The RBC will allow you to open an account from the UK with a deposit of $1500 to use either as a frequent visitor or as a new arrival. Also the HSBC will assist in setting up an account at one of its canadian branches whilst you are still in the uk, open an account here and start putting regular amounts in it or a lump sum if you have it and then contact there international department.

All this information available on the internet and or via email, we are using HSBC as i believe some banks in cananda need you to put on the application your date of arrival which unfortunately we do not know.

decide where you want to be and check out the local banks available to you, think about what you want and wether that bank can provide it,

good luck with your application, use the time wisely and research research and then research some more!!!!!!

Peter

I've opened an accaount with HSBC which also enables you to open a £ Sterling account paying around 2.8%. Benefit is you can have your cash in Canada locally ready to quickly transfer. Cash wise you'll lose the difference in interest rates, typically 1.75%.

Useful given the fact that the exchange isn't so good at the mo.

have just had the HSBC offshore banking people on the phone quite literally 2 mins ago. they have told me if i open an offshore account with them with an opening balance of 5k they will open an account in cananda at a branch of HSBC of my choice. seems a lot to open an account with but as i do not know the merits of having an offshore account i need to research this a bit further. The balance has to be maintained at 5k minimum but it seems like an easy way to open an account, considering you could transfer the money over get them to open the account and do all the work thern use the account balance as towards the proof of landing funds i think this is posible to do, and legal too. I assume that if the offshore account was then closed the money could be transferred straight into your canandian account.

It could also be easier to come back the other way should things not work out or move somewhere else. HSBC can also assist in getting a mortgage out there credit cards etc etc,

i also have the account opening forms for the RBC for although I cannot work out how to attach them to a thread.if you need them drop me a line!

Have found out how to attach stuff to the thread, here is the document i mentioned!

God I hate that. Thats not free, its costing you at least 3% interest on $1500. Make your money work for you, not them!

Free is PC Financial. (Although not ideal for newcommers, move over as soon as you can is my advice)

Whats bizarre to me is that PC Financial is a division of CIBC, so if they can do it , and all the UK banks can do it without fees, why do the canadian public let the regular banks get away with this shit. They make more than enough money investing our money or lending it to others while it rests in their accounts

South African banks used to have a great deal going.
They would charge you the usual exhorbitant rates for any outstanding balance on your credit cards, but if you had a positive balance on your card, you could get around 10 to 12% interest.
Never known it anywhere else.

BTW, 3% interest on $1500 aint gonna make you rich, Iain!!

No, but 3% interest on everyone with $1500+ will make the bank rich. Especially as that is on top of the monthly fees for a limited amount of "free" services such as withdrawals, extra fees for interac/debit, fees for seeing a teller, fees for using other machines, fees for cashing cheques...the list goes on.

Canadians are too complacent about this. I wish we would switch en masse to the fee-free banks like PC Financial and ING Direct to make the Big 5 banks change their ways. I used to be with RBC and got sick of their fees, so switched to PC Financial. RBC called me up to try to entice me back by offering a package with more "free" services - still for a monthly fee, of course. What part of "no-fee banking" don't they understand?!

Its the principal.

Besides, its a case of beer , and as Anya says, its will make the bank rich.

Free is PC Financial. (Although not ideal for newcomers, move over as soon as you can is my advice)

Iain - Not ideal for "newcomers". Why, pls advise.

Hard to get credit or mortgage from them without established canadian credit history. Especially true if on a work permit or otherwise without a "standard" (non 9xx) SIN number, they may not even open an account for you (but its worth trying as I hear here that they are inconsistent about this)

But it may depend who you deal with on any given day...thats the downside to its branch free nature, the assistants at the kiosks are helpfull and knowledgable, but they dont make the decisions, so there is not the same personal connection you might get at a high street bank, where you can talk the manager around, or at least plonk a bunch of money in a GIC as a security deposit on a secured credit card to get you going if need be.

My other half is a perpetual tourist in Canada. Nonetheless, we have a joint account with PC Financial and she has an account of her own. I don't know if this is policy or luck. We were in Loblaws, someone asked "would you like to open an account?", we had a vague intent to do so and, spurred by the inquiry, opened the joint one and, as part of the same conversation, the personal one. I may have been asked for a SIN but, obviously, my OH was not. We were asked for something showing our address, I remember having to rummage for a bill as my driver's license has the wrong one.

On the subject of being asked for things, I am in email correspondence with an insurance broker in Toronto. The UK insurer my UK employers use won't cover me here so I have to make other arrangements. After several emails, I have just been asked to give details of what it is I do at Videotron.ca

My reply was less sarcastic than I would have liked it to be.

We also opened a joint account with PC Financial before HB got his PR, SIN number, or any form of Canadian ID. My credit history and SIN number was all they needed, plus some ID from him for which his UK passport was fine. So I suspect that as long as one of you iss traceable, adding anyone else on to the account is no problem.

That's interesting, I received the following email from HSBC Canada today

Dear J,

Yes, we do all that. We are the ONLY bank in Canada who would do that. If you are not a client now (why not??!?) then you need a reference letter from your current bank, stating that you have NO late payment on any borrowings, no NSF cheques, that your account is currently up to date, and state when did you open your account with them. Bring it along with your original IDs and have our HSBC staffs download the forms for you and have you fill it out. I STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU CALL AHEAD BECAUSE THEY NEED TIME TO LOCATE THE FORMS!!! TRUST ME!!

In fact, I can pre-approve you a mortgage, credit card etc etc and so please feel free to contact me for anything.



Thanks for the RBC forms. PC financial sounds interesting, but it doesn't sound like an initial start off bank, something to swap to for once we've landed.