CanariCam is a mid-IR camera and spectrograph with coronographic and polarimetric capabilities, built by the University of Florida to operate at the GTC. CanariCam is designed to work at the diffraction limit of the GTC at 8 micron. To reach the required image quality and sensitivity, operation must be carried out under stringent conditions, such as low telescope emissivity and low water vapor content in the atmosphere. Besides, new telescope functionalities, such as primary mirror phasing and fast chopping of the secondary mirror, must be implemented. In this talk a review will be given of the latest status of CanariCam and the GTC in preparation for scientific operation of the instrument.