Colegio de Belén
Cantens graduated from Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in 1979. He then received a B.A. from the University of Miami in 1982 and graduated from St. Thomas University Law School in 1992. He worked as an Assistant State Attorney for the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida (1995–1998). He was a Director of the Dade County Bar Association (1996-1999) and a Director of the Cuban-American Bar Association (1997). He was also briefly the head basketball coach at Barry University.