gotoronto

In the meantime I've looked around and seen a bit better rates than my own bank... but all this info from everyone is really helpful! I think I'll take less money than I initially thought anyway...

When I was a student in T.O. I (almost) only used cash - and I had somehow had it in my mind that it was a cash society (much like New York), but either things changed over the last 6 years or my memory is fading (*alarm bells going off*).

MarkG

We generally use our PC Financial Mastercards to pay for things, since we get free groceries by doing so .

I only ever used my UK debit card once when I was paying 4,000 pounds and they'd have charged a 2% credit card fee otherwise; I don't see the point of having a company take money direct from your bank account, with the risk that someone could steal the number and take money at any time, when you can get a free month's credit with the credit card and much less risk from fraud.

britsnake

sorry not to respond earlier.

As has been said ID is usually straight forward. you should have two forms of ID, so if you have your Passport and your Landing form or Work Permit you should be fine. They list other documents that can be used, things like Canadian Driving Licence, provincial health card, SIN Card and PR Card.

When I opened my account, I just used my Passport and got a friend to recommend me. A few of the banks have schemes like that. It is a very quick and painless process.

bazzz

Just be aware that UK credit cards can be a bit unpredictable abroad. There's no reason they shouldn't work, but it might be a good idea to have a couple of different cards to be on the safe side. We had a bit of a palaver trying to buy $2000 worth of Ikea furniture on my Nationwide Visa; we ended up having to get it approved over the phone with the one person in their call centre who was awake in the UK at the time.

Also, depending on who you bank with, your Canadian debit card might have a stupidly low limit when you first get it - we were stuck at something like $500 per day until we complained bitterly and got it increased to a couple of thousand. Getting a Canadian credit card should be a priority.

britsnake

Also make sure that your UK Credit card and debit card company know you are going to be in canada as there is nothing more embarrassing than having a card refused because of their fraud prevention procedures.

MarkG

Another problem is companies refusing to sell to you online because your Internet address doesn't match your billing address. I've had two companies refuse to let me buy their software online because I have a UK billing address but my computer is in Canada; even though the credit card company wouldn't have any problem with that.

Stupid thing is, I just dropped by a computer store at the mall next time I was there and bought the same software over the counter with the same credit card. Doesn't even do anything to stop hackers with stolen credit cards because they can spend the time to go through a proxy server in the UK.

BristolUK

*splutters mouthful of coffee*

Alberta_Rose

If I have cash in my purse somebody always wants it for something and I can't say "no" ..... but if I don't have any it's easy!!!

Alberta_Rose

One problem we had when we first arrived and we had a ton of cash in the bank (from the house sale), was that we had a limit on how much we were allowed to withdraw in a week, and we had to buy some stuff with bank drafts!!

Souvenir

I get that when I'm trying to buy plane tickets on-line (me in Canada; my Amex billing address in the UK). I struggled for a good while last week trying to buy United tickets until (doh!) I realised that it probably had a UK website too. I should have known. I have to do the same thing with Air Canada.

bazzz

Even if it's a UK-issued card with a Canadian address you could still have problems as they use a different verification system with North American-issued cards. Mostly, online you're limited to using a Canadian credit card. One way to get round it is if they accept PayPal, then you can use a UK PayPal account linked to a UK credit card.

destinationnovascotia

If your are changing over £500 always haggle over the rates. As a rule of thumb, the best high street rate is usually M&S but if you quote their rate to other companies, eg Thomas Cook, they will usually beat it.

Rixy

Used a UK MBNA card with Canadian Address never had a problem yet with online services in any country

BristolUK

That's really not my experience. Amazon (USA and Canada) has my UK address for my UK card.

All other sites I use my card on, I have given my Canada address. Phone company, Cable company, several video/book sites in US and Canada, local newspaper, Staples, Sears, Municipal Water, Air Canada, WestJet, Canadian Tire, Hotels, Hotel booking sites, airport taxi services.....

Only Home Depot and Futureshop seem to be a problem with their non acceptance online while instore is oaky.

Biiiiink

Amazon is one of the few that doesn't care.

I wanted some stuff from Sephora, they do offer the Canada Post "Border Free" service for Canadian billing addresses but they could not deliver the items I wanted to Canada as that particular brand cannot be sold by them here, brand licensing or something.

I can have stuff sent to me in the US but they would not take my Canadian billing address. Some websites say US only but you can fudge it, however Sephora is not one!

So, I went straight to Amazon, ordered the exact same stuff from Sephora via Amazon, paid Sephora with the card that Sephora would not accept, and all arrived safely Daft, isn't it?! Presumably that sale is worth less to Sephora as they'd have had to pay Amazon some kind of referral fee, their loss though!