MUMBAI: From January 1, international students will need to double the amount of money in their bank accounts – Canadian dollars (Can$) 20,635 to be eligible for a Canadian study permit. This sum is in addition to their first year of tuition & travel costs. This was one of the several key announcements that Marc Miller, Canada‘s immigration minister, made late on Thursday.
The cost of living requirement (aka the funds needed in a bank account to prove financial stability) had remained unchanged at Can$ 10,000 since the early 2000s. Since then costs, especially housing costs have increased sharply, necessitating an upward revision to Can$ 20,635, which will apply to new study permit applications received on or after January 1, 2024. In addition, the cost of living requirement will be adjusted annually, when Statistics Canada updates the low-income-cut-off (LICO), which is the minimum income considered necessary for living in Canada.
Miller also mentioned that Canada is prepared to take necessary measures ahead of the September 2024 semester, including limiting visas if educational institutions aren’t able to provide sufficient support to its international students.
A silver lining for the international student community is that the waiver on the 20-hour limit for off-campus work (while class is in session), that was set to expire at the end of December, has been extended until April 30, 2024. International students who are already in Canada as well as those who have already submitted an application for a study permit as of December 7, 2023 are eligible for this extension.
Canada attracts many international students, with 5.5 lakh new students from 184 countries being admitted during 2022. According to official data, India was by far the most significant source country, with 2.2 lakh new students, followed by China with 52,000 odd new students.
According to Miller, the hike in the ‘cost of living financial requirement’ is necessitated to ensure that students have adequate money to support themselves when they arrive in Canada. Recently, several food-banks in Canada have begun to turn away international students including Indian students, who were arriving in groups – on the ground that an essential requirement is that students need to have sufficient funds to fend for themselves and the food supplies are meant for the homeless and needy. There have also been news reports of students, largely Indian, who were provided just two days of accommodation by an Ontario-based education institute, resulting in severe hardship.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the immigration arm of the government, in a statement stated, “The cost-of-living requirement for study permit applicants has not changed since the early 2000s, when it was set at $10,000 for a single applicant. As such, the financial requirement hasn’t kept up with the cost of living over time, resulting in students arriving in Canada only to learn that their funds aren’t adequate. For 2024, a single applicant will need to show they have $20,635, representing 75% of LICO, in addition to their first year of tuition and travel costs. This change will apply to new study permit applications received on or after January 1, 2024.”
The immigration agency further explains that Quebec establishes its own cost-of-living threshold for international students destined for Quebec’s educational institutions and has continued to raise this threshold periodically.
The cost of living requirement (aka the funds needed in a bank account to prove financial stability) had remained unchanged at Can$ 10,000 since the early 2000s. Since then costs, especially housing costs have increased sharply, necessitating an upward revision to Can$ 20,635, which will apply to new study permit applications received on or after January 1, 2024. In addition, the cost of living requirement will be adjusted annually, when Statistics Canada updates the low-income-cut-off (LICO), which is the minimum income considered necessary for living in Canada.
Miller also mentioned that Canada is prepared to take necessary measures ahead of the September 2024 semester, including limiting visas if educational institutions aren’t able to provide sufficient support to its international students.
A silver lining for the international student community is that the waiver on the 20-hour limit for off-campus work (while class is in session), that was set to expire at the end of December, has been extended until April 30, 2024. International students who are already in Canada as well as those who have already submitted an application for a study permit as of December 7, 2023 are eligible for this extension.
Canada attracts many international students, with 5.5 lakh new students from 184 countries being admitted during 2022. According to official data, India was by far the most significant source country, with 2.2 lakh new students, followed by China with 52,000 odd new students.
According to Miller, the hike in the ‘cost of living financial requirement’ is necessitated to ensure that students have adequate money to support themselves when they arrive in Canada. Recently, several food-banks in Canada have begun to turn away international students including Indian students, who were arriving in groups – on the ground that an essential requirement is that students need to have sufficient funds to fend for themselves and the food supplies are meant for the homeless and needy. There have also been news reports of students, largely Indian, who were provided just two days of accommodation by an Ontario-based education institute, resulting in severe hardship.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the immigration arm of the government, in a statement stated, “The cost-of-living requirement for study permit applicants has not changed since the early 2000s, when it was set at $10,000 for a single applicant. As such, the financial requirement hasn’t kept up with the cost of living over time, resulting in students arriving in Canada only to learn that their funds aren’t adequate. For 2024, a single applicant will need to show they have $20,635, representing 75% of LICO, in addition to their first year of tuition and travel costs. This change will apply to new study permit applications received on or after January 1, 2024.”
The immigration agency further explains that Quebec establishes its own cost-of-living threshold for international students destined for Quebec’s educational institutions and has continued to raise this threshold periodically.