I will be moving to Alberta in the next 2-3 months on a TWP.Are there any banks that you recommend?
Will I be elligible to credit cards and car finance?

You wil pretty much get every bank in Canada suggested by someone. They are all as bad as each other. HSBC were the worst I tried to deal with, the easiest RBC.

Many have, however it depends on your financial circumstances. Noone on here can answer that with any certainty.

We are in NS and i dealt with HSBC and we have had no problems whatsoever.

Same bank 2 different outcomes!!!

RBC I will go along with that, they have been good with us since we changed and saved us a lot of cash each month, so we are happy with them

mmm I know I work for BMO but can also highly recommend RBC, thats who opened our accounts when we got here - they have been awesome.

Finance I would say is tricky - you could try for a "student" credit card (as in a starter one) that will give you a limit of about $1000 to start building up your credit history.

Only tried RBC and have been happy with them. We managed to get a car from local Ford dealer with small deposit and zero percent finance through them within days of arriving.

RBC Credit card was only offered for $5000 with a $5000 security. I took it, blew the limit (and paid it off) several times in the first few weeks so went back to RBC and said "double the limit and scrap the security or we go elsewhere" they did that with very little fuss. In fact we ended up keeping $1000 of the security because that gave us three 'products' with RBC and so we have free/reduced banking rates.

Most people I know started off with a Credit Union (like a Building Society) because you can get fee free accounts and use any Credit Union ATMs (Cash Machines) for free. Mortgages are also competitive with the Credit Unions and they will give you a credit card with a limit up to the deposit you put down (they hold the deposit for the first year but they do give you interest at a higher rate than their normal interest rate). I opened my account the day after I landed and had a good enough credit rating within 2 months to get a cell phone without putting down a deposit.

I stuck with HSBC because that's who I bank with in the UK.

It did make some things easier.... although I still don't have a credit history!

I am moving to Alberta on Monday the 12th!!!! I have opened an account with HSBC. I e mailed them in Canada and they e mailed back the application form. Took ID into my local HSBC who verified it, then sent application in post and they have opened the account. The same person as HSBC has kept me up to date with forms being received and what is happening at all times. I have been very happy with service so far.

I've been here since August and am with HSBC too. They aren't perfect, but are a good choice if you want to get a mortgage quickly. We tried in November, but no other bank would even touch us because I had no credit history here, and neither of us had been with the same employer for 3 months. My wife is Canadian and has credit history here, and her parents offered to act as guarantors, but still no-one would even consider giving us a mortgage.

HSBC were different. We had banked with them in England and had our accounts and credit cards with them as soon as we moved here. They were very quick to approve our mortgage, and apparently we automatically get a $5,000 credit limit on our (unsecured) credit cards because we have a mortgage with them. I'm still waiting for it to actually materialise, but have been assured that it's coming!

HSBC also have highly competitive savings rates (I think they currently have the best rate available) and you can pay in sterling cheques directly to your account at a competitive exchange rate for a $2.50 fee. I don't know how that would work with other banks here, but when I tried to do things in reverse, many English banks wanted £16 or even more for that priviledge!

I spoke with the local branch of RBC, went in, opened accounts, got credit cards etc etc sorted

Where in alberta are you moving too?

We was never asked for security deposit for the credit card, we was advised that we could have car loan if hubby was in work, so if we had gone back the week after we would of got it, but decided not to bother

we are moving to edmonton area

Credit Unions are good - very customer oriented, and competative with the national banks. So in Calgary its First Calgary Financial.
Alberta Treasury Branch is also good.

We started with HSBC in the UK and opened Canadian account with them from the UK with no problems and TD bank got a mortgage with them before we even hit Canada, day after we arrived signed everything with them and had excellent service

another vote for credit unions here ... although I did work for one, so I may be a tad biased...