Sending a child to school in Canada: admission, custodians and status

Parents arrive at this decision with the order reversed. They ask about the study permit first and the school second, and by then the intake has closed and the custodianship takes longer than they have.

A school board or an independent school decides admission, not IRCC. Custodianship is a legal arrangement about who is responsible for your child. And whether a study permit is needed depends on your own status.

Public boards and independent schools are different animals

A public school board runs publicly funded schools in a defined area, and the larger ones run an international student programme with its own admissions office and a limited number of places. Placement follows catchment and capacity, not preference.

The Vancouver School Board states that admission to its international education programme is by invitation and based on academic achievement, educational background, current academic standing, and the availability of space in the programme and at the requested school. That is the shape of it: selective, and your preferred school may simply be full.

Independent and private schools sit under a different framework, and the word accredited is used loosely in marketing. Ontario is explicit: private schools are businesses or non-profit organisations that must meet requirements set by the Education Act but are independent of the Ministry of Education, and the ministry does not fund, regulate, license, accredit or oversee their operation. What it does is collect an annual Notice of Intention to Operate and inspect private high schools seeking or holding authority to grant credits toward the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. That authority can be revoked.

So the question for a private school is narrow: is it inspected and currently authorised to grant credits toward the provincial diploma your child needs. A school that cannot answer clearly is the wrong school.

What the school will ask for

K-12 admission files are smaller than university files but stricter about completeness. The Vancouver School Board asks for a completed online application, official transcripts or school records for the current year and the previous two years in English as originals or certified copies, an immunisation record with English translation, an elective course request form for secondary applicants, and a participation agreement. Incomplete applications, it states, will not be processed.

Two of those catch families out. Three years of records includes the year in progress, which often has to be issued mid-term by a school that does not normally do that. And the immunisation record lives with a clinic rather than the school.

Timing is set by intake, not by your travel plans

As at 18 September 2026, the Vancouver School Board was accepting secondary applications for February 2027 and September 2027 entry, and was not yet accepting elementary applications for September 2027, directing families to contact the office in January 2027. Boards publish these windows openly, they differ, and they close.

Custodianship: what it is and what it is not

This part deserves the most care, because it is about who is legally answerable for a child living in a country their parents are not in. IRCC defines a custodian as a responsible adult, who is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, who will take care of and support the minor child. Minor children under 17 must either come with their parent or legal guardian or have a custodian in Canada. A custodian is optional for minors 17 and older, but an officer can request one case by case.

A custodian is not a legal guardian, and the distinction matters. British Columbia's Ministry of Education and Child Care puts it directly in its K-12 International Student Homestay Guidelines: the legal guardian is distinct from a custodian. Under the provincial Family Law Act a guardian is a parent or a person legally authorised to act in place of the parents, and holds legal responsibilities and rights for that child. A custodian is appointed by the parents.

The form is the Custodianship Declaration, IMM 5646, and its mechanics are unusual. The first page must be signed by the custodian and notarised in Canada, the second signed by the parents or legal guardians and notarised in their home country. Send it with the child's study permit application.

What a custodian does is operational and constant. The TDSB describes the custodian as the official contact for its international student programme and the school, attending parent-teacher interviews, monitoring attendance, communicating absences to parents, and addressing behavioural, social, emotional and medical concerns. A custodian in another province doing this by email is not a custodian.

Homestay, relatives, and where the child actually lives

Custodianship answers who is responsible. Accommodation is separate, and often handled by a different organisation.

British Columbia defines a homestay as a formal arrangement by an international student programme, or its delegates, to house an international student with an approved family during the course of study. Its best-practice standards include a published host family screening process with host parent interviews and home inspections at least once every two years, and criminal record checks with vulnerable sector checks every three years for all adult household members.

Those two standards are the questions to ask any provider. When was this home last inspected, and when were vulnerable sector checks last done for every adult in it.

Do not assume the school arranges any of it. The Vancouver School Board states plainly that it does not offer homestay placement nor custodianship services, requires secondary students' arrangements to comply with the provincial guidelines, and provides a list of area providers on request. Some districts run their own programmes, some contract it out, and some only keep lists.

Does your child need a study permit at all

Not always, and this is where your own status changes everything. IRCC lists minor children who do not need a study permit: refugees and refugee claimants or children of them, children of Canadian citizens or permanent residents, those in preschool, primary or secondary school while accompanied by a parent authorised to study or work in Canada, and unaccompanied minors in preschool, primary or secondary school.

IRCC still sets out reasons to get one anyway. A minor with a valid study permit can obtain a secondary school co-op work permit, access social services in some provinces, and move between education levels without applying for a new permit. There is also a cutoff ahead: on reaching the age of majority, 18 or 19 depending on the province, a student must apply for a study permit to keep studying.

Two administrative points make K-12 simpler than post-secondary. All primary and secondary schools in Canada are designated learning institutions and are not listed on IRCC's published DLI list, so there is no DLI number to hunt for. And the provincial or territorial attestation letter requirement does not apply to preschool, primary including kindergarten, or secondary school up to grade 12.

Working the sequence in the right order

1. Decide the province and the type of school first. Custodianship rules, age of majority and homestay standards are provincial.
2. Check the intake windows, and work backwards from the deadline.
3. Start school records and the immunisation record early, with translations.
4. Identify a custodian you know who meets the school's criteria, then budget weeks for notarisation.
5. Arrange accommodation through the school's programme or a provider working to the provincial standard.
6. Only then deal with the study permit, using the documents the earlier steps produced.

Who can be a custodian for my child in Canada?

IRCC's definition is a responsible adult who is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident and who will take care of and support the minor child. Boards add criteria. The Toronto District School Board requires the custodian to be at least 25, a citizen or permanent resident, and living within the school catchment for grades K to 8 or a reasonable distance from the school for grades 9 to 12.

Is a custodian the same as a legal guardian?

No. British Columbia's homestay guidelines state that the legal guardian is distinct from a custodian. A guardian is a parent or someone legally authorised to act in place of the parents, and holds legal responsibilities and rights for the child. A custodian is appointed by the parents through a declaration, not by a court.

At what age does my child no longer need a custodian?

IRCC requires minor children under 17 either to come with a parent or legal guardian or to have a custodian in Canada, and states that a custodian is optional for minors 17 and older, though an officer can request one case by case.

Does my child need a study permit if I am studying or working in Canada?

IRCC lists minor children attending preschool, primary or secondary school while accompanied by a parent authorised to study or work in Canada among those who do not need one. It still gives reasons to obtain a permit, including a secondary school co-op work permit and moving between education levels without applying again.

Do I need to find my child's school on the designated learning institution list?

No. IRCC states that all primary and secondary schools in Canada are designated learning institutions and are not included in the published list, which covers post-secondary institutions. The attestation letter requirement does not apply to them either.

Can my child live with a relative instead of a homestay family?

Often yes, but the school decides what it will accept and may require documentation. British Columbia's guidelines advise parents considering a private arrangement or a placement with a relative to consult the international student programme first.

If you are working out whether your child needs a study permit, or what a custodianship declaration commits your family to, our consultant can walk through it before you commit to a school year. Book a consultation

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