Canada is raising the financial threshold for international students seeking study permits from September 1, adding another hurdle for Nigerians hoping to study in the country as Ottawa continues to reduce the size of its international student programme.
From September 1, 2026, a single applicant seeking to study outside Quebec will have to demonstrate access to C$23,448 for one year of living expenses, excluding tuition and transportation. The amount is C$553 higher than the current C$22,895 requirement introduced in September 2025, representing an increase of about 2.4 per cent.
The change is not an isolated increase. It is the latest stage of a broader Canadian policy shift that has transformed the study permit environment since 2024, when Ottawa moved from a financial requirement of C$10,000 for a single student to C$20,635.
For Nigerian applicants, the significance goes beyond the additional C$553. The financial requirement is only one part of a much tighter system that now includes limits on international student numbers, provincial or territorial attestation requirements for many applicants, stricter institutional oversight and changes to post graduation work permit eligibility.
Canada’s financial requirement had remained at C$10,000 for a single applicant since the early 2000s, despite substantial changes in living costs.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, IRCC, increased it to C$20,635 from January 1, 2024, arguing that students needed to arrive with adequate resources rather than depend on employment to meet basic expenses. The threshold was subsequently increased to C$22,895 from September 1, 2025.
The 2026 figure represents a 13.6 per cent increase from the C$20,635 requirement introduced in 2024. Compared with the old C$10,000 threshold, the amount required for a single student’s living expenses is now more than twice as high.
The calculation is tied to 75 per cent of Statistics Canada’s Low Income Cut Off and is reviewed annually. The increase therefore reflects Canada’s stated policy of keeping the financial test aligned with changes in living costs rather than imposing a permanent fixed amount.
Importantly, the C$23,448 is not the total cost of studying in Canada. It covers living expenses for one year. Applicants must also demonstrate funds for tuition and transportation.
That distinction could be particularly important for Nigerian families planning budgets around the new threshold.
Families Face A Much Larger Financial Test
The requirement rises with the number of people accompanying the student.
From September 1, the figures for applicants outside Quebec will be:
Family size Required living funds
One person C$23,448
Two people C$29,192
Three people C$35,888
Four people C$43,572
Five people C$49,419
Six people C$55,736
Seven people C$62,054
Each additional person C$6,318
These amounts exclude tuition and transportation. For example, a Nigerian student travelling with two family members will need to demonstrate C$35,888 for living expenses alone.
Applicants enrolled in programmes lasting more than one year must also satisfy immigration officers that they have a credible means of financing the entire period of study.
Acceptable evidence can include bank statements, education loans, scholarships, letters from sponsors, Canadian bank accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, employment documents and evidence that tuition or accommodation has already been paid.
The policy matters to Nigeria because Nigerians have historically been among the significant populations using Canada’s international education system.
Canadian government data identified Nigeria as the third largest source of study permit holders among the top five countries in 2024, with 26,520 Nigerian citizens holding study permits, representing about five per cent of the total in the dataset. India accounted for 37 per cent and China 11 per cent.
But the wider trend is now moving downward.
Canada recorded about 292,885 new study permit holders arriving in 2024. That fell to approximately 115,005 in 2025, a reduction of about 61 per cent. During January to June 2026, only 22,405 new study permit holders arrived.
The reduction reflects deliberate government policy rather than simply declining interest.
Canada introduced an international student cap in 2024 and subsequently reduced its targets. For 2026, the government expects up to 155,000 new international student arrivals, alongside 253,000 study permit extensions, for a total potential issuance of 408,000 permits.
The distinction between new arrivals and extensions is important because a study permit extension does not necessarily represent another person entering Canada.
Approval Has Also Become More Difficult
The financial requirement is being introduced against a background of increasingly restrictive study permit decisions.
IRCC reported that the refusal rate for new study permit applications rose to 59 per cent in 2025, compared with 52 per cent in 2024. By January 31, 2026, the refusal rate had reached 62 per cent for new applications, while refusals for study permit extensions remained much lower, at 10 per cent.
Canada’s overall population of study permit holders also declined sharply, from about 928,430 at the end of 2024 to approximately 691,215 at the end of 2025, a fall of about 26 per cent. By June 30, 2026, the number stood at 632,535.
For prospective Nigerian students, these figures provide important context. Meeting the new financial requirement does not guarantee approval. Applicants must still satisfy the broader eligibility and admissibility requirements.
The changes followed growing concerns in Canada about the rapid expansion of international education, particularly pressure on housing, public services and the integrity of the immigration system.
Ottawa has said its objective is to bring temporary residents to a more sustainable level. Canada has committed to reducing its temporary population to less than five per cent of the country’s population by the end of 2027.
The government has also strengthened verification of letters of acceptance, introduced tighter controls on designated learning institutions and restored a 24 hour weekly limit on off campus work for eligible international students.
That last measure is particularly relevant to applicants who may have previously planned to finance part of their living expenses through employment after arrival. The financial requirement is designed to establish that students can support themselves without relying on work in Canada.
For Nigerian families, therefore, the central change is not simply that Canada has added C$553 to the required bank balance.
The bigger story is that Canada’s international education pathway has become significantly more expensive to enter, more competitive to navigate and more closely controlled than it was before 2024.
The September 2026 increase is scheduled within that broader policy direction. And because the financial threshold is reviewed annually, prospective students should expect the requirement to remain subject to further changes rather than assuming that the C$23,448 figure will remain permanent.