Canada student visa financial requirement

At a glance

The requirement, as published

For applications submitted on or after 1 September 2025, for study OUTSIDE Quebec, you must show living-expense funds for the first year of CAN$22,895 for a single applicant. With accompanying family members: 2 people CAN$28,502; 3 people CAN$35,040; 4 people CAN$42,543; 5 people CAN$48,252; 6 people CAN$54,420; 7 people CAN$60,589; each additional person beyond 7 adds CAN$6,170. These amounts EXCLUDE tuition and transportation — on top of them you must also show first-year tuition and return transportation for yourself and any accompanying family. For programs longer than one year you must also explain how you will fund the full duration. IRCC updates these amounts annually, so re-check before applying. IMPORTANT CHANGE FOR INDIAN STUDENTS: there is no longer a mandatory GIC. The Student Direct Stream (SDS), which required a CAN$20,635 GIC and an English test score, ended at 2:00 p.m. ET on 8 November 2024; all Indian applicants are now processed under the regular study permit stream. A GIC from a participating Canadian financial institution is still an accepted proof of funds, but so are 4 months of bank statements, a sanctioned education loan from a bank, proof of paid tuition and housing, a bank draft convertible to CAD, or a sponsor's letter supported by other evidence. Quebec applicants must instead meet the financial thresholds set by the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration for the CAQ.

The form of the money matters as much as the amount

Applicants concentrate on reaching the figure and are refused on how the money is held. Across every major student visa route the same four questions decide it.

• Whose account is it in? Routes differ on whether a parent's account is acceptable and what proof of relationship is needed.
• How long has it been there? Many routes require the funds to have been held for a continuous period, and a deposit made last week usually fails.
• What kind of account? Some routes exclude accounts you cannot access immediately.
• Can you evidence the source? A large recent credit without an explanation invites a refusal even when the balance is correct.

Education loans as proof of funds

A sanctioned education loan is accepted as evidence of funds by several routes, which is why the loan timeline and the visa timeline are the same timeline. A sanction letter is usually needed, not an in-principle approval.

1. Confirm your route accepts a loan sanction letter, and from which kind of lender.
2. Allow for the loan taking longer than the lender indicates — collateral valuation is the usual delay.
3. Keep the sanction letter, the disbursement schedule and the lender's letterhead details together.

Our lender pages at /education-loan carry each lender's processing indication and how recently we read it. Work backwards from the visa date, not from the course start.