Bank account for moving to Canada?

alexrdavies

Hi - I'm moving to Canada in just over a week (Monday 2nd March). Does anyone have recommendations for accounts... both here, and in Canada?

There'll likely be some overlap with accounts which are great for holidays, but I need something which has decent rates and will let me make cheap overseas transfers long-term

xylophone

Do you already have a UK bank account (s)? Have you advised that you are moving to Canada?
https://www.shipit.co.uk/blog/guides/canada/how-to-open-a-canadian-bank-account
https://transferwise.com/gb/blog/opening-a-bank-account-in-canada

mishkab

Agree with xylophone about Transferwise - I use it to move money from Canada to UK.
If you happen to have a HSBC account here, they can usually assist you with opening a HSBC account in Canada before you arrive. It can be very useful to have an account open prior to arrival for house/utilities/etc.

callum9999

mishkab said:

Agree with xylophone about Transferwise - I use it to move money from Canada to UK.
If you happen to have a HSBC account here, they can usually assist you with opening a HSBC account in Canada before you arrive. It can be very useful to have an account open prior to arrival for house/utilities/etc.

HSBC charge $100 for that, and it doesn't look like the account is anything special.
I can't recommend it as I ended up postponing my move, but when I researched bank accounts I settled on Tangerine. That may be worth looking in to.

drinae

As others have said, Transferwise for moving money (or currency brokers for larger amounts). When I lived in Canada, Scotiabank was my favourite for chequing accounts (NB. this is how bank accounts are called in Canada) - for great service and online banking, etc. Expect to pay hefty monthly account fees though, especially if you want unlimited transactions for your accounts... this is not only with Scotiabank, but with all Canadian banks.

Regarding other financial products, in Canada they have something called "personal line of credit" - which is essentially a pre-approved unsecured "loan" amount at a fixed interest rate, which comes with what they call an "access card" and cheques. It's different than a loan or a credit card - as it's more flexible than a loan and usually at a lower interest rate than CCs. 

alexrdavies

Thanks all: that's really helpful! I'll do some reading tomorrow and let you know what I come up with. It sounds like Transferwise is a popular vote (and their guide linked by xylophone at the start of the thread is really clear and informative)

mishkab

drinae said:

As others have said, Transferwise for moving money (or currency brokers for larger amounts). When I lived in Canada, Scotiabank was my favourite for chequing accounts (NB. this is how bank accounts are called in Canada) - for great service and online banking, etc. Expect to pay hefty monthly account fees though, especially if you want unlimited transactions for your accounts... this is not only with Scotiabank, but with all Canadian banks.

This is true, but most will have a threshold over which all fees are waived. The money with the bank can be in a high-interest account, rather than in a chequing account to count towards that threshold. 
I've held accounts with BMO for 30+ years and have always found them to be excellent. 

callum9999

drinae said:

As others have said, Transferwise for moving money (or currency brokers for larger amounts). When I lived in Canada, Scotiabank was my favourite for chequing accounts (NB. this is how bank accounts are called in Canada) - for great service and online banking, etc. Expect to pay hefty monthly account fees though, especially if you want unlimited transactions for your accounts... this is not only with Scotiabank, but with all Canadian banks.

Regarding other financial products, in Canada they have something called "personal line of credit" - which is essentially a pre-approved unsecured "loan" amount at a fixed interest rate, which comes with what they call an "access card" and cheques. It's different than a loan or a credit card - as it's more flexible than a loan and usually at a lower interest rate than CCs. 

Not all banks. Tangerine has no monthly fee. The HSBC account mentioned before has no monthly fee with some reasonable criteria.

drinae

callum9999 said:

Not all banks. Tangerine has no monthly fee. The HSBC account mentioned before has no monthly fee with some reasonable criteria.

Tangerine is a Scotiabank subsidiary - but yes you are right, their chequing account has no monthly fees, and as others have said, some banks will waive monthly fees if certain conditions are met (if you keep several thousands in the account or linked accounts. Generally speaking though, banking services (and telecom services, and car insurance - in some provinces) are much more expensive in Canada than in the UK.