How to apply for a Spanish NIE from Canada: which consulate to use

Short answer. To apply for a Spanish NIE from Canada, start with your registered address: three Spanish consular offices serve the country — the consular section of the embassy in Ottawa, plus consulates general in Montreal and Toronto. The office forwards your application, but the NIE itself is assigned by Spain’s General Commissariat for Immigration and Borders, and it arrives by email.

This is an independent guide by E-Residence, a private service. It is not an official website of any consulate and does not control appointments; every procedure in it links to its official source. Recheck the official page on the day you act.

For the wider picture of how consular NIE applications work, see our guide to NIE applications at Spanish consulates outside Spain. Here, the focus is Canada and its three offices.

Which office covers your address?

The consular districts follow Spain’s official division of Canada. Residence is the starting point — not nationality, and not the office with the most convenient appointment. The list below matches each office’s published district.

Where you live (registered address)	Office	Start here
Canada’s Capital Region only (Ottawa and Gatineau)	Consular section of the Embassy, Ottawa	Ottawa NIE page
Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec (except Gatineau), Newfoundland and Labrador	Consulate General, Montreal	Montreal NIE page
Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario (except the National Capital Region), Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut	Consulate General, Toronto	Toronto NIE page

Two boundaries are worth reading twice: Ottawa covers the National Capital Region only, so most of Ontario belongs to Toronto, and Gatineau is carved out of Montreal’s Quebec district and belongs to Ottawa. If your address does not map clearly to one of these lists, confirm it with the office before contacting it rather than guessing. The embassy’s official consular-office directory for Canada is the source of these districts.

The consular NIE route: what applies across Canada

Every office here follows the same national procedure, with local differences in how you book and what you bring. The shared points, as published by the offices themselves:

• A NIE can be requested directly in Spain or at the Consular Office of the applicant’s country of residence. From Canada, that is the office covering your address. Ottawa’s NIE page states it in these terms, and adds that applications follow the consular jurisdictions.
• You apply in person or through a duly accredited representative — and the physical presence of the applicant or the representative is mandatory. Montreal says this in every case; do not read the representative route as one that removes attendance altogether.
• You must state the economic, professional or social reasons that justify the application. Toronto asks you to specify them on the EX-15 form and expects proof of them.
• The standard document set is an EX-15 form (original and one copy), completed and signed by the applicant or the representative, a valid passport with a copy of the data page, proof of residence in the consular district, and the Modelo 790, Código 012 for the consular fee.
• The fee is paid in Canadian dollars by a restricted set of methods. Ottawa accepts only cash, money order or certified cheque payable to the “Embassy of Spain”; Montreal prefers cash and otherwise a money order or certified cheque to the order of the Consulate General of Spain in Montreal.
• The consulate does not issue the number. It is assigned by the General Commissariat for Immigration and Borders, part of Spain’s Directorate-General for the Police. The consulate cannot speed up processing, and the NIE is sent to the applicant by email — so put a working notification address on the form.

Prefer to prepare your application with E-Residence? Start an NIE enquiry — a private service that helps you organise the paperwork before you contact the office. An enquiry does not create, confirm or replace an official appointment.

Office by office: how each one runs NIE applications

Ottawa — consular section of the embassy

Ottawa’s page is explicit on the two points that cost the most wasted trips: an in-person appointment is required to submit the application, and online applications are not accepted. The booking entry point is published on the office’s own NIE page. The documents it lists are an EX-15 in original and one copy, completed and signed by the applicant or representative, preferably filled in online and then printed, with only the fields in red completed. Payment is limited: only cash, money order or certified cheque payable to the “Embassy of Spain”, with the amount on the consular fee chart rather than on the NIE page. Ottawa also states that the office cannot shorten a NIE processing time: the NIE is normally issued within two weeks, that period may be extended by factors beyond the administration’s control, and the NIE is sent to the applicant by email — so an address for notification purposes must be given on the application. Its consular jurisdiction covers the National Capital Region only. Ottawa NIE page

Montreal — consulate general

Montreal’s published route starts before the appointment: send scanned copies of your documents by email to cog.montreal.cert@maec.es and request an appointment at the office. This is not a mail application — the request may be made in person or through a duly accredited representative, and the physical presence of the applicant or of their representative is mandatory in every case. Its document list:

• EX-15 standard application form, original and one copy, completed and signed by the applicant or representative;
• a valid passport or identity document;
• a valid provincial driving licence (original and copy) or any other document proving residence in its consular demarcation — Quebec except Gatineau, plus Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island;
• for a minor or an incapacitated applicant, a copy of the family record book, the birth certificate or the guardianship document, and the valid passport or ID of the parent or guardian.

The fee is paid in Canadian dollars, preferably by cash and otherwise by money order or certified cheque to the order of the Consulate General of Spain in Montreal. The page carries a fee established for 2025 of $14.70 CAD — a figure from that year, so take the current amount from the office. Processing is described as normally within two weeks, extendable, with the NIE sent by email. Montreal NIE page

Toronto — consulate general

Toronto changed its procedure with immediate effect on 8 July 2024: the NIE application must be submitted in person or through an accredited representative, and no applications are accepted by mail. The appointment is booked by email at cog.toronto.nie@maec.es. Its requirements:

• EX-15 duly filled out and signed by the applicant — filled in online, then printed to be signed, and written in Spanish, specifying “Certificado” in section 4.1;
• Form 790-012 for the payment of the consular fee, duly filled out and signed;
• original or notarised copy of the passport, plus a photocopy of the passport’s biographical page — a Canadian driver’s licence is not accepted as a piece of identification;
• proof of the economic, professional or social reasons justifying the application, specified on the EX-15;
• the consular fee, whose amount the page points to in its consular fee chart rather than publishing on the NIE page.

Toronto’s published expectation is the longest of the three: the NIE is normally issued within eight weeks, that period may be extended, and the NIE is sent to the applicant by email, so a notification address must be on the application. Toronto NIE page

Addresses and map links

Office	Address	Open the map
Ottawa (consular section)	74 Stanley Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K1M 1P4	Google Maps
Montreal	1200 Avenue McGill College, Suite 2025, Montreal, Quebec H3B 4G7	Google Maps
Toronto	2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1201, Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8	Google Maps

These are the offices’ published addresses. The map links are navigation aids built from those addresses — they do not confirm which service a building hosts, and they are no substitute for the office’s own page. Check the address there before travelling.

What this guide does not confirm

• Appointment waiting times. No office reviewed here publishes a waiting time for an appointment. The two-week and eight-week figures are processing expectations for the NIE after the application, not the time to obtain a slot; ask your office.
• Current fees. Ottawa and Toronto publish no amount on their NIE pages and point to the consular fee chart. Montreal lists $14.70 CAD as the fee established for 2025 — do not treat a figure from that year as current. Take the amount from the office or the official payment form on the day you pay.
• Payment methods at Toronto. Ottawa (cash, money order, certified cheque) and Montreal (cash preferred, money order or certified cheque) set out their methods. Toronto’s page points to its consular fee chart for the amount; where its payment method is not stated, do not assume one.
• Walk-in service. No page reviewed describes accepting NIE applications without an appointment. Presence is mandatory, but arrange the channel first — and note that Ottawa does not accept online applications and Toronto does not accept applications by mail.
• Moving to Spain long term. None of the three offices publishes the restriction that some European consulates apply to applicants who will settle in Spain. That is an absence of information, not an authorisation: if you are relocating, say so when you ask the office about the route.

Want a second pair of eyes on your document set before you email the office? Send your situation through a short NIE enquiry. We flag gaps before the office does — an enquiry does not replace or speed up the official procedure.

Frequently asked questions

Which Spanish consular office in Canada covers my address?

It depends on your registered address. The consular section of the embassy in Ottawa covers Canada’s Capital Region only — Ottawa and Gatineau. Montreal covers Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec (except Gatineau), Newfoundland and Labrador. Toronto covers Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario (except the National Capital Region), Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut. Confirm your district with the office before contacting it.

Consular-office directory for Canada

Do I need proof of residence in Canada to apply through a Canadian office?

Yes — the offices reviewed for this guide ask for evidence that you live in their consular district. Montreal lists a valid provincial driving licence, original and copy, or any other document proving residence in its demarcation. Read that as a document proving where you live, not as the identity document for the application itself. If your situation is unusual, ask the office what will establish your residence.

Montreal’s document list

Can I apply online or by mail, or do I have to attend in person?

No online or mail applications. Ottawa states expressly that an in-person appointment is required to submit the application and that online applications are not accepted. Toronto states that, with immediate effect from 8 July 2024, the application must be submitted in person or through an accredited representative, and that no applications will be accepted by mail. Montreal also requires the physical presence of the applicant or the representative in every case.

Ottawa’s requirement · Toronto’s requirement

Can I use a Canadian driver’s licence as identification?

Not at Toronto. Its document list states that a Canadian driver’s licence will not be accepted as a piece of identification, and asks for the original or a notarised copy of your passport plus a photocopy of the passport’s biographical page. At Montreal a provincial driving licence appears in the list of documents proving residence in the consular demarcation, alongside a valid passport or identity document. Do not move one office’s identification rule to another.

Toronto’s document list

Who assigns the NIE, and how long does it take?

The number is assigned by the General Commissariat for Immigration and Borders, under Spain’s Directorate-General for the Police — not by the consulate, which cannot shorten processing. Ottawa and Montreal describe about two weeks; Toronto’s page describes eight weeks. All three say the period may be extended by factors beyond the administration’s control, and that the NIE is sent to the applicant by email. Treat those as the offices’ published expectations, not guarantees.

Ottawa’s note · Toronto’s note

Where do I get the EX-15 and how do I pay the fee?

Open the forms from your office’s NIE page: EX-15 for the application and Modelo 790, Código 012 for the fee. Fill in the EX-15 online and print it where the office asks for that, and keep the payment receipt. For the amount, Ottawa and Toronto point to the consular fee chart rather than publishing a figure on the NIE page, and Montreal lists a fee established for 2025 of $14.70 CAD — a figure from that year, so confirm the current amount with the office.

Montreal’s fee and payment note · Ottawa’s payment note · Spanish NIE requirements for non-EU citizens

Choose your next step

You can run the whole process yourself through the official channels above — it costs the official fee and one appointment in Canada. Recheck your office’s page on the day you act, because document lists and fees change.

Prefer to prepare with E-Residence? Start an NIE enquiry and describe your purpose in one or two sentences. An enquiry does not replace the official procedure; it helps you arrive at it prepared.

For the full service picture, see NIE in Spain.

Editorial note: procedures, forms and local practice can change. Recheck the official links on the day you submit your application.

Official sources

1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs — Spanish consular offices in Canada — the official district list used for the table above.
2. Ottawa — consular section of the Embassy: NIE — in-person appointment, no online applications, payment methods, two-week expectation.
3. Montreal — Consulate General: NIE — email of scanned copies, document list, 2025 fee figure, two-week expectation.
4. Toronto — Consulate General: NIE — appointment by email, no mail applications, identification rule, eight-week expectation.
5. National Police — NIE assignment procedure — the national procedure behind the consular route.

Last checked: 29 September 2026.