Just making you guys aware that if you are about to come to Canada/already here and have a PR Card/Landed Immigrant status within the last year, you can open a FREE bank account (they call them Chequing Accounts) at the following banks:

CIBC
Scotiabank
RBC

They usually offer the free period for about a year.

Interesting...but then you have to change. I guess they 'bank' on people not changing.

Might as well go straight to PC and stay with them.

Loblaws do free banking.

Thanks for that Information, this should be put on at the top of the forum header. Maybe one of the moderators should do this so that others can see it easily. I wonder from others on here which one is the best of the three?

Too many worthy topics though to give them all a sticky thread I suspect.

Im sure no end of people will be able to find it once they enter "Free Banking" in the search function.


Its not really free banking anyway is it? Its just a sweetener to draw you in so they can start to charge you fees in a years time

PC (loblaws) really is free banking, and is available to PRs anyway (if not those on TWPs)

Waived fees for keeping a certain balance is also not free banking in my opinion

I've been banking with PC (president's choice) for the past 7 years or so. They are fine overall. Direct debit is free and you can use any CIBC machine with no charge or any amicus machine (in all 711 stores). I don't find the employees in the Superstores overly knowledgeable or helpful though.

ING is also a good one and their rates tend to be even better than PC. Their 5 year fixed mortgage is 3.99 at the moment.

We negotiated free a banking package in with our mortgage when we first moved over. As soon as we got rid of the mortgage it took them two years to figure out we were getting free banking. I nearly called them and told them

you can open a PC account on a TWP.

I had no idea banks here charged a fee so I didn't shop around and just opened an account with the first bank that I came across, bad move.

For anyone moving to the Vancouver area, Coast Capital (a credit union) offer free banking.

The fees they do charge are hardly extortionate though and, if by doing so they avoid the pitfalls that the UK banks did, I will pay them.

Having said that, I have a PC bank account

i was gonna mention those guys. it is available to all in BC and not just the Van vacinity correct?

i loved being able to use the 'exchange' ATMs and get my cash for free when in TOR. presumably other provinces have their own credit unions?

Each credit union sets its own rates. I don't think VanCity offer a free chequing account.

The credit unions around here charge similar fees to the main line banks, but at least they are locally owned.


On the subject of west coast banks, Citizens Bank (Vancity) did offer free chequing. One of my cards is through them. We recently got mail saying they were abandoning the personal banking arena. At least they were up front about it, saving they were giving up because the couldn't make any money at it unless they got much larger.

That probably doesn't bode well for other small banks / CUs offering free banking.

There are lots of deals out there - it pays to shop around.

My main current account with TD is "free" - as long as I keep a minimum deposit in there. Ok so I'm losing out on some bit of interest but the benefits with the account are much better then what I've seen offered through some of the free banking options so it works for me......

Savings I use ING - no fees, good interest rate and easy to do anything online.