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For job opportunities in Canada, you can visit our sister company’s career site, Workvantage, by clicking the button below.

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Please Provide Full Details:

1. Proposed Position(s), Work Location(s), Hourly Rate, Hours per Week, Contract Duration.
2. Staffing at Location: Total Employee Count & Number of Temporary Foreign Workers currently employed.
3. Year of Business Incorporation/Establishment.
4. Additional Notes.

Please Include the Following:

1. Nature of Care (childcare, senior support, medical needs) & Profile of Care Recipient(s) (e.g., age, specific health conditions).
2. Living Arrangement (Live-in vs. Live-out), Hourly Rate & Hours per Week.
3. Prospective Applicant (if known): Age, Highest Educational Credential, Language Proficiency (English/French), and Related Work History.
4. Additional Notes.

Please Provide Full Details:

1. Sponsor’s Legal Status (Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident) & Current Residence (Country/Province).
2. Partner Being Sponsored: Citizenship & Current Country of Residence.
3. Number of accompanying dependent children.
4. Sponsorship Background:
- Has the Sponsor submitted a sponsorship application in the past?
- Was the Sponsor sponsored as a spouse in the last 5 years?
5. Is the Sponsor currently in Undischarged Bankruptcy, receiving Social Assistance (welfare), or in default of child support or immigration loans?
6. Relationship Details: Date of Marriage or date common-law cohabitation began.
7. Admissibility Issues: Does the sponsor or the applicant have any history of criminal charges, severe health conditions, or prior visa denials from any country?
8. Current Status & Past Marriages: If the applicant is currently residing in Canada, what is their active immigration status? Have any prior marriages for either party been officially dissolved by divorce?
9. Additional Notes.

Please Include the Following:

1. Applicant Citizenship & Current Country of Residence (Please specify your Status, e.g., Worker, Student, PR).
2. Reason for Travel, Intended Arrival/Departure Dates & Length of Stay.
3. Are you visiting specific relatives or friends? (Please specify relationship).
4. Details of any previous Canadian or US visa applications or refusals.
5. Available Funds & Reasons to Return Home (e.g., Employment, Assets, Family obligations).
6. Additional Notes.

Please Include the Following:

If through your Canadian ancestry (you may already be a Canadian citizen by law — no residence, tax or language history needed):

1. Which relative connects you to Canada (parent, grandparent, great-grandparent…) and how they became Canadian (born in Canada, naturalized, or by descent).

2. What you can provide to support your claim (e.g., birth/marriage certificates, your ancestor's citizenship or naturalization record).

If you are a permanent resident (citizenship by grant):

1. Date your Permanent Residence was obtained.

2. Total number of days spent in Canada during the past 5 years (estimate is fine).

3. Did you hold temporary status in Canada (e.g., Student, Worker) before becoming a PR? If yes, type and duration.

4. Have you filed Canadian Income Tax Returns for at least 3 of the last 5 years?

5. Proficiency level in English or French (Basic, Intermediate, Fluent).

6. Prohibitions & Background: any criminal history (convictions, probation, or parole, inside or outside Canada); and whether you are currently subject to a Removal Order or under investigation by immigration authorities.

Additional notes (either case).

Please Include the Following:

1. Applicant (Parent/Grandparent):
- Citizenship & Current Country of Residence.
- Details of prior Canadian or US visa applications or refusals.
- Do you have any significant pre-existing medical conditions?
2. Host (Child/Grandchild in Canada):
- Legal Status (Citizen or Permanent Resident).
- Household Composition: Total count of individuals residing in the home (including spouse and dependents).
- Gross Annual Household Income.
3. Additional Notes.

Please Provide Full Details:

1. Employment Status: Do you have a valid Job Offer? (Include Employer Name, Role, LMIA approval status, or if applying as an Intra-Company Transferee).
2. Open Work Permit (if applicable): Please specify your category (e.g., Spouse of Student/Worker, PGWP, or International Experience Canada/IEC).
3. Background: Summary of relevant Work History and details of any previous Canadian visa applications or refusals.
4. Additional Notes.

Please Provide the Following Details:

1. Proposed Study Plan: Program Name, Academic Level (e.g., Diploma, Master's), and status of Letter of Acceptance (LOA).
2. Language Proficiency: Standardized Test Scores (IELTS, CELPIP, TEF).
3. Economic Establishment: Source of Funds & Ties to Home Country (reasons to return).
4. Visa History: Details of any previous applications or refusals for Canada or the US.
5. Additional Comments.

Please Provide Full Details:

1. Current Immigration Status: Type of permit (e.g., Visitor, Student, Worker) & Expiration Date.
2. Justification for Extension:
- Study: (e.g., New Letter of Acceptance).
- Work: (e.g., Updated LMIA or Job Offer details).
- Visitor: (Purpose of continued stay, e.g., ongoing tourism, family visit, or pending Spousal Sponsorship).
3. Additional Notes.

Please Provide Details for Principal Applicant and Spouse:

1. Personal Profile: Age, Citizenship, Marital Status, Highest Educational Credential, Language Proficiency (IELTS, CELPIP, TEF), and Settlement Funds.
2. Work History (Past 10 Years):
- Total years of Foreign Skilled Work.
- Total years of In-Canada Skilled Work.
3. Proposed Province of Residence (e.g., Ontario, Quebec, BC).
4. Canadian Ties: Relatives in Canada, prior Canadian study/work history, or Valid Job Offer.
5. Additional Notes.

1. What program do you need help with?
2. Share your current citizenship, residence, and immigration status—and whether you have family in Canada.
3. Are you looking to apply, renew or appeal?
4. Let us know if you're working toward a deadline or have key dates in mind.
5. Observations (provide details).

Castle & Co. — Canadian Immigration Consultants

The Quebec CAQ: the Step That Comes Before Ottawa

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Residential street in Quebec in late afternoon, with the exterior staircases typical of Montreal

If you are coming to Quebec to work or to study, the Quebec CAQ is the step that catches people out — not because it is complicated, but because it comes in an order most people do not expect.

Canada decides who is admitted. Quebec decides who is selected. And for temporary stays, Quebec goes first.

What is the CAQ?

It is the document Quebec issues to confirm that the province accepts your temporary arrival — to work or to study.

The CAQ, or Certificat d’acceptation du Québec, is issued by the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration. It is the provincial layer that sits on top of the federal process with IRCC.

What it is not: the CAQ on its own gives you no legal status and no permission to stay. It is a selection decision, not a permit. You still need the federal document, and that is the part that comes afterwards.

Who needs a CAQ, and who needs something else?

Temporary workers and students need a CAQ. Permanent residence uses a different certificate entirely.

Your situationThe Quebec documentWho files it
Temporary workerCAQ — temporary selectionYou prepare it, but your employer submits it, together with the LMIA
StudentCAQ for studiesYou file it yourself, before the federal study permit
Permanent residenceCSQ, not CAQYou, as the first step toward permanent residence

That last row is where most of the confusion lives. The CAQ and the CSQ are two different certificates for two different things. The CAQ is temporary selection. The CSQ — Certificat de sélection du Québec — is permanent selection, and it is the first step toward permanent residence rather than a permit to arrive.

There are exceptions to needing a CAQ at all: stays of 30 days or less, and unpaid work.

In what order does this actually happen?

Three closed document folders laid out in order on a desk, the sequence Quebec requires before Ottawa

Quebec first, Ottawa second — in all three cases. This is the part worth memorising.

If you are a temporary worker:

  1. Your employer obtains the LMIA from Service Canada.
  2. You prepare the application for temporary selection, and your employer submits it to Quebec.
  3. With the LMIA and the CAQ in hand, you apply to IRCC for your work permit.

In Quebec’s own words, you need all of those documents in order to apply for a work permit from IRCC. The federal step is the last one, not the first.

If you are a student:

  1. You receive your letter of admission from the institution.
  2. You apply to Quebec for the CAQ for studies.
  3. With the CAQ approved, you apply to IRCC for your study permit.

The CAQ doubles as the provincial attestation letter that IRCC requires for the federal application, so it is not an extra hoop — it is the document that unlocks the next step.

If you are applying for permanent residence: Quebec selects you first, with the CSQ. Then you apply to IRCC for permanent residence.

The pattern is the same every time. The provincial step is the condition of entry to the federal one. Doing it the other way round does not shorten anything; it means doing it twice.

What does it cost, and how long does it take?

The fees are set by Quebec and they are not refundable, even if your application is refused.

Fees in effect since January 1, 2026:

ApplicationFee
CAQ, temporary foreign worker$233
CAQ, international student$135

On timing, Quebec publishes a figure for one of them and not the other. For the student CAQ, a decision is rendered within 25 business days of a complete application, in 80% of cases. For the worker CAQ, the application page does not publish a processing time. If you need a current figure for that one, the ministry’s service statement is where it would be, and it is worth checking on the day you are planning rather than relying on what someone was told last year.

Note also that the fee paid to Quebec is separate from the federal fee. The provincial step has its own cost, and it is not a deposit against the federal one.

What if your CAQ is about to expire?

Person pausing over a document by a window, considering a CAQ that is about to expire

Start six months before, not one month before.

Quebec is direct about this: you must allow for processing times and begin the process at least six months before your current work permit expires. Renewing is not a single form. It means a new LMIA from your employer, a new application for temporary selection, and a new work permit from IRCC — the same three steps, in the same order, again.

If you have already begun a permanent residence application, other options exist for renewing your permit. That is a different conversation and it depends on where your file stands.

The questions Quebec’s own pages do not answer

Three, and we would rather tell you they are open than guess.

The official pages cover renewal when you act before expiry. They do not set out what happens if your CAQ has already expired, and they do not cover the situation of someone who arrived in Quebec without a CAQ when one was required.

The page on staying after your studies points you to the federal Post-Graduation Work Permit, but it does not say whether you need to do anything with your CAQ when you make that transition.

We are not going to fill those gaps with something that sounds plausible. If you are in one of those three situations, it is a question worth asking before you act, not after.

Before you start

  1. Work out which document you need — CAQ for a temporary stay, CSQ for permanent residence. They are not interchangeable.
  2. If you are a worker, talk to your employer first. They submit your application, and they need the LMIA before that.
  3. Budget for both layers. The Quebec fee is separate from the federal one and it is not refundable.
  4. If your permit expires within a year, start now. Six months is the minimum Quebec itself recommends.

Where we come in

Castle & Co. works with people on the part of this that goes wrong most often: the sequence.

  • Establishing which Quebec document applies to your situation
  • Coordinating the employer’s side so the LMIA and the CAQ line up
  • Planning a renewal with enough time that it does not become a status problem
  • Telling you honestly when a question does not have a published answer

If you are not sure where your case sits, start your process now and we will tell you which step comes first.

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