Opening a bank account in Canada

Chapter 3 of 5

Unless you wish to take advantage of the Desjardins and NBC offers, which have the option of opening your account online from your home country, it’s not necessary to open an account before arriving in Canada.

Opening a bank account when you arrive is easy and won’t take too long. You can either prebook an appointment or walk in and wait to be seen.

Documents required to open a bank account in Canada

• A valid passport
• Your IEC work permit
• Your SIN

You will show these documents to your advisor during your appointment.

Depending on the branch, you may also be asked to provide a second type of photo ID (e.g. a driving licence) or proof of address (e.g. a lease or utility bill). Try to look for banks that don’t require extra documentation, as you may not have these documents yet as a newcomer to Canada.

What to expect during your appointment

You will show your documentation and give the advisor a local address that they can use to set up the account. This can be a short-term address (e.g. a hostel, Airbnb, a friend’s house, etc.), which can be updated once you have found somewhere more permanent to live.

You will choose the banking package you want to open. The advisor will then open your bank account immediately and give you your debit card and contract.

If your package comes with a credit card, this will be sent to you by post in the coming days or weeks. If you do not want to receive post at your short-term accommodation, ask for the bank to use a branch address and pick your card up from the bank.

At first, you’ll only have a current account opened, but it’s possible to ask for a savings account at a later date.

You’ll have to wait a few days for your first international transfer to reach your Canadian account. If you have Canadian cash on your person, you can pay your dollars into your current account without any delay.

Making international transfers

Once your Canadian account is open, you can make transfers from your foreign account to be able to access your savings. There are two ways to do this:

1. Make a standard bank transfer from your bank at home to your Canadian bank

Transferring from account to account is a safe way of moving your savings to your Canadian account. However, it’s not necessarily the cheapest way, as you will incur international fees (exact fees are variable depending on the bank).

Make sure you can validate the transfer request. Many banks will use 2FA via a code sent by text message, so your phone from home must still be active. Otherwise, they might send the verification code as a letter in the post, in which case you will need to ask someone at your home address to forward the information to you.

The international bank transfer may take a few days to arrive (usually up to 5 business days).

Important: The IBAN does not exist in Canada. If you’re planning to make a bank-to-bank transfer, your bank at home may ask you for an IBAN. You won’t be able to provide one, but they should still be able to make a transfer using the Canadian bank’s name and details and your account details instead.

2. Use a money transfer company

Money transfer companies have the double advantage of offering faster transfers (usually no more than 3 business days for Canada) and exchange rates which are generally better than the banks.

There are various money transfer companies but we recommend Wise. Benefit from an initial money transfer without fees via pvtistes.net by using our plan.

If you open your Canadian bank account before leaving for Canada, you can make your transfer a few days prior to your departure to have money available immediately upon arrival.