Quebec Study Permit Proof of Funds: More Than the Rest of Canada

The Quebec study permit proof of funds figure is higher than the rest of Canada’s, at every family size the two governments publish. A single student applying to study in Quebec has to show $24,617 for the first year. A single student applying anywhere else in Canada has to show $23,448. Quebec has a reputation as the cheaper door. On the money you must prove before you ever land, it is not.

The gap is not constant: $1,169 for one person, $6,750 for a family of three. These are two separate systems, not two versions of one number. IRCC sets the federal amounts, and last changed them on 1 September 2026. Quebec’s come from the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration, Quebec’s immigration ministry, which last changed them on 1 January 2026.

Quebec study permit proof of funds vs the rest of Canada

All amounts here are Canadian dollars, per year, for the first year of study, and all of them exclude tuition and transportation. The last column just subtracts one published figure from the other.

Read the middle rows again. A single student feels a difference of $1,169. A student bringing a spouse and one child must show $6,750 more to study in Montreal than in Toronto or Vancouver. So the cheaper-option idea falls apart exactly at the household sizes where the two systems are furthest apart.

The bottom row runs the other way. Above seven persons the federal system adds $6,318 per extra person; above six, Quebec adds $5,254 — a smaller step up, even though Quebec’s headline amounts are the bigger ones.

The rest of Canada: what IRCC asks

These are the living-expense amounts for every province and territory except Quebec, for applications submitted on or after 1 September 2026.

IRCC’s own worked example uses the three-person row: a student coming with two family members to a province or territory other than Quebec needs $35,888 for living expenses. Living expenses only — tuition sits on top, and so does transportation to and from Canada. IRCC updates these amounts each year.

Did you file before 1 September 2026? Then the older, lower amounts still cover your file. Applications submitted between 1 January 2025 and 31 August 2026 inclusive fall under the previous bracket, which ran from $22,895 for one person to $60,589 for seven. Those figures are not the current ones. Do not plan a new application around them.

The test itself: you must prove you can pay tuition, living costs for yourself and anyone who comes with you, and the flights in and out of Canada — all without working here. Income you expect to earn from a student job in Canada is not part of the calculation. The first year has to be covered up front. For a programme longer than a year you must also tell IRCC how you will pay for the rest of it. IRCC says it looks at how much money you have and where it came from, then confirms you have “funds available to you throughout the full duration of your studies”. Our guide to the federal proof-of-funds requirement works through that test in detail.

Quebec: what the province asks

Quebec runs its own selection step. A school in Quebec means you need a Quebec Acceptance Certificate — the CAQ. Quebec’s immigration ministry, not Ottawa, decides how much money you have to show for it. These amounts apply to applications made as of 1 January 2026.

Quebec stops publishing at six. Above six there is no table, just a rule: add $5,254 for each extra person. There is no official seven-person total to quote, so treat any ready-made Quebec figure for seven as somebody’s private arithmetic.

That table covers only the last of three headings. The first is tuition. Your school sets it, and the figure moves with the level you study at, the school itself, the programme, and your own status, citizenship and where you live. Quebec publishes no single tuition number, so a firm figure you find quoted somewhere did not come from the official page — ask the institution. The second heading is transportation — the round trip from your country of origin. The third is basic needs: the minimum for daily living in Quebec. Neither tuition nor transportation sits inside the table amounts.

Quebec says what its basic-needs amount is made of. It builds the figure from the cost of the consumer basket — an economic calculation, not a round number picked as a threshold — and it names what the money is meant to cover:

• food
• housing, including the cost of setting up home
• clothes and shoes
• transport
• health and hospitalisation insurance for you and anyone who comes with you
• other necessities, such as household goods and personal care

Quebec names health and hospitalisation insurance inside its amount. The federal page publishes no equivalent breakdown — it does not say insurance is included, and it does not say it is excluded. That is as far as the two sources let anyone compare them.

Six months of bank statements, and where the money came from

This is where the older guidance is now wrong. IRCC’s current list of acceptable proof asks for bank statements — Canadian or foreign — for the past six months, including the month you filed, or the one before it. A printout you took three months ago does not meet that second condition.

Statements alone are not the end of it. They have to be accompanied by documents showing the source of the income — employment income, a transfer out of savings, and so on. A closing balance on its own does not answer the question IRCC is asking.

The rest of the list is wide, and IRCC says it is not a complete one:

• pay stubs from recent employment
• a student or education loan from a bank
• a scholarship, or a place in a Government of Canada–funded educational programme
• proof of payment of first-year tuition and housing fees, such as a receipt from the institution — this has to come with other documents covering living expenses and transportation
• a Canadian bank account in your own name, if you have already transferred money
• a guaranteed investment certificate (GIC) from a Canadian financial institution
• financial documents for a pension plan
• income from rental properties

You do not need all of them — you need enough of them to cover the financial requirement. If you show a tuition receipt, or a scholarship that only pays tuition, you have to add other documents covering living costs and travel.

If you are applying from a country such as Iran, two things matter. Visa office instructions for your country or region may add local requirements on top of the national list. And if your country uses foreign exchange controls, you must prove you will be allowed to export funds for all of your expenses — not merely that the money exists.

What a sponsor’s letter must contain

If someone else is funding you — a parent, another relative, or an institution — IRCC wants a letter from that person or institution setting out four things: their employment or occupation, their relationship to you, the number of their dependants if they have any, and the amount of their support. The employment claim has to be backed by something — an employer letter, pay stubs, or the equivalent.

There is a second requirement alongside the letter. Proof of your relationship to that person or institution, and evidence of the financial support they will provide, must include a copy of their identification photo or proof of their business registration. The official page makes that part mandatory, not optional.

Two systems, not two versions of one number

The common mistake is to read Quebec’s figure as a pricier edition of the federal one. It is not. The federal amounts took effect on 1 September 2026 and Quebec’s on 1 January 2026. They move on separate timetables, and they rest on separate bases: Quebec ties its amount to the cost of the consumer basket, while the federal page publishes the number without a stated basis. Compare them by all means — but do not read a change in one as a signal about the other.

The administrative paths are separate too. Quebec’s immigration ministry sets the basic-needs amount, and that amount backs the application for temporary selection for studies, which is what produces the CAQ. The study permit itself is issued by IRCC. If your destination is Quebec you are dealing with both, and both have to be satisfied.

The decision rests with IRCC on the study permit and with Quebec’s immigration ministry on the CAQ. No consultant decides in their place.

In short

Quebec is higher at every family size both governments publish — by $1,169 for one person, by $6,750 for a family of three. The two sets come from different authorities, took effect on different dates and rest on different bases. On the federal side you now need six months of bank statements — covering the month you filed or the one before it — plus documents showing where the money came from. Budget to the column that matches your province, and gather the paperwork long before you file.

In both systems the figures are for one year, and tuition and the flights stay outside them. The money also has to be there without working in Canada. If your programme runs longer than a year, IRCC wants to know where the later years’ money comes from.

Pick the province first, then budget. A school in Quebec means the Quebec column sets your CAQ figure; anywhere else, the federal column does. Bringing family? Run the number for the whole household — that is where the two systems are furthest apart. Our guide to the best cities to study in Canada covers the non-financial side, and families with school-age children should read the study permit rules for minors.

Then start gathering the documents early. The statements have to cover the six months ending in the month you file or the month before it, and they have to arrive with documents showing the source of the income. That is not a set of paperwork you can assemble in the week before you file.

To have your file reviewed from this angle before you send it, see our Canada student visa service, handled by Hadi Imani, RCIC licence R522575, regulated by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants.

Frequently asked questions

I am going to Quebec. Which figure applies?

Quebec’s. A single applicant to a Quebec institution shows $24,617 for the first year, not the federal $23,448. The federal table says in terms that it covers every province and territory except Quebec, and on Quebec it says only that you must show you can cover the costs set by Quebec’s immigration ministry. That amount is what backs your CAQ application — Quebec’s temporary selection for studies.

Do these amounts include tuition and the flights?

No, neither of them. Both the federal living-expense figures and Quebec’s basic-needs figures exclude tuition and transportation. You have to show you can pay for those as well, on top of the table amount.

How many months of bank statements are required?

Six, and the window must include either the month you filed the application or the one before it. The statements also have to be accompanied by documents showing the source of the income. Guides still saying four months are out of date.

Someone else is paying for me — what exactly do they have to send?

A letter stating their employment or occupation, their relationship to you, the number of their dependants if any, and the amount of their support, backed by something showing the employment — an employer letter or pay stubs. Separately, the proof of your relationship and of the support they will provide must include a copy of their identification photo or proof of their business registration.

My programme is three years. Do I have to show the money for all three?

You have to show the first year in full. For a programme longer than a year you must also tell IRCC how you plan to pay for the full duration — a multi-year scholarship, a sponsor’s documented income, and so on. IRCC says it confirms you have funds available to you throughout the full duration of your studies.

Can I count money I expect to earn from a part-time job in Canada?

No. IRCC’s requirement is that you prove you have enough money without working in Canada. Anticipated Canadian earnings are not part of the calculation.

Do these figures change every year, and which bracket applies to an application already sent?

IRCC updates the federal amounts each year, and Quebec sets its own effective date. Which bracket applies to you is fixed by the date you submitted. Applications sent on or after 1 September 2026 fall under the current federal table. Applications submitted between 1 January 2025 and 31 August 2026 inclusive fall under the previous bracket — $22,895 for a single applicant, rising to $60,589 for seven — and those are not the current amounts. Before you file anything new, check the figure of the day on the two official pages below.

Sources

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada — Proof of financial support. Page details date: 28 August 2026.
• Gouvernement du Québec — Costs related to studying in Québec. Last update: 1 January 2026.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and it describes published official rules rather than any individual case. Hadi Imani is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, licence R522575, practising in Toronto; that licence covers Canadian immigration only.