Forum

Opening a Bank Account in Canada - for European people
 

I will be in Canada for a few days. Is it easy for me to get a bank account if I am just traveling there? Can I use that bank account to open sub-accounts from time to time or i need to in the bank for doing that?

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Canada - for European people
 

You can get bank accounts if you have valid ID in person at the bank. You can then go online into the account and create more accounts (usually is fine but some banks may have some limits if you are not citizen or permanent resident)

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Canada - for European people
 

What banks should I use? What do you mean by Valid ID. If I am from Latvia how hard they will check my passport?

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Canada - for European people
 

I believe you need to be a Canadian citizen in order to open your account.
And any of the big 5 will work fine. I myself am a big fan of RBC as they will also offer you the options to open US based bank accounts which are automatically linked to your Canadian ones (TD also offers US accounts but as I recall the process is a lot more complex to open those).

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Canada - for European people
 

You need to have a Canadian SIN (Social Insurance Number) - no other way around it
So you have to be at least resident in Canada