A custodian for your child studying in Canada: who can be one, what schools require, and how an accompanying parent fits in

0. The short answer

If your child is under 17 on the day the application is submitted and no parent is coming, the immigration department requires a custodian in Canada, and the two notarized declaration pages go in with the study permit application. Between 17 and the province’s age of majority it is the officer’s call. If one parent comes along for the whole stay, no custodian is needed.

1. What a custodian is, who can be one, and who finds them

“Custodian” is the immigration department’s word. When the parents are not in Canada, this person looks after and supports the child in their place and makes decisions in an emergency. The department asks three things of a custodian: a Canadian citizen or permanent resident; a responsible adult; living a reasonable distance from the child’s home and school. The official page sets no minimum age; schools usually set their own (the Toronto and Victoria public districts in this guide both want 25 or older; the boarding schools’ joint website says over 21).

The document: Form IMM 5646, Custodianship Declaration, two pages

• Page 1 is signed by the custodian in Canada and notarized by a lawyer or notary public;
• Page 2 is signed by the parents (or legal guardians) and notarized in your home country;
• Both pages go in with the child’s study permit application. Bring the originals when the child enters Canada.

A custodian is not a legal guardian. Signing the declaration does not transfer your parental authority; it is an undertaking to the immigration department. Schools often ask you to sign their own forms as well, and Quebec has a set of its own (section 8).

Who finds the person: three lawful routes

• A relative or friend who is a citizen or permanent resident in Canada. The cheapest route, but the school will check how close they live and whether they can get to the school at short notice.
• The school or school district. Most public districts’ international programs build custodianship into their homestay program, with the district or its homestay coordinator acting as custodian. With a boarding school, ask the same question: does the school act as custodian, or must the family appoint one outside the school? The boarding schools’ joint website says a relative or friend acting as custodian must be over 21, English-speaking and within driving distance of the school. One question to the international office settles it.
• An agent or a custodianship company, for a fee. What an agent arranges is usually a local individual or company it works with. The industry is not government-regulated (section 9 covers how to choose).

2. Immigration’s three age bands, and the age of majority by province

The immigration department uses the child’s age on the day the application is submitted and sorts it into three bands:

The age of majority differs by province, and this is the second reason answers differ:

The same 18-and-a-half-year-old is an adult studying in Toronto, and still a minor in the immigration department’s eyes studying in Victoria, where the officer may ask for a custodian.

3. Schools are usually stricter than immigration: three districts

The immigration rules are visa conditions; the school’s rules are admission conditions. Both must be met. School rules are usually stricter and more specific, and each district sets its own. Three examples (district websites checked 2026-10-24):

British Columbia’s Ministry of Education also publishes province-wide K-12 International Student Homestay Guidelines (2024 edition): host parents aged 25 or older (exceptions approved by the district), criminal record checks for every adult in the home, an in-home inspection, and no more than 2 international students per home. District custodian requirements tend to follow these guidelines.

4. The order of steps: from contacting the school to applying for the permit

1. Choose the school and get the letter of acceptance. Public districts’ international programs and private schools each have their own application process and fee schedule. The Letter of Acceptance is the first document for the study permit. For Quebec, apply for the CAQ as soon as you have the letter (section 8).
2. Settle housing and custodianship. The school asks for both at the admission stage. Pick one of the three routes in section 1 and ask the school first whether it accepts that person.
3. Notarize the two pages of the Custodianship Declaration (IMM 5646). The custodian’s page before a lawyer or notary in Canada; the parents’ page under the notarization rules of your own country. Both are needed for the study permit.
4. Gather the rest. A valid passport, proof of funds, photos; if only one parent comes, the other parent’s consent letter; if neither comes, a consent letter signed by both parents; if the parents are separated, the custody documents. Primary and secondary students are exempt from the provincial or territorial attestation letter (PAL / TAL), but the application must show that the exemption applies.
5. Apply for the study permit. A minor must apply and hold the approval letter before entering Canada. If a parent is applying at the same time, see section 6.
6. Book flights only after approval. On arrival, carry the letter of acceptance, the original custodianship declaration, the parents’ consent letter and the custodian’s contact details. If the child flies alone or with a third party, the border officer will ask for these.

So the answer to “does everything have to be settled before applying for the study permit” is yes: the custodian question comes up the moment you contact the school, and it must be settled before you apply.

5. An accompanying parent: there is no “accompanying parent” visa, it is a visitor visa

Canada has no “accompanying parent” visa. The parent applies for an ordinary visitor visa (a temporary resident visa, TRV); visa-exempt passports use an eTA. Keep these apart:

• The visa gets you in the door. The visa in the passport decides whether you may come, for how many years, and whether once or many times. Since 6 November 2024 the department no longer treats a “multiple-entry visa at the maximum 10 years” as the default; the officer decides single or multiple entry and the validity case by case.
• The length of stay is set at the border. How long you may stay in Canada is decided by the border officer on the day you arrive, regardless of how many years the visa runs (section 7).
• Visitors may not work. An accompanying parent is a visitor: no employment; study only in courses of 6 months or less, anything longer needs the parent’s own study permit.
• The child’s study permit gives the parent no status. Nor does the parent’s visitor status exempt the child: when the parent holds no work or study permit, a child coming to study for more than 6 months must have a study permit.

6. Applying together: why the child cannot go when the parent is refused

The immigration department’s Help Centre states that a family travelling together may submit their applications at the same time, each person on their own form, with one payment receipt for the total. So the child’s study permit application and the parent’s visitor visa application can go in together, with a letter of explanation setting out the relationship, who is accompanying, where you will live and where the money comes from.

Why the child cannot go when the parent is refused

Applying together does not mean “one refusal refuses the family”; each application is decided on its own. But if the application was built on the “parent accompanies” plan and no custodianship declaration was filed, the child’s care plan rests on the parent being approved. When the parent is refused, what the officer sees is a child under 17 with no one to look after them in Canada. The child’s application is either refused too, or approved but of no use, because the border officer also checks on arrival that someone is caring for the child. And the reasons for refusing the parent (funds, ties to home, purpose of the visit) usually sit in the child’s file as well: both applications rest on the same money and the same family.

Another common order is for the parent to obtain a multiple-entry visitor visa first and apply for the child’s study permit afterwards. The parent’s visa is then already in hand, the child’s file is assessed on its own, and the risk is far smaller.

7. The paper from the border: how long the visitor record lasts

On the day you arrive, the border officer (CBSA) decides how long you may stay this time.

• 6 months by default. A passport stamp with no date written in means 6 months from the day of entry, or until the passport expires, whichever comes first.
• The officer can grant longer by issuing a “Visitor Record” with an expiry date on it. In practice accompanying parents often receive a visitor record expiring on the same day as the child’s study permit. That is the officer’s discretion, not a right written in the rules, which is why some parents get the full length and others get 6 months. Keep the child’s approval letter, letter of acceptance, housing arrangement and proof of funds at hand and explain that you are accompanying your child; it improves the odds of a longer stay.
• No stay may run past the passport’s expiry. If the passport has less than a year left, renew it before you travel.
• To stay on, apply online from inside Canada before your status expires, and the department recommends at least 30 days ahead; the approval is again a visitor record, usually about 6 months, sometimes longer. If you applied before the expiry, you may stay lawfully while you wait. State the reason (accompanying your child), the child’s study permit and your funds.
• A visitor record is not a visa. It only proves your lawful status inside Canada; coming back after a trip abroad depends on the visa in your passport, and a single-entry visa does not let you back in.

On the child’s side: the study permit must also be extended from inside Canada before it expires. Do not wait for the parent’s visitor record to run out before thinking of the child’s permit. The two expiry dates are not necessarily the same; track each.

8. Quebec is different: the CAQ, provincial custody forms, and language

Quebec adds a provincial step on top of the federal rules, and has custodianship forms of its own.

• CAQ first, then the study permit. For a program of more than 6 months, apply to Quebec for the CAQ (Certificat d’acceptation du Québec, the Quebec Acceptance Certificate) first, and apply to the federal government for the study permit once the CAQ approval letter arrives. The order is: letter of acceptance → CAQ → study permit.
• Children in elementary or secondary school need a CAQ too. Only two groups are exempt: a child who is already in Quebec with a parent holding a work or study permit (or receiving medical treatment there) and is attending elementary or secondary school, all three together; and children in preschool. A child whose parent is here as a visitor is not exempt.
• Aged 16 or under, without a parent, Quebec requires its own set: each parent signs a “delegation of rights and powers of custody, supervision and education”; the responsible adult in Quebec (who must be a citizen or permanent resident) signs a “declaration of custody of a child”; that adult’s identity document and proof of citizenship or permanent residence; a criminal record check from the past 3 months for every other adult in the household (issued by the RCMP, the Sûreté du Québec, a municipal police force or an RCMP-accredited firm); proof of employment at the school if the child boards there. No more than 2 minor children may live at one residence, siblings excepted. The federal IMM 5646 is filed as usual on top.
• At 17, adult documents apply: a child who is 17 when applying, or turns 17 at least one month before the program starts, skips the set above.
• Only one parent accompanying: the other signs Quebec’s “declaration of consent”, even after a divorce and even with limited visiting rights; where it truly cannot be obtained, an official document such as a sole-custody court order or the other parent’s death certificate takes its place.
• Language. Quebec’s public schools and subsidized private schools teach in French by default. An English school requires a certificate of eligibility for English instruction first; children staying temporarily can apply for a temporary authorization, which since the 2022 amendments runs at most 3 years and cannot be renewed; non-subsidized private schools are outside this rule. The exact eligibility is whatever Quebec’s Ministry of Education says on the day.

Quebec’s age of majority is 18.

9. What it costs, and how to choose a custodian

What it costs

• A relative or friend usually charges nothing, but notary fees are paid in both countries.
• District or homestay-company custodianship is sometimes included in the homestay fee and sometimes itemized. Figures found: a custodianship provider working with one Ontario school charges $1,700 to $2,200 a year depending on the living arrangement, plus a one-time $500 registration fee in the first year; one university charges a one-time $250 to arrange custodianship for its own minor students. These are individual quotes, for scale only; the provider’s quote on the day governs.

Choosing a custodian: five questions

1. Does the school accept them? Age, distance, availability to come to the school: check against the school’s standard first.
2. Can they actually show up? Parent-teacher meetings, the hospital, the police station, the court; reachable 24 hours a day. Ask how many children one person is custodian for at the same time.
3. Is the home safe? If the child lives with the custodian, have the other adults in the home had criminal record checks, and how many students live there. Both the B.C. homestay guidelines and Quebec cap it at 2 per home.
4. Is the contract clear? Services, fees, what happens if the custodian changes, and which decisions they may make for you in an emergency. Give the custodian a written medical consent as well; ask the school for a template.
5. Are the interests tangled? The custodian is the person watching your child for you, not the person collecting tuition for the school or the agent. If the custodian is also the one taking your agent’s fee, think about who speaks for the child when something goes wrong.

A 2018 CBC investigation reported that the custodianship industry has no government oversight. The contract and the school’s acceptance are the two things you can hold on to.

10. Why everyone tells a different story: common myths

11. The line we do not cross, and where to check a licence

This page points the way only. A child right around 17, a lone or separated parent, a parent with a past refusal, a move to Quebec, a custodian who has to be replaced mid-way: for these, see a licensed immigration consultant (RCIC) or an immigration lawyer. The immigration department’s rule is that anyone paid to handle your immigration application must be authorized: a lawyer in good standing with a law society (in Ontario, licensed paralegals too), a notary of the Chambre des notaires du Québec, or an immigration consultant licensed by the CICC. An agent who fills in your forms for a fee and is none of these is breaking the rules.

• CICC public register of licensed immigration consultants: enter a name or licence number to see whether they are in good standing and whether they have been disciplined.
• Law Society of BC lawyer directory: check a lawyer’s licence and practice areas; in other provinces, use that province’s law society site.
• The immigration department’s “Choose a representative” page: who may charge a fee, and how to report someone.
• Notary directories: page 1 of the declaration is notarized in Canada; in B.C. look up the Society of Notaries Public, in Quebec the Chambre des notaires; in other provinces notarization is mostly done by lawyers, so use that province’s law society (every province’s entry point is on the Federation of Law Societies site).

All links are in section 12.

12. The official sites (each checked 2026-10-24)

Every link below was opened and checked on 2026-10-24; sites marked ※ block automated checks, so please open them directly in your browser. District pages are the districts’ own, and their rules change.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)

Quebec

Schools and provinces (examples)

Licence checks