GIC for Canada 2026: how much, how it works and how to pay from India

The GIC rules for Indian students have changed three times since late 2024. The Student Direct Stream, which made a GIC compulsory, closed in November 2024, and IRCC raised its living-cost figure in January 2025 and again for applications from 1 September 2026.

Every figure below comes from IRCC, the RBI, the Income Tax Department or the bank’s own page, checked on 20 October 2026. Rupee figures use C$1 ≈ ₹68.

How much GIC is required for Canada in 2026?

C$23,448 for a single student, about ₹15.9 lakh, if you apply on or after 1 September 2026 to study anywhere outside Quebec. That is IRCC’s living-cost amount on its proof of financial support page. IRCC does not set a separate GIC figure; banks build their student GICs around this number because it is the amount you must show for living costs. Applications made between 1 January 2025 and 31 August 2026 needed C$22,895.

The GIC does not cover tuition or travel. IRCC says its living-cost amounts “do not include tuition and transportation costs,” so a complete file shows all three, with first-year tuition usually shown as a paid-fee receipt from your college.

If family is coming with you, show the higher amount. Scotiabank, CIBC and SBI Canada (its Option B) take up to C$50,000 and RBC up to C$75,000. BMO accepts up to C$75,000 and TD sets no maximum, but both put only C$23,448 into the GIC; the rest sits in your new chequing account, so show it with that account’s statement or a loan letter.

The amount that counts is the one in force on the day you apply. If you opened a GIC for C$22,895 before 1 September 2026 and apply now, you are C$553 (about ₹37,600) short: show the difference another way, or ask your bank whether it accepts a top-up. IRCC says the amounts “are updated each year” but has not said when the next change takes effect, so check its table in the month you apply. Quebec sets its own amounts; see Quebec’s costs page if your college is there.

Is a GIC mandatory for Canada now?

No. The GIC was a requirement of the Student Direct Stream, and IRCC ended that stream on 8 November 2024. Its notice told students to apply through the regular study permit stream, “which accepts Guaranteed Investment Certificates as proof of financial support.” On IRCC’s funds page a GIC from a Canadian financial institution is one example on a list that also includes:

• proof of a student or education loan from a bank;
• bank statements for the past six months, with the source of the money;
• a receipt for first-year tuition and housing fees, alongside proof of living funds;
• a letter from the person giving you money, with proof of your relationship;
• a scholarship, or a Canadian bank account in your name holding money you have transferred.

IRCC calls this “not a complete list.” So the question is not whether you need a GIC but which evidence makes your file easiest to approve. In our experience most families still choose a GIC for the living-cost part, for two reasons: a GIC certificate is quick for an officer to check, and the money cannot be spent before you leave because the bank pays it out after you arrive. A sanctioned education loan from a bank is the usual alternative for families borrowing in rupees. Our Canada study permit documents checklist covers the rest of the file, and our proof of funds guide compares Canada with the UK, the USA, Australia and Germany.

How does a student GIC work?

A guaranteed investment certificate is a deposit with a Canadian bank that pays a fixed rate of interest. Student GIC programmes add two features: you open the account online from India before you have a study permit, and the bank releases the money to you after you land. At most banks the process has five steps:

• Apply online with your passport and study details. You get an account number and then wire instructions; RBC gives the number at once and the instructions “within one to two days” after it verifies your documents.
• Send the money from India by international wire (SWIFT) from your Indian bank account. International wires take about five business days, by BMO’s and SBI Canada’s estimates.
• Download the confirmation the bank issues once the money lands. ICICI Bank Canada says it issues proof of funds “within 24 hours”; SBI Canada says about one business day after the funds arrive. This is the document you upload with your study permit application.
• Activate the account in Canada after you arrive, usually in person at a branch; ICICI Bank Canada and SBI Canada also offer online identity checks, and SBI Canada a check at Canada Post. CIBC gives you 180 days from your expected arrival date and SBI Canada 180 days from arrival; TD closes the account if you have not completed its steps within 365 days of opening it.
• Receive the money: at most banks a lump sum at activation, then monthly payments over 10 to 12 months.

Open it once you have your letter of acceptance and, if you need one, your provincial attestation letter, and allow about two weeks before you apply for the study permit. Pay first-year tuition in the same window, so both receipts go into one application; our Canada cost guide sets out tuition and living costs in rupees. The GIC is not a fee. It is your own living money, held for you and paid back with a little interest. The true costs are the bank’s fee, the wire charges and the exchange-rate margin.

Which bank is best for a GIC in Canada?

None is best for everyone. The differences are the fee, how much you receive when you arrive, and whether the bank has branches near your college. These are each bank’s own terms, checked on 20 October 2026:

A few points the table cannot show. RBC no longer issues a classic pre-arrival GIC: it sends “a confirmation of deposit by email that can be used as proof of funds,” and you choose the GIC with an adviser after you land. CIBC’s page and terms still use the pre-2025 figure of C$20,635 in their example, so confirm the payout split before you wire. Interest is small at every bank: SBI Canada lists 1.05% for its one-year student GIC, CIBC’s November 2024 terms say 0.50%, and TD’s rates page shows 2.50% for its student GIC on a two-year term. Scotiabank and BMO did not show a current student rate.

In practice, students we work with choose by two things: the payout at arrival, because the first month in Canada costs more than any other (deposit, furniture, a winter coat), and a branch within reach of the college, because most banks need you in person to activate.

How do you pay the GIC from India?

By a SWIFT wire from your Indian bank, through net banking or at a branch, under the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme. The steps:

• Use an account the bank accepts. The rules differ by bank. TD accepts a wire “from the account of family or friends,” and ICICI Bank Canada from a parent’s, spouse’s or sibling’s account. Scotiabank says funds “must be deposited by the student from their bank account in their home country (or a joint account with the parents in your home country).” BMO wants your own account or one you share with your parents, and takes a parent’s own account only in limited cases. SBI Canada accepts your own account or one held jointly with a parent or spouse, and refuses money sent through exchange houses, money transfer services or other third parties.
• Send Canadian dollars, except at CIBC, which also takes foreign currencies. RBC accepts only Canadian dollars, BMO sets up the GIC only in Canadian dollars, and SBI Canada’s Option A must arrive as C$23,598 “in full without any deductions.” Ask your bank to send with all charges paid by you, so nothing is deducted on the way.
• Fill in Form A2 and give your PAN. The RBI’s LRS Master Direction requires Form A2 for every remittance and makes PAN “mandatory.” If a parent sends the money, it is their PAN and their limit.
• Choose the purpose code. ICICI Bank’s own Form A2 lists “S0305 - GIC Payment to Canada” under the RBI’s code for travel for education. Other banks’ forms may show only the general S0305 wording; ask the branch if you are unsure.
• Keep the SWIFT copy. If the money is late or short, the transfer advice (MT103) is what both banks use to trace it.

The LRS limit is US$250,000 per person per financial year, including money for studies; a GIC plus a year’s tuition sits well inside it. Under the same direction, banks can allow more for studies abroad on the strength of the university’s estimate. IRCC also says that if your country uses foreign exchange controls, you must prove you will be allowed to take the money out; keeping your Form A2 and SWIFT copy shows the money left India under the RBI’s scheme.

Is TCS charged on a GIC payment from India?

Usually only on the part above ₹10 lakh, and not at all if the money is an education loan. Under section 394 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, your bank collects tax at source once your LRS remittances add up to more than ₹10 lakh; banks count this per financial year and charge only the amount above ₹10 lakh. For education, the rate is 2% from 1 April 2026; it was 5% before. For purposes other than education or medical treatment, it is 20%. And when the money “being remitted out is a loan” from a financial institution for education, no TCS is collected.

An example: a parent who sends a C$23,448 GIC (about ₹15.9 lakh) from their own savings, and has sent nothing else abroad that year, has 2% collected on about ₹5.9 lakh, roughly ₹11,900. If the same parent has already sent ₹10 lakh or more that financial year, for tuition or anything else, the whole GIC attracts 2%. The threshold is per sender, so a GIC sent by the other parent starts afresh.

Two cautions. ICICI Bank’s Form A2 files a GIC under S0305, an education code, and other banks may do the same, but the law does not say so expressly. Confirm the rate on your bank’s remittance screen before you pay, because a GIC coded as a gift or investment would attract 20%. And TCS is not a fee: it is tax collected in advance against the sender’s PAN, which they can claim against their income tax when they file their return.

Can an education loan pay for the GIC?

Possibly, but no lender page we checked confirms it, so ask yours before you plan on it. SBI’s Global Ed-Vantage page lists eligible expenses such as fees, hostel and travel, and separately links its Canada GIC page and says the loan can be sanctioned or disbursed before the visa. Our SBI education loan guide covers what to ask the branch.

If your loan cannot fund the GIC, you may not need one. IRCC accepts “proof of a student or education loan from a bank” as proof of funds in its own right, so a sanction letter covering tuition and living costs can do the job a GIC does. IRCC’s wording is a loan “from a bank,” so check before you borrow from a non-bank lender. Where a loan does fund the GIC, keep the disbursement letter, because the nil-TCS rule turns on the money being a loan.

What happens to the GIC if your study permit is refused?

You get the money back, less some charges, after sending the bank proof of the refusal. IRCC no longer publishes guidance on this, so the bank’s terms decide. Refunds go back to the account the money came from, take from 7 to 10 business days at RBC to up to eight weeks at ICICI Bank Canada, and cost anything from the wire fees alone at BMO to the C$200 processing fee plus charges at ICICI. Scotiabank refunds only the full balance.

If you plan to reapply, you may not need a refund at all. TD says you can use the same GIC for a fresh application as long as it still meets IRCC’s amount and you complete its steps within 365 days. Our Canada study permit refusal guide covers refunds from colleges as well as banks, and what to change before you apply again.

What should you check before you wire the GIC?

• Letter of acceptance in hand, and your provincial attestation letter if you need one.
• Amount checked against IRCC’s table for the date you will apply, and for everyone coming with you.
• Bank chosen for its fee, payout at arrival and nearest branch to your college.
• Sending account accepted by that bank.
• Transfer in the currency the bank asks for, with all charges paid by you.
• Form A2, PAN and purpose code S0305 ready, and the TCS figure checked on screen.
• SWIFT copy and the bank’s confirmation saved for your study permit application.

Our education loan team in Egmore, Chennai, can check the amount, loan and remittance with you.