The Canada Money Pack

The new study permit money rules from 1 September 2026, every family size in naira, and how to make family money count.

Which of these is you

• Applying alone. Start at "The new table" and "What counts as proof".
• Bringing family. The table first, then "Making family money count".
• Family or a sponsor is funding me. "Making family money count" especially.

The new table

Living costs for the first year, before tuition and transport, for applications on or after 1 September 2026. Source: canada.ca, financial support (both tables live there).

If you applied on or before 31 August 2026, the old table applies (1 person CAD 22,895, about ₦22.5m). Quebec sets its own amounts through the CAQ system.

What counts as proof (Canada's own list)

Bank statements for the past six months, including documentation showing the source of the money (salary, savings transfers, business income). Proof you've paid first-year tuition or housing. A Canadian bank account in your name with the funds moved. A GIC, the Canadian fixed deposit for students, from a Canadian bank. A student or education loan from a bank. A letter from the person or school giving you money. Scholarship or funded-program proof. The page says this list isn't exhaustive, and your visa office instructions can add local requirements, including proof you can export the funds where exchange controls apply.

Making family money count (the mechanics)

Family support is on the official list. What the officer reads for is a story that holds: where the money came from, how long it's been around, and whether it's truly available to you.

• Money moving from a parent or sibling: move it early, keep it stable, and attach the sponsor's letter plus their evidence (salary slips or business records, their statements).
• A sudden large deposit isn't fatal IF its source travels with it: sale documents, a matured investment's paperwork, the transfer trail.
• What sinks files is money with no story that appears late and leaves early. Six steady months beat a balance that only showed up for two weeks, and that kind of balance can end a file entirely.

Tonight

• Sponsor letter, copy, fill, sign: "I, [full name], of [address], confirm I am the [relationship] of [applicant], and I am providing CAD [amount] toward their tuition and living costs for study in Canada. I attach my bank statements and proof of income. Signed, dated."
• Open your last six months of statements today and read them like an officer: circle every deposit above one month's salary and gather its paper.
• Rebudget: the new living figure + your program's tuition + about ₦2m to ₦2.5m for flight and settling in. Write the total where you can see it.

Worked example

The Okafors are sending Chiamaka, 22, to Manitoba, tuition CAD 18,000. New maths: living CAD 23,448 (about ₦23m) + tuition (about ₦17.7m) + flight and settling in (about ₦2.3m): roughly ₦43m all in for year one. Her father's salary account carries eight months of history; her aunt in Aba adds ₦8m with a signed letter, her statements, and her shop's records. Nothing hides, everything has a story, and the file reads like a family that planned.

Real questions, short answers

Should I rush to apply before 1 September to use the old number? Only if your file was already complete: attestation letter, admission, six months of statements. A rushed, thin file to save half a million is a bad trade.

Is a GIC compulsory? No. It's one accepted option; the fast-track scheme that required it closed in 2024. It remains a clean way to show living funds.

Can I show the money in my parent's account without moving it? Sponsor support is accepted with their letter and evidence; where visa office instructions want funds accessible to you, follow those instructions.

Who this does not fit

If the full total isn't reachable this cycle, don't force the file. The cheaper routes are real: the French stream (invitations at 382 this month), funded Europe study (the FUNDED pack), Germany's routes (the POINTS pack).

Naira figures on this page were converted at the 29 August 2026 rate (CAD 1 = ₦981).