Paying for it: scholarships, sponsors and proof of funds

Funding a Canadian education is two arguments made to two audiences. One is the institution, deciding whether to give you money. The other is an immigration officer, deciding whether you already have enough of it.

People blur them and produce evidence that satisfies neither. A scholarship nomination does not prove you can support yourself. A bank balance does not win an award.

What an officer is checking, and the one number that is published

IRCC's requirement is a capacity test rather than a budget. You must prove you have enough money, without working in Canada, to pay for tuition, living expenses for yourself and any family members who come with you, and return transportation.

Read the phrase without working in Canada carefully. A part-time job you expect to find is not evidence, nor is an assistantship you hope to be offered.

IRCC does publish a cost-of-living threshold for study permit applicants outside Quebec. Because it is a government eligibility threshold rather than a price, it is worth stating exactly. For applications made on or after 1 September 2026 the figure is $23,448 for a single applicant, plus $6,318 for each additional family member, on top of tuition and travel. Applications made between 1 January 2025 and 31 August 2026 use the earlier figures of $22,895 and $6,170. Quebec sets its own requirements through its immigration ministry. These figures come from IRCC's proof of financial support page, modified 28 August 2026 and checked on 18 September 2026, and IRCC changes them.

That is the only number on this page. Tuition, residence costs, award values and deposits are set by each institution and belong on its own page.

Institutional entrance awards

The largest pool of money open to an incoming undergraduate is not a government programme. It is the institution's own entrance awards, usually assessed on the application you already submitted or on a school nomination.

The University of Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Scholarship shows how the mechanics work. It is open to an international student, meaning a non-Canadian requiring a study permit, who is in the final year of senior secondary school or has graduated recently, and who begins studies the following September.

The detail that catches people is that high schools can only nominate one student per year, and you cannot nominate yourself. Your school nominates, then you apply to the university and apply for the scholarship, each by its own deadline in the autumn before entry. Miss the school step and the other two are pointless.

• Find out whether the award is automatic on admission, needs a separate form, or needs a school nomination. Three workloads, three deadlines.
• Nomination-based awards run a year ahead of the intake. If you are in your final term, check whether the window has closed.
• Entrance awards are usually tied to a start date, so deferring entry can forfeit the award.
• Renewable awards carry academic conditions. Confirm in writing what average you must hold.

Graduate funding works completely differently

At master's and doctoral level, the question is rarely which scholarship you win. It is what funding package the department attaches to your admission, and much of it is paid for work you do.

UBC's minimum funding policy shows the shape. It states that full-time students in a UBC Vancouver PhD programme must be provided with a minimum funding package for each of the first four years, that the package may consist of any combination of internal or external awards, teaching-related work, research assistantships and graduate academic assistantships, and that it applies to domestic and international students alike.

Three things follow. A funding guarantee is a floor set by the university, not by your supervisor, so ask whether your programme is covered. Assistantships are employment, earned after arrival, and cannot serve as proof of funds at the study permit stage. And a supervisor with grant funding often decides whether a research degree is affordable at all, which is why you contact supervisors early.

Government of Canada and external scholarship programmes

Global Affairs Canada runs scholarship programmes for non-Canadians through EduCanada, and they are regional and often short-term rather than full-degree funding. The programmes listed there include the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program for students in Latin America and the Caribbean, Study in Canada Scholarships for students in selected countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, Scholarships and Educational Exchanges for Development Phase 2 for ASEAN member states, Pacific Island countries and Mongolia, the Canada-China Scholars' Exchange Program, Canadian International Development Scholarships 2030, and the Organization of American States Academic Scholarships Program.

Read each description before you plan around it. Several are explicitly for short-term study or research rather than a full degree, and several are applied for through a Canadian host institution.

Research placements are a separate and overlooked route. Mitacs runs the Globalink Research Internship, a twelve-week research internship supervised by faculty at a Canadian academic institution, open to undergraduates in Mitacs' partner countries, with contributions toward travel and living costs and emergency health insurance. It does not fund a degree, but it is a way into a Canadian research group.

Family sponsors and the sponsor letter

Most international students are funded by a parent, a sibling or a relative, and IRCC's evidence list is built for exactly that. It accepts a letter from the person or institution giving you money, and proof of the relationship to them.

A sponsor letter that works is boring and specific. It identifies the sponsor and the student, states the relationship, states that the sponsor will cover tuition and living costs for the programme, and is signed and dated. It should arrive attached to the sponsor's own financial evidence, because alone it is a promise rather than proof.

Proof of relationship is the part applicants skip. A birth certificate, marriage certificate or family register is what turns a stranger's bank statement into a sponsor's.

Loans from home, and the GIC route

An education loan from a bank in your own country is on IRCC's list: proof of a student or education loan from a bank. So is proof of a scholarship or of a Government of Canada funded educational programme, and proof that you have paid for the first year of tuition and housing.

The Guaranteed Investment Certificate route also remains available. The Student Direct Stream, the fast route built around a GIC, ended at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on 8 November 2024, and IRCC's notice stated that prospective students are invited to apply through the regular study permit stream, which accepts Guaranteed Investment Certificates as proof of financial support.

A GIC is attractive for one practical reason. It converts money held abroad into money demonstrably held in Canada in your own name, which is cleaner to show than a balance in a foreign currency and jurisdiction. It is one acceptable option, not a requirement, and its terms are set by the bank rather than by IRCC.

What the evidence actually has to look like

IRCC's list is broader than most applicants realise. Alongside the items above it includes pay stubs from recent employment, proof of a Canadian bank account in your name if you have transferred money to Canada, bank statements for your Canadian or foreign account for the past six months, financial documents related to a pension plan, and proof of income from rental properties.

The six-month statement requirement is the one that shapes behaviour. A balance that appeared three days before you applied, with nothing to explain it, asks a question you then have to answer. If funds moved between accounts or came from a sale, include the document that explains it rather than waiting to be asked.

One more thing IRCC spells out: for programmes longer than a year you must show how the remaining costs will be covered.

Can I count a job in Canada toward my proof of funds?

No. IRCC's requirement is that you prove you have enough money without working in Canada to cover tuition, living expenses for yourself and any accompanying family, and return transport. Expected wages, an assistantship you have not been offered, or a campus job you plan to find are not evidence.

Is a GIC still required for a Canadian study permit?

It was never required, and the stream most associated with it has closed. The Student Direct Stream ended on 8 November 2024. IRCC continues to accept a guaranteed investment certificate from a Canadian financial institution as one form of proof in the regular stream, alongside bank statements, loans, scholarships and sponsor evidence.

Can international students apply for Canadian government scholarships?

Some, not all. The Canada Graduate Research Scholarship master's programme requires Canadian citizenship, permanent residence or protected person status. The doctoral programme states that up to 15 per cent of awards will be available to international applicants. Global Affairs Canada separately runs regional programmes for non-Canadians through EduCanada.

What should a sponsor letter contain?

Who the sponsor is, who the student is, the relationship between them, a statement that the sponsor will cover tuition and living costs for the duration of the programme, and a signature and date. IRCC also asks for proof of the relationship, so attach the birth or marriage certificate along with the sponsor's financial documents.

Do I have to show funds for the whole programme or just the first year?

IRCC requires that for programmes longer than one year you show how the remaining costs will be covered. The published cost-of-living threshold is an annual figure sitting on top of tuition and travel, not the whole calculation.

How do I find scholarships at the institution I want?

Go to the awards or financial aid section of that institution's own website, filter for international entrance awards, and read whether each is automatic, application-based or nomination-based. Values, deadlines and conditions change each cycle, which is why we point you there.

If you are assembling proof of funds from several sources, a licensed RCIC can review the file against IRCC's published requirements before you submit. Book a consultation

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