Every dollar counts. So spend wisely.

Good news: when you come to Canada through private sponsorship, there’s probably at least $16,500 in an account, just for you – and more if you’re coming with a spouse or family. Bad news: that’s actually not very much money in Canada, based on our crazy cost of living.

Here’s a guide to making the best use of those funds. Because they have to last you an entire year.

Why it matters

With an account full of money waiting for you in Canada, you might be planning to spend it on something nice, such as a new phone. And why not? After a decade or so living on over $108 a month (if you’re in Indonesia), it’s nice to have some financial freedom.

The truth is, though, that you’re going to need all the money for your day-to-day living.

Here are a few ways you’ll need to spend it:

·      New SIM card

·      Phone plan with a lot of data (internet access). Did you pay $5 a month in Indonesia? You'll pay 10x that amount here.

·      Renting a room (usually shared with someone else)

·      Food. Did you spend $150 for groceries in Indonesia? Now you'll spend $400 or so as a single person in Canada

·      Electricity to heat your home and light the lights

·      Warm clothing, including a winter coat and boots

·      Public transit

·      Your flight loan, which you start paying after 12 months in the country

First and biggest challenge: the high cost of rent

Most of newcomers share a room with someone else for the first year in Canada, and often two or three years. This is especially true of the single males who have friends in Canada, who they used to live with, before coming here.

But as you’ll see in the news, housing is very limited and expensive in Canada, especially in the big cities. In Toronto, if you share a room in a two-bedroom apartment (four people in the apartment), it could cost you $600 to $800 per person each month. And it’s likely going to be a fairly simple apartment, not downtown. Rents are even higher in Vancouver.

If you live with friends but have a private room, you will probably pay $900 to $1,200 per month. If you decide to live alone, you could pay between $2,150 to $2,607 for a one bedroom apartment, depending on the location, building type and amenities. These are Toronto prices, but housing in Canada is expensive, period. 

Here are some examples of rents people pay in Toronto in 2025:

·      Three friends share a three-bedroom apartment and pay $1,135 each (total $3,402), which reflects the average rent for a 3-bedroom unit in the city.

·      A married couple and their child live in a one-bedroom apartment and pay $2,195, the current average for a 1-bedroom rental.

·      Four friends share a small two-bedroom apartment and pay $699 each (total $2,795), which is the average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment.

In addition, some landlords charge extra money for ‘utilities’ such as electricity, heating, air conditioning and water. These expenses could add $100 or more to your monthly bill.

Second challenge: making that money last

You likely won’t get all your money right away, but if you do, you need to think carefully. 

As a Group of Five or SAH applicant, you will have different amounts of money held in trust for you by your sponsors. That money is meant to pay for your first year of living in Canada. 

SAHs and most sponsors will only give you one-twelfth (1/12) of your money each month, to ensure there is enough money to last for 12 months, with a bit more in the first month. Single Group of Five applicants usually have around $17,000, so we’re going to use that amount as an example. One-twelfth of $17,000 is $1,417. Some sponsors will give you all your money as soon as you arrive, but that’s risky, because if you spend it too fast, you are now officially out of money.

The truth: you’re not rich, and you will need the sponsor money for yourself. Your family might be looking to you to support them as soon as you arrive, but they likely don’t understand the high cost of living in this country, and how hard it is to find a job in your first few months here. Being in Canada does not make you automatically wealthy. That could take years.

Making a budget

Budgets can seem like just more paperwork, but if you have limited money, they’re a lifesaver.

Here’s a sample budget to show you how fast you can use up the $17,000 in your sponsor account. Note that this is a budget of someone who is living on the bare minimum. Average costs (as you can see in the rent examples above) might be higher.

In this example, you are sharing a room, so the rent is $650. But when you rent an apartment in Canada, you must pay a double rent for your first month. That’s called “first and last month’s rent” and it’s something that landlords require.

(Some landlords expect newcomers to pay six months in advance. That’s not technically legal, but it happens a lot, since the rental market is so competitive). 

In the case of this scenario, you need to pay $1,300 for first and last month’s rent all at once before you can get the apartment.. 

You can see that in Month One, $1,417 will not pay for all your expenses. You will need another $863 to pay your bills. Your sponsors know this and will give it to you out of your sponsor money (also called your “trust account”). But when they do this, it reduces the amount left for the next 11 months. You can see in Month Two that there is less sponsor/trust money. 

Getting a job

It might take several months for you to find steady work. In this example, you worked for 10 hours at minimum wage ($17.60 in Ontario) in Month Two, which gave you a little more. You might work a lot more than this, or you might not work at all, so we have not included money in either month to send to your family or pay toward your flight loan. 

For your flight loan, you can wait until the end of your first year to start paying it back, but you must do that before you can sponsor someone else.

In conclusion

It’s important to be realistic about what you can afford. Once you’ve got a job and have experienced six months or a year of living here, you’ll have a better sense of what you need financially. You’ll be able to plan ahead, send money to your family, and maybe even reward yourself with a new phone. Or hey - especially if you drive Uber or find a job far from where you live... even a car!