Lump-Sum Deposits on a Canada Visitor Visa

The balance was enough. The file still failed.

People get this refusal and assume they need a bigger number. In Akindumila, 2025 FC 1382, the number was already large. The mother’s account closed at $52,179 on 5 June 2024. The Federal Court dismissed the challenge on 15 August 2025. The officer wasn’t arguing with the total. The statements showed lump sums sitting on low balances, and nothing in the file explained them. It was a study-permit refusal. The funds question on a visitor file is the same one: source, access, and income that was already there.

Read your own statement the same way. What was the balance before the lump? Whose account is it? Is there a document that names that deposit — payer, amount, date — or only a transfer code?

What the officer actually had

The facts below are from that judgment. They’re useful because they’re specific. A “services” line, a purchase dressed up as income, a parent’s account, and three different totals in one file.

• Source

  Lump sums, no paper behind them. The property document was a purchase, not a sale.

• Availability

  Mother’s personal account plus a support letter. Nothing showed the applicant could spend it.

• Ongoing income

  Balances were low before the lumps. The only work paper was unsigned.

• Closing balance

  $52,179 on 5 June 2024. Counsel called it USD or equivalent. The currency wasn’t the finding.

• Letter vs list

  The letter said $70,680. The attachment list said $61,680.

• Decision

  2025 FC 1382. Judicial review dismissed 15 August 2025. No costs.

Counsel described the $52,179 figure as USD or equivalent. The officer’s finding didn’t turn on the currency. It turned on lump sums sitting on low balances, with no paper behind them.

Step 1: The letter hides the lump. The note doesn’t.

If your PDF only says your assets are insufficient, don’t stop there. In this case the refusal letter never used the words “lump sum.” The GCMS note did. Answer the note in the next application, not only the sentence on the PDF.

Since July 29, 2025, IRCC attaches an officer decision note to most visitor visa refusals. Read that note if it came with your letter. The full GCMS file is still a separate $5 Access to Information request. If you’re outside Canada, a person in Canada files the ATIP request with your consent. The judgment quotes both documents. Here they are.

I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay as required by paragraph R216(1)(b) of the IRPR. I am refusing your application because you have not established that you will leave Canada, based on the following factors:

Your assets and financial situation are insufficient to support the stated purpose of travel for yourself (and any accompanying family member(s), if applicable).

Bank statement for PA’s mother provided. Bank statement shows lump sum deposits and pre-existing low balances. In the absence of satisfactory documentation showing the source of these funds, I am not satisfied the applicant will have access to the funds provided in support of the application, as their bank accounts demonstrate volatile balances and inconsistent income. […]

I am not satisfied that applicant has sufficient and available financial resources to pay the tuition fees for the program of studies that they intend to pursue and to pay for living expenses while in Canada. For the reasons above, I have refused this application under R216(1)(b) and R220(a) and (b).

Step 2: Three questions, not one balance

The officer wrote lump sums, no source, and no access. The Court, applying Sayyar, called that source, nature, and stability. In plain terms: where did it come from, can you use it, and was there income before the lump landed?

“It is not a simple matter of reviewing the applicants’ bank account and, if they have sufficient funds, granting them a permit.”

Step 3: What to put behind each deposit

Don’t send the same statements with a sentence that the balance is enough. The Court already said a closing number isn’t the test. Add the paper the note asked for.

1. 1

   Show where each lump came from

   Mark every deposit that’s larger than a normal month. For each one, attach the paper with the same amount, the same date, and the same account. In this case the bank line said “services,” and the property paper was a purchase of ₦20 million, not a sale. A transfer code doesn’t explain the deposit. A purchase doesn’t either.

2. 2

   Show you can actually use the money

   If the account isn’t in your name, a support letter isn’t access. Show a transfer into your account, or that you can withdraw the sponsor’s. The Court didn’t require the officer to discuss the mother’s letter once her statements failed to show the applicant could use the money.

3. 3

   Show income that was already there

   Read the balance in the months before the deposit. If it was low, the lump is the whole file. Here the only work paper was unsigned and ended on 29 September 2024. Ongoing income is pay that already landed and keeps landing, not a contract that stops during the trip.

4. 4

   Use one total, then answer the note

   Your cover letter, your document list, and the closing balance have to be the same figure in the same currency. This file used $70,680, $61,680, and $52,179. After the numbers match, answer the lump-sum lines from the officer’s note, not only the sentence on the refusal PDF.

You can run the same three questions against numbers you type in the source of funds checker. It doesn’t read your refusal. After you run it, come back to the note.

A closing number doesn’t explain a deposit

A lump-sum refusal is a paperwork problem. The officer wants the story of the deposit: who paid it, that you can spend it, and that your account wasn’t empty the month before. $52,179 didn’t answer those questions. Your closing balance won’t either, unless the pages behind it do.

Canada Visitor Visa Lump Sum Deposits FAQ

Sources

• IRCC — Apply for a visitor visa (account details, including balances)
• Akindumila v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2025 FC 1382
• Sayyar v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2023 FC 494 (source, nature, and stability)
• IRCC Help Centre — fee for an Access to Information request (GCMS notes)

General information from the public judgment and IRCC’s page. Not legal advice. Not a prediction of a visa decision.