Document · Proof of funds

Proof of funds, and the rules that were never real

Three of the rules Indian applicants are most careful about were never published by IRCC. Two of the rules it did publish are stricter than anybody warns.

Checked 3 September 2026Sources: IRCC

The short answer

Express Entry proof of funds requires a bank letter showing settlement funds you can legally access, sized to your family. IRCC does not require the money to have sat in the account for six months, and does not cap gifts. It does refuse equity in property and money borrowed from another person.

How much you have to show

IRCC last updated these figures on 7 July 2025. They are set at 50% of the low income cut-off totals, which is why they move a little every year rather than staying put.

Settlement funds required by family size, in Canadian dollars
Family members	Funds you need
1	CAD 15,263
2	CAD 19,001
3	CAD 23,360
4	CAD 28,362
5	CAD 32,168
6	CAD 36,280
7	CAD 40,392
Each person beyond seven	add CAD 4,112

Who is counted in the family

Four people, and one instruction that catches applicants out.

Count all of these

yourself
your spouse or common-law partner
your dependent children
your spouse or common-law partner's dependent children

Counted even where they are Canadian citizens or permanent residents, and even where they are not coming with you.

Who does not need to show funds at all

Two exemptions: applicants invited under the Canadian Experience Class, and anyone authorised to work in Canada who holds a valid job offer, even under the skilled worker or trades programs.

The system asks every applicant for a proof of funds document. If you are exempt, you upload a letter saying which exemption applies to you instead.

Three rules that were never IRCC rules

Each of these is repeated confidently on Indian consultancy pages and argued about on forums by people who have read the same pages. None of them appears in IRCC's requirements.

"The money must sit in the account for six months"

This one has a real ancestor, which is why it survives. IRCC requires the bank letter to state the average balance for the past six months of each account. That is a rule about what the letter has to say, not a period the money has to serve. Somebody read it as a holding requirement and the misreading became the standard advice.

A recent deposit does not disqualify you. It has to be money you can legally access, and you should be able to say where it came from.

"A gift cannot be more than half the total"

There is no percentage anywhere in IRCC's requirements, and no rule restricting gifts to parents. The real test is different and it is about the nature of the money rather than its size.

You cannot count money borrowed from another person. A genuine gift is yours; money handed over on the understanding that it comes back is a loan, and calling it a gift in an affidavit does not change what it is.

"A gift deed on stamp paper settles it"

A gift deed is evidence about money, and evidence is only as good as the fact it describes. IRCC's requirement is that the funds are available to you and not borrowed, so the document helps where the gift is real and helps nothing where it is not.

Where money is moving between family members, put it in the applicant's own account well before filing and be able to explain it, rather than relying on paperwork to carry a transfer that happened last week.

What the bank letter has to contain

You need an official letter from every bank or financial institution where you hold an account. This is where Indian applications lose time, because a branch asked for "proof of funds" will usually produce a balance certificate, which is a shorter document that leaves out several of the things below.

Every letter must

be printed on the financial institution's letterhead
give the institution address, telephone number and email address
give your name
list your outstanding debts, including credit card debts and loans
give the account number, the date opened, the current balance and the average balance for the past six months, for every account you hold there

The two your branch will probably leave out

Your outstanding debts, and the average balance for the past six months. A balance certificate states today's number and stops. Ask for both explicitly, in writing, and expect to explain to the branch that the letter is for a Canadian immigration application rather than for a visa interview.

What cannot be counted, and what can

IRCC's test is legal access: you have to prove you can use the money in Canada when you arrive, for your family's living costs, even for family members who are not coming with you. Two things fail that test outright.

equity in real property, which rules out a house or land in Gujarat however it is valued
money borrowed from another person

This is the rule that catches Gujarati families

Property equity cannot be counted at all. A family with agricultural land, a house and gold can be genuinely well off and still unable to show settlement funds, because none of it is money in an account. If the property is meant to fund the move, it has to be sold and the proceeds have to be sitting somewhere a bank letter can describe.

What does count

money held jointly with a spouse who is coming with you
money in an account in your spouse's name alone, if you can prove you have access to it

And it has to be there twice

The funds must be available when you apply, and again when IRCC issues the permanent resident visa. Months separate those two moments, and spending the settlement money on the move itself in between is the version of this that goes wrong most often. Treat it as untouchable until the visa is issued.

How a Canadian permanent residence application runs, end to end

The other document with a folklore rule attached: the police certificate

And the third: what a three-year Indian degree is really worth

Questions applicants ask

Does money need to sit in my account for six months for Express Entry?

Money does not need to sit in your account for six months, and IRCC has never published that rule. The requirement that produces the belief is a different one: the bank letter you submit must state the average balance for the past six months of each account, alongside the account number, the date it was opened and the current balance. That is a disclosure requirement about what the letter contains, not a holding period the money has to serve. A recent deposit is not disqualifying. It simply has to be money you can legally access, and you should be able to account for where it came from if asked.

Can I use a gift from my parents as proof of funds?

You can use gifted money as proof of funds, and the widely repeated rules capping a gift at half the total or restricting gifts to parents do not come from IRCC. What IRCC actually requires is that the money is legally available to you and that you have not borrowed it from another person. That is the line the gift anxiety should be measured against: a genuine gift is yours, while money handed over with an expectation of repayment is a loan and cannot be counted. The practical consequence is that the distinction has to be real, not merely documented, because a gift deed describing a loan is still a loan.

Can I use my house or land in India as proof of funds?

You cannot use a house or land as proof of funds for Express Entry. IRCC says directly that equity in real property cannot be used as settlement funds. This is one of the places where the real rule is stricter than the folklore, and it matters more in Gujarat than almost anywhere, because a family whose wealth is in agricultural land and property can be genuinely well off and still unable to show settlement funds. Gold is not liquid money in a bank account either. If the property is to fund the move, it has to be sold and the proceeds have to be in an account you can show.

Who does not need to show proof of funds?

You do not need to show proof of funds if you were invited under the Canadian Experience Class, or if you are authorised to work in Canada and hold a valid job offer, even when you apply under the Federal Skilled Worker Program or the Federal Skilled Trades Program. There is a practical catch worth knowing: the application system asks every applicant for a proof of funds document regardless. If you are exempt, you upload a letter explaining which exemption applies to you in place of the bank letters.

When do the funds have to be available?

The funds have to be available at two separate moments: when you apply, and again when IRCC issues the permanent resident visa. People concentrate on the first and are caught by the second, because months pass between them and life happens. Spending the settlement funds on the move itself, on tuition, or on a family obligation after filing is the version of this that goes wrong most often. The money has to still be there at the end, so treat it as untouchable until the visa is issued rather than as a threshold you cross once.

Where this comes from

Governments and the institutions that issue the documents, only. Every figure and rule on this page traces to one of these, and they are the pages to check if something here has since changed.

Read and checked by Jay Sharma, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant R710507, licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. Figures verified 3 September 2026.

Proof of funds

Send us the bank letter before it goes into the file.

Indian branches routinely issue a balance certificate rather than the letter IRCC asks for, and the missing pieces are the same ones every time. We read it against the requirement and tell your bank exactly what to add.

Every Canadian file is reviewed by Jay Sharma, licensed to represent you before IRCC as RCIC R710507 and verifiable on the CICC public register. That is the difference between advice and representation.

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This page is general information about what a document has to be, not advice about your file. Immigration rules and the practice of the offices that issue these documents change without notice. A Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant may represent you before IRCC. Last checked 3 September 2026.