CanadaWhat it is like here
Canada does something unusual: its public school boards enrol international students directly, at published fees a fraction of what a private international school charges. The country is safe, the schooling is strong, and the language is English. What it does not have is a status for a parent — accompanying a child means repeated visitor records or a permit of your own, and a child alone needs a formal custodian.
How the process works
Apply to a school board, not a school
Boards run the international programme and place students within their schools.
Study permit for the child, and a plan for the parent
The child’s permit is straightforward; the parent’s status is the part to solve first.
Declare a custodian if no parent will be present
A notarised custodianship declaration is required for minors.
What the first year asks for up front
Money a government or a school requires before the year starts. Listed one at a time and never added together: some of it is spent and some of it only has to exist.
Not money that is handed over. It is shown, and the department says in terms that it does not include tuition or transport. The department says the amounts are updated each year.
Applies from 2026-09-01 · the next amount is set on 2027-09-01 · we read this in 2026-09
The department’s own proof-of-financial-support page, which prints a table headed for all provinces and territories except Quebec: CAD 23,448 for one person for applications made on or after 1 September 2026, rising to CAD 62,054 for seven and CAD 6,318 for each further person. Search summaries were still giving the previous year’s CAD 22,895 when this was read.
Quebec sets its own and it is the higher of the two. It also covers different ground: the ministry lists health and hospitalisation insurance among the things the amount is for, while the federal figure names tuition and transport as excluded and says nothing about insurance. The ministry adjusts its amounts on 1 January, so the two figures on this page are not only different sizes but on different clocks.
Applies from 2026-01-01 · the next amount is set on 2027-01-01 · we read this in 2026-09
The Quebec government’s cost-of-studies page: CAD 24,617 for one person aged 18 or over for applications made from 1 January 2026, CAD 60,299 for six, and CAD 5,254 for each person beyond that.
we read this in 2026-09
The department’s fee list, which prices "Study permit (including extensions) per person" at CAD 150. The page carries a last-modified date of 2 July 2026.
One amount with a condition attached, rather than an amount that varies. The exemptions go by age and not by passport: nobody under 14 or over 79 pays it, and a United States citizen is not exempt.
we read this in 2026-09
The department’s biometrics page: CAN$85 for an individual applicant and a maximum of CAN$170 for a family applying at the same time, with exemptions listed for children under 14 and applicants over 79.
Applies from 2026-01-01 · the next amount is set on 2027-01-01 · we read this in 2026-09
The Quebec government’s temporary-selection-for-studies page: CAD 135 for an international student from 1 January 2026, on a page which says the fees are adjusted on 1 January of each year.
A custodian is required for a child under 17 who comes without a parent or legal guardian, and the declaration has to be notarised on both sides. The government charges nothing for it, and what a notary charges is not a published amount, so there is no row for it. Two other sums a family meets in the first year are already on this page and are deliberately not repeated here: the Montreal board’s CAD 1,000 deposit sits inside the CAD 13,400 tuition figure above, so a row would count the same money twice, and its CAD 600 health insurance is one board’s charge rather than something the country requires. Quebec’s cost-of-living amount already names health insurance as one of the things it is for.
Two authorities publish these and they do not agree, which is most of what this block records. The federal department sets a cost-of-living amount for every province except Quebec and updates it each September; Quebec sets a higher one, covering slightly different ground, and updates it each January. A student going to Montreal meets both, the provincial certificate first and then the federal permit.