Immigration Funds & Income Calculator

The money has to be liquid, available to you, and unencumbered: readily convertible to cash, held in your name (or jointly with a spouse or common-law partner), and not tied up in property, vehicles, or other assets. Borrowed money does not count, and neither does equity in a house or a car. IRCC asks for official letters from every bank or financial institution holding the money, printed on institution letterhead, listing account numbers, current balances, and the average balance over the past six months.

Candidates invited under the Canadian Experience Class are not required to show settlement funds. Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Skilled Trades candidates are also not required to show funds if they have a valid job offer supported by an LMIA (or an LMIA-exempt offer that meets the rules) and are authorized to work in Canada. Everyone else invited through Express Entry has to meet the amount for their family size.

Twice. You declare the amount when you create your Express Entry profile, and you file the proof-of-funds letters with your permanent residence application after an invitation. For Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Skilled Trades applicants the funds must still be available when the permanent resident visa is issued and when you land on your Confirmation of Permanent Residence, so spending the money down after applying can affect the application.

Family size includes you, your spouse or common-law partner, your dependent children, and your spouse's dependent children. They are counted even when they are not coming to Canada with you, and even when they are already Canadian citizens or permanent residents. The count does not change based on who accompanies you.

Annually, usually around the middle of the year. The Express Entry settlement-funds table is set at 50% of the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) for each family size, and Statistics Canada updates LICO every year. The table shown on this page carries its effective date for that reason: compare it against the current table on canada.ca before relying on it.

They are two separate tests. A super visa host meets the plain Low Income Cut-Off for their family size, for one year. A Parents and Grandparents Program sponsor meets the minimum necessary income, which is LICO plus 30%, for each of the three most recent tax years. The super visa is a long-stay visitor visa; PGP is permanent residence sponsorship carrying a 20-year undertaking outside Quebec, and the higher, three-year test reflects that.