Canada Tourist Visa Application

score:3

Yes. The dates refer to the start and end of the immigration status you've specified for your country of residence. In your case, that would mean your F1 visa.
The idea behind this section is to get a sense of who you will be visiting and what you will be doing in Canada. If you don't plan to meet anyone and are going purely for touristic purposes, you could include the name and address of your hotel. Otherwise, name any people and/or institutions that you plan to visit.
You guessed correctly - there is no magic number. Think about what would be reasonable, based on the duration and nature of your stay. Living in a hotel is obviously more expensive than living in a youth hostel, which is in turn more expensive than living with a friend. Food can sometimes be more expensive in major Canadian cities than in the States, as can be travel within Canada. If you haven't booked return flights, include the costs of that too. Calculate a figure for your trip that makes sense in the context of your plans, and add some margin to it, just in case. If your trip is long, and/or complicated, it may make sense to attach an additional page to your letter of explanation, and break down how (and how much) you plan to pay for everything.

Official guidance for filling the form is available here.

Nidhi K 406

Source: stackoverflow.com