In a move that will be felt across Canadian universities, colleges and language schools, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has quietly rewritten the instructions officers must follow when assessing study-permit applications. The revised guidance—dated July 24 2026 and published on IRCC’s internal site last week—was first reported on August 2 by the Times of India. It states that an officer “shall not issue a study permit” unless satisfied both that the applicant has enough money for tuition, travel and living costs and that the *source* of those funds is legitimate. Officers are now told to verify six months of bank statements (up from four) and, where necessary, to request additional documents such as payslips, pension statements or proof of rental income. A reference to reviewing funds only in “very high-risk environments” has been deleted, signalling that deeper scrutiny is to become the norm rather than the exception. The policy shift is IRCC’s most explicit response to mounting criticism that the international-student system has become a back-door migration stream vulnerable to fraud. In the current academic year, Canada is hosting well over one million foreign students—more per capita than any other G-7 country—and a parliamentary committee has warned that inadequate vetting of applicants’ finances encourages exploitation by unscrupulous recruiters and private colleges. By demanding more documentation worldwide, Ottawa aims to weed out sham applications before they translate into unpaid tuition, labour-market abuse or future asylum claims. For legitimate students and their sponsors the new rules mean longer document-gathering times and potentially higher up-front costs. Financial advisers are urging families to consolidate funds early and, where possible, transfer tuition into a Canadian GIC or institutional account to create an auditable trail. Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) are bracing for a dip in conversion rates from “letter-of-acceptance” to actual enrolment, especially from markets where banking systems make it hard to produce six clean months of statements. The change may prove beneficial for the banking sector. Major Canadian banks already market Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) tailored to Student Direct Stream (SDS) applicants. If more students opt for GICs to satisfy IRCC officers, deposits could swell. On the flip side, smaller language schools that recruit heavily from countries with less formal financial infrastructure fear the new hurdle will push prospective customers to rival destinations such as Australia or the United Kingdom. From a compliance standpoint, the tougher guidance equips officers with clearer grounds to refuse dubious files, which in turn could ease processing backlogs. However, immigration lawyers caution that heightened subjectivity around “source of funds” may also generate a spike in judicial reviews. They are advising clients to prepare notarised translations of income tax returns, property deeds and business licences to pre-empt concerns about legitimacy. For employers who count on graduate talent transitioning to post-graduation work permits, the message is clear: admission funnels are narrowing, and early recruitment planning will be essential.
Source: Times of India
