moving from where? Citibank being a US-based account?
Honestly, I had better experiences opening a bank account in so-called third world countries (I'm from the US). I'm not in Toronto or Vancouver, tho, maybe I'm just in a banking backwater with 100,000 people
I have a Bank of America account, and chose Scotiabank in Canada because they have a reciprocal agreement where you can use an ATM card from one at the other without service charges. I had thought (hoped) that this would mean that it would be relatively easy to move money back and forth between my two accounts. WRONG. Had to make an appointment with the bank officer (there's only one), which took something like 4 weeks (don't do it February-April during "tax season"). Then it was the third degree. There's apparently no standardized process to follow, because they kept coming back and asking for more papers, IDs, etc. Then to make a deposit, they held my money for 3 weeks ("security" my arse).
What I should have done (instead of trying to deposit a check) was to withdraw cash from the ATM and deposit that. But would have had to go to the bank several times, because of ATM limits.
After providing all that paper work, you know what happens if I want a new product or service? Yup. They want all the same paperwork all over again. When I say "I already gave that to you" they say that they don't keep it, it all goes to the central office in Toronto. "Don't you keep copies or records or have electronic access?" No. But you already did these clearances. Sorry, have to do it again.
AFTER I got here, did find out that RBC is the only one (as far as I could find out) that makes it easy to move money between Canada and the US (because there is also an RBC in the USA). (They have a program that caters to Canadian snowbirds in the US). If I had known that before, I would have moved my account in the US to RBC there ... can't recommend it on first-hand experience, but you are supposed to be able to make electronic transfers between accounts... Now I have to go thru a 3rd party to make those transfers (forex). Scotiabank's idea of providing international transfers is to promote Western Union
There's a special, very hot place in the afterlife for American bankers, but Canadian banks make American banks look pretty good. The only reason they have such a good reputation internationally is that the system is too backwards, too ... what's the opposite of transparent, opaque? for anyone to know any better. (You wouldn't believe the stuff that still gets done on paper...). You know, if you don't keep mortality statistics, there is no epidemic...
Anyway - yes, perhaps I got the one worst bank in Canada, but after being here for almost 2 years I have no reason to believe the others are much better. Still, if I get PR and no longer have to worry about getting the boot, it will be worth the hassle of switching and finding out.