Chinese person entering Calgary

My brother is married to a Chinese girl. He is Irish and will be coming over to Calgary on a working holiday visa. Is his Chinese wife eligible to come on a visitor type? She has been told that she will need a lot of money to come as a visitor. Is this true? She has also been told that she can only apply for a Canadian visitor type in China. Is this true? They are planning to go to Ireland first so it would be difficult for her to fly back to China just to apply for a Canadian one.
Thanks for your help