FSW WORLDWIDE

[ivicts]

You will get the fee waiver for 1 year. The idea to open an account is to have some sort of credit history when you land in Canada. Rentals need a credit history.

Thanks so even when I just using it to pay my 30$ phone number monthly, the credit history will kick in right? The money amount doesn't matter? What else are good things to do during softlanding?

 

[Windsor37]

Thanks for the answer. I guess I will make a credit card and use it to pay my Canadian phone number so that I have a credit history. But, regarding the annual fees, can it be waived every time? or just one time because of newcomer offer? Thanks for the online banks recommendation as well. I will look into it. What about investment broker for RRSP or TFSA which brokers are usually popular here?

If your talking about the bank account, they're monthly fees, not annual fees. Nearly all brick-and-mortar banks have some kind of waiver as long as you meet the minimum deposit requirements even for NON-newcomers, it's typically $6,000 for the premium accounts which includes a premium credit card annual fee waiver at $150, and preferential foreign exchange rates, while it's $4,000 for the practical ones those that gives you the most features such as free interac transfers, and unlimited transactions. Except RBC though, they require something like a mortgage with them before giving you waivers.

• Wealthsimple if you're trading in CAD exclusively (no transaction/maintenance fees, fractional shares). If you sign-up for USD accounts it'll cost you $10/month which can be waived if you hold $100,000 with them.
• Questrade if you're trading in USD/CAD ($5 per trade, no maintenance fees if you have $1,000 with them)
• NBC is also a good choice for USD/CAD trading (no transaction fees, no maintenance fees if you have $20,000 with them)
• The Big Banks also have their own broker services but they charge a lot ($10 per trade), though they do give you some rebates if you have a premium bank account with them or if you trade a lot, it ain't much though, but from experience they do allow access to more markets in your TFSA/RRSP like trading leveraged ETFs/stocks.

My friend already received my PR card on their house.. so it's very fast for me. I don't know if I make a health card first before getting a job and settling down in a province permanently or after getting a job. I guess it's not that difficult to change health cards across province?

Shouldn't be difficult, though check the health coverage requirements for each province, for example if move to Ontario or Alberta they'll give you coverage on day 1. On BC, you have to wait 3 mos before getting coverage, until then you have to pay for healthcare albeit at a discounted rate.

What else are good things to do during softlanding?

 

[ivicts]

Hello, I’m at TD right now and to open a credit card, I need to lock in $500 since I have no income. Is this the account that I need to open to build my credit card? The secure credit card, is it?

 

[ivicts]

If your talking about the bank account, they're monthly fees, not annual fees. Nearly all brick-and-mortar banks have some kind of waiver as long as you meet the minimum deposit requirements even for NON-newcomers, it's typically $6,000 for the premium accounts which includes a premium credit card annual fee waiver at $150, and preferential foreign exchange rates, while it's $4,000 for the practical ones those that gives you the most features such as free interac transfers, and unlimited transactions. Except RBC though, they require something like a mortgage with them before giving you waivers.

Thank you for the info. Yeah, I went to TD and opened an unlimited checking account. It's pretty much as what you said, I need $4000 to get my fee waived, but in my first year, I get my fee waived because of a promotion. Unfortunately, for TD to open a credit card, I need to lock in $500 since I have no income. A bit surprising since no ones here talk about that, probably because they come from the US so the bank considers the income or credit history from the US.

• Wealthsimple if you're trading in CAD exclusively (no transaction/maintenance fees, fractional shares). If you sign-up for USD accounts it'll cost you $10/month which can be waived if you hold $100,000 with them.
• Questrade if you're trading in USD/CAD ($5 per trade, no maintenance fees if you have $1,000 with them)
• NBC is also a good choice for USD/CAD trading (no transaction fees, no maintenance fees if you have $20,000 with them)
• The Big Banks also have their own broker services but they charge a lot ($10 per trade), though they do give you some rebates if you have a premium bank account with them or if you trade a lot, it ain't much though, but from experience they do allow access to more markets in your TFSA/RRSP like trading leveraged ETFs/stocks.

Thanks for the brokerage recommendations, I will check it out. Also, since you want to go to the US, what ETF do you buy in RRSP with the consideration of tax purposes? I guess it should be US ETF instead of the Canadian one right?

Shouldn't be difficult, though check the health coverage requirements for each province, for example if move to Ontario or Alberta they'll give you coverage on day 1. On BC, you have to wait 3 mos before getting coverage, until then you have to pay for healthcare albeit at a discounted rate.

Yeah I'm in BC right now temporarily but since you said a BC health card takes 3 months, I don't bother hahaha.

 

[iSaidGoodDay]

This is quite sad. Remember the protests from Algoma? Look at what's happening on the ground: https://www.sootoday.com/city-police-beat/former-algoma-u-prof-pleads-guilty-to-assaulting-four-international-students-8637169

I feel so bad for the students right now. None of this is okay. They were actually protesting about this from so long now too. But all that made news was the fact that they were failing. All of it was very selectively reported(even now it is that way).

 

[GandiBaat]

Yeah I'm in BC right now temporarily but since you said a BC health card takes 3 months, I don't bother hahaha.

Just check it once more. I have a fleeting memory that rule has been changed. Now you do not have to wait, IIRC.

 

[Windsor37]

Thank you for the info. Yeah, I went to TD and opened an unlimited checking account. It's pretty much as what you said, I need $4000 to get my fee waived, but in my first year, I get my fee waived because of a promotion. Unfortunately, for TD to open a credit card, I need to lock in $500 since I have no income. A bit surprising since no ones here talk about that, probably because they come from the US so the bank considers the income or credit history from the US.

Never happened to me with Scotiabank, they gave me a basic credit card with no lock, but I guess it's because I have a premium bank account with them.

Thanks for the brokerage recommendations, I will check it out. Also, since you want to go to the US, what ETF do you buy in RRSP with the consideration of tax purposes? I guess it should be US ETF instead of the Canadian one right?

Doesn't matter. RRSPs are considered as retirement accounts in the US, so you get taxed only when you pull them out of the account instead of when you trade them, there's the conversion rate if you withdraw them in CAD, but that should be easy enough to sort out.

 

[Windsor37]

Just check it once more. I have a fleeting memory that rule has been changed. Now you do not have to wait, IIRC.

It's still 3 months for BC.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/msp/bc-residents/eligibility-and-enrolment/how-to-enrol/coverage-wait-period

" the month in which residence in British Columbia is established, plus two months before benefits can begin. "

 

[GandiBaat]

It's still 3 months for BC.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/msp/bc-residents/eligibility-and-enrolment/how-to-enrol/coverage-wait-period

" the month in which residence in British Columbia is established, plus two months before benefits can begin. "

Okay. May be it was COVID time only policy... or may be I was just wrong.

 

[ivicts]

Never happened to me with Scotiabank, they gave me a basic credit card with no lock, but I guess it's because I have a premium bank account with them.



Doesn't matter. RRSPs are considered as retirement accounts in the US, so you get taxed only when you pull them out of the account instead of when you trade them, there's the conversion rate if you withdraw them in CAD, but that should be easy enough to sort out.

I managed to get an unsecured credit card from TD.. they said its because I never had a credit score in Canada.

I thought we need to only buy US ETF otherwise tax would be complicated with CAD ETF?

Btw, how soon can we get a TN visa after applying for citizenship? We wait for the citizenship test and ceremony, and after the ceremony, we wait to get a Canadian passport and that's all? It takes around 1 year after the AOR of citizenship?

 

[Windsor37]

I managed to get an unsecured credit card from TD.. they said its because I never had a credit score in Canada.

I have NO credit score when I landed in Canada, but Scotiabank never asked for any money to "secure" the account. Looking back, I do have a job offer, maybe they considered it? Though they didn't give me a high credit limit, only like $1,000. I had to get an employee verification letter to have that raised.

I thought we need to only buy US ETF otherwise tax would be complicated with CAD ETF?

No, but you do have to deal with exchange rates. Even if you keep a US ETF in RRSP, and move to the US, Canada will still take 25% of it.

Let's say you invested in US ETF, and you want to withdraw 1000 USD (1300 CAD), this means you need to pay Canada 25% so 1300 CAD * 0.25 = 325 CAD. But let's say the bank takes a 1% forex fee 3.25 CAD (2.5 USD), so now you're left with 1000 - 252.5= 747.5 USD. Let's say your tax rate in the US when you did this withdrawal is 26%, so you can take advantage of the Canada-US Tax treaty then 26% - 25% = 1% you need to pay this to the US. So 1000 USD * 0.01 = 10 USD, what you get in the end is 746.2 USD - 10 USD = 736.2 USD.

If you invested in CAD ETF, and you want to withdraw 1300 CAD (1000 USD), this mean you need to pay Canada 1300 CAD * 0.25 = 325 CAD, since it's already in CAD you get 975 CAD. Now you want to convert that that 975 CAD to 750 USD, the bank takes a 1% forex fee (7.5 USD) and you end up with 742.5 USD less 10 USD for the tax paid to the US, so you end up with 732.5 USD.

(Assume 1 USD = 1.3 CAD)

This shows that regardless whether you invest in USD or CAD it doesn't matter since you'll be paying taxes to the US and Canada anyway. From a legal perspective it's just a matter of how much do you have to pay the US in terms of USD, and how much do you have to pay Canada in CAD regardless what's the original currency is. You can see in both scenarios you paid Canada, 325 CAD, and the US, 10 USD.

Now there are multitude of reason why you want a USD ETF or CAD ETF. Maybe you can earn USD right from the go through ESPP or RSUs which makes US ETF more appealing, or maybe you just don't want to deal with having to convert CAD to USD when depositing to an RRSP so you want to keep everything in CAD until you withdraw them.

Full disclosure, I am investing nearly all of my portfolio in USD, but not because I'm avoiding future taxes or whatnot, but simply because the US stock market provide better gains. If tomorrow a Canadian startup went IPO that can convincingly provide returns as NVDA had in the few years, you'll bet I'll be putting some money on it.

Btw, how soon can we get a TN visa after applying for citizenship? We wait for the citizenship test and ceremony, and after the ceremony, we wait to get a Canadian passport and that's all? It takes around 1 year after the AOR of citizenship?

Official IRCC numbers say that on average citizenship applications are completed 14 months after receiving the application, test, ceremony, everything. Once you get your citizenship, you can apply for a passport, which takes 20 business days after application has been received.

Requirements for a TN VISA: (1) Canadian passport, (2) a job employment letter from a US based company in compliance with the NAFTA occupation list, (3) Proof that you are qualified to do the job, i.e. employee verification letters, diplomas, transcript, (4) proof of non-immigrant intent i.e. a house or mortgage, financial accounts with substantial value, family members still living in Canada, etc.

Technically you can get a TN visa on the day you get your passport, but because of item (4) you might want to hold out a few months before trying to apply, otherwise the immigration officer might get suspicious. But if you actually have a mortgage or a spouse living in Canada, then by all means that should be enough to satisfy non-immigrant intent.

 

[GandiBaat]

Btw, how soon can we get a TN visa after applying for citizenship? We wait for the citizenship test and ceremony, and after the ceremony, we wait to get a Canadian passport and that's all? It takes around 1 year after the AOR of citizenship?

AFAIK, you need to have canadian passport for TN-1.

 

[RSub]

I managed to get an unsecured credit card from TD.. they said its because I never had a credit score in Canada.

I thought we need to only buy US ETF otherwise tax would be complicated with CAD ETF?

Btw, how soon can we get a TN visa after applying for citizenship? We wait for the citizenship test and ceremony, and after the ceremony, we wait to get a Canadian passport and that's all? It takes around 1 year after the AOR of citizenship?

You need Canadian passport to get your TN visa.

 

[DesiPikachu]

Hello, I’m at TD right now and to open a credit card, I need to lock in $500 since I have no income. Is this the account that I need to open to build my credit card? The secure credit card, is it?

You'll get better info at redflagdeals forum tbh

 

[GandiBaat]

Hello, I’m at TD right now and to open a credit card, I need to lock in $500 since I have no income. Is this the account that I need to open to build my credit card? The secure credit card, is it?

Shop around. Ask Scotia, RBC, BMO. Also consider some credit unions. My first account and credit card was from Vancity. Still most of my banking is with them.