Engineer_abroad

I took a copy of mine with me. Bank just glanced at it but it helped a lot with getting an apartment.

Pulaski

A Canadian one. A bank doesn't have any way of verifying the authenticity of a foreign credit report, so is likely worthless.

Siouxie

They wouldn't have a Canadian one yet, that's the point.

Getting an Equifax credit report from the UK along with letters from the bank, mortgage lender etc., stating that you are a customer 'in good standing' won't hurt and costs nothing. If you are planning on purchasing a property at some point in the near future, mortgage lenders will likely take it into consideration, as will landlords if you are renting.

PLeech

I live in Calgary and found that the best bank for us is the TD bank as there open longer hours than most banks. I don't think you can open an account before you arrive as you need the correct documents to open an account, which you will be give once you enter the country.
The best way we send money back to the uk is through PayPal, we have a uk and Canadian PayPal account. This we use to send birthday money back to family and pay bills. Also before we left we opened an account with world first and used them to transfer the bulk of our money over once we had opened a Canadian bank account. They give you a better rate than the banks. There is no fee if the funds you transfer over is £2000 per transfer.

Almost Canadian

I was able to open an account (with TD as it happens) from the UK with no issues at all.

Aviator

It is one way, I would not necessarily say it is the best way.

Pulaski

I was thinking the same thing. Paypal is convenient, I'm sure, but more costly than the alternative of using one of the many on-line FX brokers.

scrubbedexpat091

We switched over to a credit union yesterday (Squamish Savings, which is a division of Vancity and so can use Vancity branches.) and so far so good. The initial service is better then anything we have gotten at RBC anyhow...

Not that we need it since we never deposit anywhere close to this amount, but off the bat the credit union has a authorized for deposits of up to 2,500 through the ATM without a hold, anything above 2,500 is held 5 days.

RBC which I have had in good standing for over 11 years and my wife almost 20 years, reluctantly raised it from 500 to 1,000 after several visits to complain, and they made sure to let us know they were doing us a favor....


Lower monthly fee as well which is nice.

withabix

Scotiabank have FINALLY included photo cheque deposit on their phone Apps.

Noticed when I downloaded an update today. Brand new feature in today's update.

Not surprisingly, it looks just like the Tangerine App cheque deposit screen, only red instead of orange....

Took them long enough

Souvy

Here's a real example of how badly banks in Canada rip people off.

It being that time of year, I had an appointment with my bank on Monday to get some RRSPs. My banking officer had suggested to me that I look at US equity funds. I checked that out with an old mate of mine in New York. He used to work on Wall Street and is now an independent financial adviser. He agreed about the US equity but told me to go for a low-cost index fund, rather than a managed fund.

The two plans my banker officer were an index fund with a management fee of 1.08%, and a managed fund, with a fee of 2.28%. The index fund looked better in terms of cost and returns, so I went for that.

My mate in NY went ballistic when he saw the fund profiles. He calculated the "low cost" fee to be about 35 times higher than it would be in the US!

I rather wish I'd stuck all my money into Rona shares on Monday. I'd have doubled it yesterday.

dbd33

I think the TD's attitude to customers is summarized by the fact that their phone system consistently says that the wait time is "more than ten minutes".

Well, yes, I already know that, it's a "customer service" line, but what I really want to know is, approximately 30 minutes, approximately an hour, tomorrow, next week, maybe one day.

Souvy

I had to do some telephone banking with Barclays recently. The woman I spoke to politely kept her mouth shut when I said I'd never been so happy to talk to a scouser.

rossd01

Hi folks!

First post here so firstly...hi all! I've got a few issues with banking in Canada and i'm desperately looking for some help if its at all possible...this thread seems to be a top hit for banking/immigrating to Canada so figured this would be the best place. My situation is:

- I'm UK resident & citizen from birth, living & working in the UK.
- My girlfriend of 4.5 years is a Canadian citizen, on a 5 year ancestry visa to stay in UK.
- We're looking to move to Canada (Ontario) within the next year, around when her 5 year visa is due to expire mid-2017.
- I'm midway through preparing my CIC application for Permanent Residence - i fall into the skilled workers category for express entry, and i'm currently awaiting on my credential assessment (the last piece of the puzzle!) before applying.
- Part of the Visa application requires proof of funds (circa $12,000) to show you can support yourself.
- On visits back to Canada, we've left money with her parents and her parents are gifting us some money - As such, i can't submit the CIC application without proof of funds, so i need to open a bank account in Canada. Moving money to the UK, to then convert to pounds, would be ridiculous due to the exchange rate.
- My girlfriend already has an RBC account.

So, that's where i'm at!

The bank account is pivotal for the application to show proof of funds, but it seems every Canadian bank requires proof of visa (or documents from List A & B ala the Bank Act, and i can only provide a foreign passport as listed in B) - by definition, its looking like some sort of catch 22 where i can't get a visa without proof of funds (which i've explained are somewhat already in Canada), and i can't get proof of funds (i.e. a canadian bank account) without having a visa to show during the bank application. We've got an HSBC joint account in the UK, and whilst they provide a service to 'setup' an account in Canada, the actual setup is still regulated by local laws and all HSBC UK do is transfer information (for a £100 fee i might add...), so that now looks like its not going to be an option. HSBC did mention its at the Canadian branch's discretion, but it all seems very strict/by the book so I'm reluctant to assume HSBC Canada can do anything for me if i go into a branch.

What can i do? We're heading back for a holiday in April, are there any banks that would open an account for me? Ideally, we'd be looking at a joint account. Would HSBC Canada do anything for me? Or could i get added to my girlfriends RBC account as an additional account holder? I know I can easily get put on her RBC credit card as an additional card holder, but that doesn't really help any as its a bank account I need to be associated with.

I've seen enough episodes of Border Control Canada to know that it would be good to have a bank account card in hand incase i get marched to an ATM upon entry to show proof of funds...! But in real terms, I'd obviously have to submit banking statements as part of the visa application to CIC, and hopefully not have to deal with an over zealous border guard on the day of arrival.

Any help here would be great folks - my mind is totally fried

Former Lancastrian

Why are you doing a skilled worker EE application? The spousal application common law for you is a no brainer virtually guaranteed to get PR plus proof of funds not required per se unlike the skilled worker application.
Determine your eligibility – Sponsor your spouse, partner or children

or use the wiki on spousal sponsorship
Spousal Sponsorship-Canada : British Expat Wiki

When you visit there is nothing to stop you opening a joint bank account.
Banking-Canada : British Expat Wiki

rossd01

Thanks for the quick reply!

Yeah, we looked at that initially but were put off by the 17 month timescale for spousal sponsorship, vs the 6 month timescale for skilled workers.

We wrote that off quite early on, as although under the spousal sponsorship visa the CIC can/could/will issue a work permit within the first 4 months of applying (basically, allowing you to work in Canada whilst waiting out the 17 month timescale), the caveat is that they will only issue a work permit if you have a visitor visa:

**Officers will issue open work permits to SCLPC class applicants if they meet the following requirements**:
- a permanent residence application has been submitted under the SCLPC class;
- a Canadian citizen or permanent resident spouse has submitted a sponsorship application on their behalf;
- the SCLPC class applicant resides at the same address as the sponsor; and
- the SCLPC class applicant has valid temporary resident status (as a visitor, student, or worker).

Aaaaand, low and behold, to be eligible for the visitor visa, you have to satisfy an immigration officer that you have sufficient funds:

**To be eligible for a Temporary Resident Visa, you have to**:
- satisfy an officer that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay,
- show that you have enough money to maintain yourself and your family members in Canada and to return home,
- not intend to work or study in Canada unless authorized to do so,
- be law abiding and have no record of criminal activity,
- not be a risk to the security of Canada,
- provide any additional document requested by the officer to establish your admissibility,
- be in good health (complete a medical examination if required).

Now, you could also assume this 'Visitor Visa' could be the same type of visa that we are granted when we go on a regular holiday (i.e. the stamp in your passport with a date of validity), if so the underlined point above might not be strictly enforced as I don't believe I've ever been asked for proof of funds when visiting the USA or Canada for summer or winter holidays. The only issue is the validity...i'd need to also have a return flight to the UK (they would never let me in on a one way ticket!) and hope in the back of my mind that the work permit is granted within the first 4 months. It'd be a heck of a gamble as i could potentially see me coming back to the UK to nothing - no home, nada, after 6 months.

I've just re-looked at this visitor visa requirements, and it appears that Canada will be introducing a process similar to what the USA do using the pre-authorisation to travel (ESTA) - the Canada equivalent is called the ETA, valid for 5 years for stays up to 6 months...in essence, it looks like a new form of visitor visa. So, i assume being in the UK that the ETA would be applicable to me...but again, if that work permit (as part of the spousal sponsorship) should not be granted within the first 4 months, it would be disastrous in having to leave Canada to come back to the UK, to largely nothing/no home.

PS - thanks for the links in the last post! I did notice some banks allow you to 'initiate' an account opening procedure when not a permanent resident, but under the Bank Act (Canada) they would ask for (in my case, based on my circumstances) a permanent residence card, which i cannot provide (see: Open an Account Online | Scotiabank). It just seems to be a brick wall at every turn! I know this would be much easier if i had british pounds in a british bank account (and gawd, with the exchange rate, it would be brilliant converting it to canadian dollars!) but sadly that's not the case as the funds are already in Canada, held by my partners parents.

Thoughts folks? (sorry, might be getting off topic so will try and focus on banking issues)