Cost of studying in Canada from Nepal

Before IRCC grants a study permit, it asks for one fixed figure for living costs alone: CAD 23,448 for a single applicant outside Quebec, for applications made on or after 1 September 2026. That is not the cost of studying in Canada. It excludes tuition and it excludes travel, both of which you have to show on top of it, and neither of which is a number IRCC sets.

This guide covers what the CAD 23,448 figure actually is, how it changes with family members, why a GIC does not automatically satisfy it, and why this page does not convert it into rupees today.

The CAD 23,448 figure, and what it does not include

IRCC's own proof-of-financial-support page states the living-cost requirement for a single applicant, outside Quebec, as CAD 23,448 for applications on or after 1 September 2026, up from CAD 22,895 under the table that applied from 1 January 2025. The page is explicit that "these amounts do not include tuition and transportation costs." Both of those sit on top, evidenced separately.

Tuition has no government figure behind it at all. Each Canadian institution sets its own fees by programme and level, and the number that matters for your application is whatever your own letter of acceptance states, not an estimate from a guide or a calculator. Travel works the same way: IRCC asks you to budget for it, but the figure is whatever your actual return ticket costs.

The CAD 23,448 figure is also not a number that holds still. It applies to applications made on or after 1 September 2026 and replaced CAD 22,895, which had applied since 1 January 2025. A guide, a consultancy brochure or a bank's own page that still quotes the older figure is simply out of date, and the gap between the two amounts is large enough to leave a file genuinely short if nobody updates it before you apply. Check IRCC's own page for the table in force on the day you actually lodge, not the day you first read about it.

Bringing family members raises the figure, person by person

The CAD 23,448 figure is for the applicant alone. IRCC's table adds a fixed amount for each person accompanying you: CAD 29,192 for two people, CAD 35,888 for three, CAD 43,572 for four, CAD 49,419 for five, CAD 55,736 for six, and CAD 62,054 for seven, with CAD 6,318 added for every person beyond that. All of these are living-cost figures only, before tuition or travel for anyone in the group is added.

A GIC is one accepted document, not a fixed number

IRCC's page lists a Guaranteed Investment Certificate from a Canadian financial institution as an example of acceptable proof of funds, alongside a student loan, a scholarship letter, and bank statements. It does not state a GIC dollar amount, because the amount is whatever the GIC you buy is for, not a figure IRCC fixes.

This matters because a specific GIC number, CAD 20,635, still circulates on consultancy sites and in some guides as "the" GIC figure for Canada. That number was tied to the Student Direct Stream, the fast-track programme that paired a set GIC with a faster decision and was permanently discontinued in November 2024. A GIC bought to that older figure does not meet the current CAD 23,448 living-cost table, let alone the higher figures for a family. Buy a GIC, or assemble whatever mix of evidence you use, to cover the table above, not a number carried over from a programme that no longer runs. The Canada study permit guide covers the sequencing of the GIC alongside the provincial attestation letter in more detail.

Quebec runs its own test

IRCC's federal table does not apply if your institution is in Quebec. An applicant going to a Quebec institution instead has to meet the financial requirements the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration sets, in order to obtain a Quebec Acceptance Certificate. That is a separate process from everything above, not a variant of it, and confirming which test applies to you is the first thing to check once you know which province your offer is in.

The bank statements have to show where the money came from

IRCC asks for bank statements, from a Canadian or a foreign account, covering the past six months, and it reads them for the source of the funds, not only the closing figure. A balance that appears shortly before you apply, with no visible history behind it, is weaker evidence than a settled account even when the total is identical. Where the money is a parent's income, a loan, or proceeds from a sale, keep the paperwork that shows it, because the statement alone will not carry that story.

The NOC, and why it still applies regardless of the IRCC figure

None of the above replaces Nepal's own requirement. A Nepali bank cannot legally remit tuition or living funds to Canada without a No Objection Certificate from the Ministry of Education in place first, and that step runs alongside the IRCC process rather than after it. The NOC guide covers it start to finish.

What this actually means for your total

Treat CAD 23,448 as the floor, not the total: it is only the living-cost component, it rises if anyone is coming with you, and your real figure still needs first-year tuition from your actual offer and a return ticket added on top. A GIC or any other evidence you assemble has to cover that full table, not a number left over from a closed programme. Studying in Canada from Nepal covers the wider application timeline this figure sits inside, and the funds calculator can put a working estimate together once you have a tuition figure from an offer to add to it.