Employer-specific work permit? Since 17 September 2026 IRCC applies four genuineness tests to every job offer, LMIA or not.
Check your offerStudy permit · 2026
Plain-language help for the 2026 rules — proof of funds, the new source-of-funds checks, PAL/TAL, PGWP and spousal work permit eligibility, and a clean, officer-ready file.
What changed · July 24, 2026
IRCC updated its instructions to officers, Study permits: Assessing the application. The dollar amounts rose separately on September 1, 2026. What changed in July is how hard your money gets looked at — files that would have passed on a bare balance are now tested on where the balance came from. See the full breakdown.
Since 4 September 2026, a temporary public policy lets anyone holding a valid work permit take a course of six months or less without a study permit. Study-related conditions printed on the work permit — the “not authorized to study” line — stop applying while it is in force, and no CAQ is needed in Quebec. It runs to 31 December 2027.
One trap. If you study full time under this policy, the work you do during those studies will not count toward Canadian Experience Class eligibility, or toward Canadian work experience points under the CRS. Read the full breakdown →
Processing times
Applying from takes —.
Extending from inside Canada takes —.
Estimates as reviewed September 2026; IRCC’s figures change weekly. Check the live IRCC processing tool →
Who can apply
Meeting every requirement — and showing it clearly — is what separates an approval from a refusal. Scroll through them in the order the file is built.
A valid letter of acceptance from a Designated Learning Institution (DLI). We confirm the DLI is PGWP-designated where that matters to you.
Most applicants need a Provincial or Territorial Attestation Letter.
Master’s & doctoral at public DLIs are exempt from January 1, 2026
Show $23,448 in living costs (single applicant, outside Quebec), plus first-year tuition and travel. More for family members.
The calculator below does the sum
Where the money came from now matters as much as how much there is. Officers assess the source in every file.
Updated July 24, 2026
Satisfy the officer you will leave at the end of your authorized stay — a genuine study plan and ties to home matter.
Be admissible: police certificates and a medical exam may be required depending on your situation and country.
Medical exam check belowProof of funds
Two parts: a set living-cost amount that scales with family size, plus your first-year tuition and travel. Quebec runs its own, higher table through the CAQ. Answer on the left; the total builds on the right.
Where will you study?
People coming to Canada, including you
Is your program longer than 12 months?
Quebec applicants. Quebec’s basic-needs amount now includes health and hospitalization insurance for you and any accompanying family members, along with food, housing and installation costs, clothing and local transport. You satisfy Quebec at the CAQ stage and IRCC at the study permit stage, but the same funds are assessed by both — you do not show the money twice. Quebec’s official figures →
Applied before September 1, 2026? Files received between January 1, 2025 – August 31, 2026 are assessed on the earlier amounts — $22,895 for a single applicant, rising to $60,589 for seven, plus $6,170 per additional person. The calculator shows the current figures only.
Source of funds · updated July 24, 2026
Nearly half of study permit refusals turn on financial documentation — not because the applicant lacked funds, but because the file didn’t prove them in a way an officer could trust. Read it the way an officer now does.
The updated instructions state the source of funds must be assessed in all cases. This is no longer reserved for particular visa offices — it applies to your application regardless of where you file.
Officers previously dug into supplementary personal, family, financial and employment documentation only in some very high-risk environments. That qualifier is gone. Discretion is now exercised on the facts of your application.
And they must reach the month you submit, or the month immediately before it. Statements that stop three months short of filing invite a request for more — or a refusal.
A large deposit shortly before filing needs a paper trail: sale deed, loan sanction, gift deed, salary credits, or the sponsor’s own statements. Unexplained inflow is the single most common weakness we correct.
You show first-year funds, and you explain how later years get paid. Officers assess whether only genuine students capable of supporting themselves for the full duration are approved.
On a study permit renewal, funds are assessed against the first year following the extension — not the year you have just finished.
Acceptable proof
You don’t need all of these. You need enough of them, consistent with each other, to cover living costs, tuition and travel — and to show where the money came from.
Officer instructions now point to six months of statements including the month you apply or the month immediately before. IRCC’s public page now says the same: six months, including the month you submit or the month immediately before. File six, and document the source of every deposit in them.
New 2026Where you have already transferred funds to Canada. Strongest evidence available because the money is demonstrably in reach.
From a participating Canadian financial institution. Not mandatory on the standard stream — the SDS GIC route ended November 8, 2024 — but it removes the “are these funds actually available?” question.
Sanction letter plus the disbursement terms and the security behind it. An unsecured in-principle letter is thin.
Must be accompanied by separate proof of living-cost funds and travel money — paid tuition alone does not satisfy the requirement.
A sponsor letter on its own is never enough. It must be paired with the sponsor’s bank statements, employment or business records, and a documented relationship to you.
Particularly strong where the award runs longer than one year — it answers the multi-year funding question at the same time.
Added as an accepted example in the July 24, 2026 officer instructions. Useful where a retired parent is funding the student.
New 2026Added as an accepted example in the July 24, 2026 officer instructions. Support it with the lease, ownership documents and the rent credits landing in the account.
New 2026Dropped from the officer list. A bank draft convertible to Canadian dollars was removed from the examples in the July 24, 2026 update, and it no longer appears on IRCC’s public list either.
Foreign exchange controls. If your country restricts the movement of money, you must also prove you will be permitted to export funds covering all of your expenses. Convert amounts at the Bank of Canada rate — inflated conversions are cross-checked and cause refusals.
Sources: IRCC’s proof of financial support page and the officer instructions “Study permits: Assessing the application”, updated July 24, 2026. Where the two differ, we prepare to the officer-facing standard.
Medical exam
Most study permits run longer than six months, so the answer turns on where you have lived in the past year and whether your program places you in a health-care or child-care setting. Check IRCC’s current country table before you book a panel physician.
Sources: IRCC, Medical exams for temporary residents (2026-08-04), country table (revised Nov 3, 2025), Medical exams for permanent residents (2026-08-04). Checked October 3, 2026.
Post-graduation work permit
The PGWP is why most students choose Canada. Since 2024 there are two gates: a language test for everyone, and a field-of-study requirement for non-degree programs. Three questions.
What will you graduate with?
When did you (or will you) apply for your study permit?
Is your program full-time and at least 8 months?
For college and other non-degree programs, your field must map to an eligible category. Degree graduates are exempt. The list is frozen for all of 2026. Language rules still apply: CLB/NCLC 7 for degrees, CLB/NCLC 5 for college, in all four abilities.
No example matches that keyword — that doesn’t mean it’s ineligible. Check the official list or ask us.
Spouse open work permit
The rules tightened on January 21, 2025. A spousal open work permit now depends on your program. Bringing a spouse or children also raises your proof-of-funds figure, whether or not your spouse qualifies.
Do you hold a valid study permit and study full-time?
Institution finder
A quick reference of major public Designated Learning Institutions, generally PGWP-designated. Search by name or city, narrow by province or type, then confirm your exact institution and program on IRCC’s official list.
Reference only, not exhaustive, and DLI numbers change — always verify your institution and its PGWP status on the official IRCC DLI list. PGWP eligibility also depends on your specific program.
How we help
Our job isn’t just uploading forms. We shape how your application reads to an officer — the story, the funds, the fit, and the consistency across every document.
We confirm your DLI, program fit, PGWP implications, and whether a PAL or TAL is needed before you file.
We build the money trail: six months of statements, sponsor income, and a documented explanation for every deposit an officer will ask about.
We help present your study plan, background, and future goals so your intent reads as genuine and logical.
Forms, documents and letters are compared side by side so your file reads as one complete application.
A missing PAL/TAL, an unexplained deposit, or a program that won’t lead to a PGWP are among the most common, most avoidable problems we fix before a file is ever submitted.
New study permit applications from outside Canada — school fit, funds, PAL/TAL, and a clear statement of purpose.
Extensions, program changes and continuation planning while you keep valid status — with funds measured against the year ahead.
We read the refusal reasons and fix the root cause, so a re-application isn’t just a repeat of the first.
Good to know
The questions we hear most on this topic, answered by our consultants. The full list is in the Help Centre.
More questions on this topic are answered in the Help Centre.
Talk to a licensed RCIC
Every case turns on your program, funds, history and goals. Send us the basics — your country, planned intake and school — and a licensed RCIC maps them against the 2026 rules before you submit a single form.
General information only, not legal advice. Rules, fees and dollar amounts change — always confirm the current requirements on canada.ca before filing. Reviewed September 2026.
Study permit review
Send a few details. A licensed RCIC reads your profile personally, then replies with the routes that genuinely fit, the ones that do not, and the consultation fee and next available times.
CHK Immigration Services, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (CICC). Offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Submitting this form does not create a client–consultant relationship; IRCC makes all final decisions. Prefer to talk first? Call 647-948-7200 or book a paid consultation.
Free, fee-exempt options exist. Your employer or partner is not asked.
