Are we misunderstanding the proof of funds requirement?

[sleepspace9]

My husband and I are planning to enter the Express Entry pool in the near future. (A huge thanks to the folks on here who recommended a soft landing!) We are trying to figure out our proof of funds. We have a joint checking account and a joint savings account with the same bank. The bank issues a combined monthly statement for both accounts on the 4th of every month, and the end-of-statement balance is always larger than the amount we need for Canada. We plan to keep our spending in check so that this will keep happening for every monthly statement in the future. Is that all we need to do right now? I know that the bank will state the "average balance for the past 6 months" in their official letter when we apply. Is that average balance just the arithmetic mean of the end-of-statment balances for the last 6 months?

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/documents/proof-funds.html

 

[21Goose]

Average balances are typically the mean of daily balances, not monthly (though it may differ based on your bank). My US banks (Bank of America, and my local credit union) both used the daily balance to calculate the mean.

And yes, all you need to do is show that you have the funds required over a reasonable period of time (hence the six months), and that there was no sudden, suspicious infusion of funds in the past week or two just to get you over the line.

 

[sleepspace9]

Average balances are typically the mean of daily balances, not monthly (though it may differ based on your bank). My US banks (Bank of America, and my local credit union) both used the daily balance to calculate the mean.

And yes, all you need to do is show that you have the funds required over a reasonable period of time (hence the six months), and that there was no sudden, suspicious infusion of funds in the past week or two just to get you over the line.

Thanks for the clarification! The mean of our monthly end-of-statement balancese will be fine, but I don't believe the mean of our daily balances will be large enough. There are days in the month when our balance is quite low and then it increases later in the month (due to our income schedules). I am now wondering if that will be a problem.

 

[Maverick28]

Thanks for the clarification! The mean of our monthly end-of-statement balancese will be fine, but I don't believe the mean of our daily balances will be large enough. There are days in the month when our balance is quite low and then it increases later in the month (due to our income schedules). I am now wondering if that will be a problem.

As long as you have the required funds at the time of submission with sufficient proof that the money is yours, it should not be a problem.

 

[21Goose]

Thanks for the clarification! The mean of our monthly end-of-statement balancese will be fine, but I don't believe the mean of our daily balances will be large enough. There are days in the month when our balance is quite low and then it increases later in the month (due to our income schedules). I am now wondering if that will be a problem.

That's ok. IRCC is more concerned with whether you have the money. A normal transaction pattern (large sums go out to pay rent, money comes in from your employer) is perfectly fine. You don't need to have the exact amount every single day in the past six months.

Also, the mean of your daily balances should be enough as well - add it up and see. It's hard to imagine a situation where you have no money 25 days of the month and then suddenly a lot of money for five days.

 

[sleepspace9]

Also, the mean of your daily balances should be enough as well - add it up and see. It's hard to imagine a situation where you have no money 25 days of the month and then suddenly a lot of money for five days.

I had this thought as well but I just checked my account. For the last month, the monthly end-of-statement was about $2,000 (USD) greater than the daily mean. Maybe that was because of a large expense (home repairs) and then direct deposits from employers?

In any case, it seems like everything will be okay in terms of the application. Thanks for your input!

 

[21Goose]

I had this thought as well but I just checked my account. For the last month, the monthly end-of-statement was about $2,000 (USD) greater than the daily mean. Maybe that was because of a large expense (home repairs) and then direct deposits from employers?

In any case, it seems like everything will be okay in terms of the application. Thanks for your input!

Well yeah, if you compare the end of month statement (which is basically the balance on the last day) with the daily average, it's not surprising that you'll see this kind of difference. I meant if you take the average daily balance of the past six months, that average should easily be above the minimum PoF requirement if you have a normal pattern of transactions.

Don't worry too much about the minutia of the daily balances. As long as you have sufficient funds on the day you apply, and bank statements that show that you generally have the money, and it was earned through an obvious source (your job), you will have no issue.