Silverdragon102

If I don't use my own bank cashpoint I get charged anything from$1.50 to $3.00 which sometimes I get back and other times I dont get anything back

christmasoompa

Except most people I know get free grocery deliveries. And the cost of the car insurance in Canada would equate to the supermarket shop drive a thousand times over compared to UK insurance prices.

BristolUK

You might have a few surprises in store.

I think the bank sites might have maps with the branches on them. You may get a good idea from that.

Unless you've got pots of money, expect bank changes that you wouldn't get in the UK.

President's Choice is free - no branches as such (they have 'facilities' in Atlantic Superstore) but you can use machines in Superstore and the CIBC banks. Might not be easy to open before arrival though.

I use cashback at various shops more than going to the bank.

CFAmovingsoon

Prior to arrival is not really possible as far as I've researched it. You are probably keeping an account in the UK (for tax, pension etc..). So as soon as you get there, walk in to a bank, make an appointment to set up an account. You need your SIN, your COPR or PR and passport for this. When you set up your account you get a card and when there's money in your account: you're in business. You might be able to make an appointment by phone or email before you fly over. It takes some time, but you get to speak with a person (network) and it's not complicated.

As for best coverage: Let me google that for you and Let me google that for you again

There's Credit Unions too, but you might need a residence address for that...
We've gone with scotia, they have a welcome to canada thing where they give you $100 after a month or two...

Research the charges when you find a bank you like. You can then try to avoid them. The charges that is...

confused_uk

HSBC Canada let you open an account as a non resident

christmasoompa

You've tried the banks that the Wiki says will let you open an account prior to arrival? If so, we need to change that info if it's no longer correct.

dbd33

You haven't considered that in the UK it's usual to walk to the supermarket and, if you don't want to do that, there are services set up to accommodate your need for milk; buses, trains, delivery, taxis, car shares, that boy on a bike from the Hovis adverts.

The cost of milk in Canada needs to consider the requirement to have a vehicle in order to obtain the milk:

car payment, $500 month
car insurance, $500 month
sticker, $50 month
petrol $10 per milk fetching occurrence
parking $10 per mfo

If someone in Canada fetches a gallon of milk weekly then the cost per pint is in the order of:

($125+$125+$12.50+$10+$10)/8 = $35.3125

which is not cheap. And that's milk; it's worse for wine.

christmasoompa

I would say that's quite unusual actually, unless you're a single person living in a town. There's no way I could carry all of my family's groceries for a weekly shop, even if I did live within walking distance of a supermarket!

I don't live close to one though, so I choose to take advantage of free or cheap (£2 a month) deliveries, which also has the advantage of me not having to do the actual shopping.

Lychee

Another reason why I keep bringing up population density as a major (yet often overlooked) difference between the culture of the UK and Canada. The UK is entrenched in infrastructure and services that are only economically feasible when there's a market of 60 million people within close proximity. It's why you can choose to walk, it's why public transit is efficient, it's why there are more diversity in products, it's why there are free deliveries.

Mind you, I walk everywhere in Vancouver and rarely bring my car to pick up groceries, but Vancouver's a population density anomaly for Canada. My point is that living in Nova Scotia will not have the same infrastructure or services as a high population density country like the UK (or anywhere in Europe) would. The entire population of Nova Scotia is less than 1 million people!

dbd33

You could walk to the supermarket and get a taxi back, you could make multiple trips to the supermarket; you can afford not to do that so you don't (I wouldn't either) but in Canada you typically don't have the option.

christmasoompa

Do you think I live in the middle of a city or something?! Based on an average walking pace of 2-3mph, it would take me approx 3 hours to get to my nearest supermarket (the majority of which would be walking down country lanes with no pavement). Trust me, walking really isn't an option!

dbd33

No, I think you live in the Chalfonts or thereabouts. I've some experience of that.

christmasoompa

You're several years out of date (and even then I was living in a village rather than a town like Amersham/Chalfonts, 5 miles from the nearest supermarket).

I'm far more rural than that now. Hence my love of supermarket deliveries.

dbd33

Well, yes, but I love my perm.

christmasoompa

Can't blame you, I can see from here it's very fetching.