLI, which is a school approved to accept international students, and it provides the letter.

If your school is in Quebec, you'll need a CAQ instead. This certificate comes from the Government of Quebec and takes the place of the attestation letter.

Your school provides the letter, so contact your school to ask how to apply. Usually you'll need to accept your offer and pay some or all of your tuition first.

Send the letter with your study permit application, not afterwards. If your family is applying together, each person who needs a letter must have their own.

Certain people are exempt from needing the letter, though they still have to provide proof showing they belong to one of these categories:

• Master's and doctoral students at a public institution, starting 1 January 2026
• Kids in preschool, elementary or high school, through grade 12
• Exchange students who don't pay tuition to the Canadian school
• Students with a Global Affairs Canada scholarship
• Students renewing from inside Canada while staying at the same school and level of study

Already in Canada and extending your permit at a new school or a different level? You'll need a new letter, unless you're entering a graduate program at a public school that leads to a degree. Since 22 January 2025, switching schools has required a new letter, and restoring student status always calls for a new one too.

For the 2026 cap year, a letter counts if it was issued at any point from 1 January through 31 December 2026; it remains good through 31 December 2026, unless an earlier date appears on the letter itself. Letters issued in a previous cap year won't work.

The key point is that the letter must be valid when you apply, not when your program starts. So a letter dated December 2026 is still fine for a program that starts after it expires, provided you submit your application before it runs out.

Canada plans to issue up to 408,000 study permits in 2026, including 155,000 for new arrivals. Of these, up to 180,000 are expected for people who need a letter.

For 2026, provinces and territories can take up to 309,670 applications requiring a letter. Provinces then share out their spaces among their own schools.

You can reuse a letter that is still valid only if you withdrew your earlier application before a decision, or that application was not accepted for processing. After an application has been approved or refused, you can't reuse the letter.