Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL/TAL): 2026 Guide

Since January 22, 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has capped the number of study permit applications it accepts each year. IRCC gives each province and territory a share of the cap, and each one distributes its spaces to its designated learning institutions (DLIs). The PAL/TAL is the proof that you were given one of those spaces.

The legal basis is Ministerial Instructions made under section 87.3 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The 2026 Instructions were published in the Canada Gazette on December 20, 2025, and apply from January 1, 2026 at 00:00 to December 31, 2026 at 23:59 Eastern Standard Time. They say that an application within their scope must include a PAL/TAL issued in the 2026 allocation year, or it is not accepted for processing and the fees are returned.

Maximum PAL/TAL applications IRCC will accept in 2026

309,670

Study permits expected for PAL/TAL applicants in 2026

180,000

Expiry of a 2026 letter with no earlier date

Dec 31, 2026

Each applicant needs their own letter

1 per person

You do not need a PAL/TAL if any of the following applies. You must still include proof that you meet the exemption, in the Client information field of the online application. IRCC confirms the exemption when it reviews your file.

• School levelPreschool, primary school (including kindergarten) or secondary school up to grade 12.
• Graduate degrees at public DLIs (new for 2026)A degree-granting master's or doctoral program at a DLI that IRCC lists as public. Applied master's degrees count if the school is public.
• Certain programs and schoolsA federally designated military college; a school in the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot, with an acceptance letter that names you as a pilot applicant; a Quebec vocational program leading to a diploma of vocational studies (DVS), an attestation of vocational specialization (AVS) or a skills training certificate.
• Exchange students and scholarshipsExchange students under an arrangement between their home school and the Canadian DLI who pay no tuition to the DLI, and holders of a Global Affairs Canada scholarship.
• Public policiesPeople exempt under a public policy responding to a crisis, or under the temporary measures to reunite families of Indigenous people separated by Canada's border.
• Already in CanadaYou are extending at the same DLI and level of study; you hold a temporary resident permit valid for at least 6 months; you are under a removal order that cannot be enforced; you are a protected person; or you applied for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, under a current public policy, or in the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class.

Check the school on IRCC's list of public DLIs offering PAL/TAL-exempt graduate programs, which is one of the tabs of the DLI list. If your graduate program requires a prerequisite course or program and you apply for a study permit for it, you need a PAL/TAL for the prerequisite, even if the main program is exempt.

On November 25, 2025, IRCC announced that it expects to issue up to 408,000 study permits in 2026: 155,000 to new arrivals and 253,000 extensions. Of these, up to 180,000 are for applicants who need a PAL/TAL, shared among provinces and territories by population. Because some applications are refused, IRCC then converted each target into a larger number of application spaces, based on each jurisdiction's average approval rate in 2024 and 2025.

The provinces and territories decide how to share their spaces among schools, so the rules, deadlines and deposits differ from one school to another. The 309,670 figure is the maximum number of PAL/TAL applications IRCC will accept for processing in 2026; for Quebec, IRCC stops accepting applications with a CAQ once Quebec's allocation is reached. If an application is withdrawn before a decision, with the withdrawal accepted by an officer, it is not counted against the allocation.

1. January 22, 2024

   Intake cap and PAL/TAL requirement begin

2. January 22, 2025

   New PAL/TAL needed to change schools inside Canada

3. November 25, 2025

   2026 targets and allocations announced

4. January 1, 2026

   Master's and doctoral degree students at public DLIs exempt

5. December 31, 2026

   End of the 2026 cap year; 2026 letters expire

1. 1

   Check whether you need one

   Use the exemptions above, or IRCC's questionnaire on its PAL/TAL page. If you are exempt, prepare proof, such as your acceptance letter showing a degree-granting graduate program at a public DLI.

2. 2

   Get your letter of acceptance

   The PAL/TAL is linked to the school that accepted you. IRCC does not issue it, and you cannot ask the province for one without a school.

3. 3

   Follow your school's process

   Contact your DLI to find out how to apply. In most cases you must accept your offer and pay part or all of your tuition first.

4. 4

   Check the letter

   A PAL or TAL must show your full name, date of birth and address. Check its expiry date and that it is for the school and province you will apply for.

5. 5

   Apply before it expires

   Upload it in the field named Provincial attestation letter in the online application. If that field is missing, upload it in the Client information field. Submit it with the application, not later.

Families: each study permit applicant needs their own PAL/TAL, even when the family applies together. A child coming with a parent for primary or secondary school is exempt because of the level of study.

IRCC's guidance for officers treats a move from a master's to a doctoral program at the same DLI as staying at the same level of study, and a move from a college program to a bachelor's program at the same DLI as staying at the post-secondary level. The exemption for same-school extensions does not apply if your study permit has expired or become invalid.

Most PAL/TAL problems do not lead to a refusal. Instead, IRCC does not accept the application for processing and returns the fee, and you lose time, sometimes past the start of your program.

Having a PAL/TAL only means your application can be processed. The officer still assesses your acceptance letter, funds, purpose of study and plans to leave Canada, and can refuse the application on those grounds.

Once IRCC accepts your application for processing, it counts against your province's allocation, whether it is approved or refused. Only an application withdrawn before a decision, with the withdrawal accepted by an officer, is not counted. If the application is approved, your next applications for the same school and level of study usually do not need a new letter. Keep a copy of your PAL/TAL and your acceptance letter: you may need them for a later extension, a change of school or a post-graduation work permit application.