Credit Cards (building credit as a new-coming PR in Canada quickly)

[browntrout]

Apologies if this has been covered before did some searches around the forum and couldn't find the answer I was looking for.

Will be moving to Canada in January and one thing that I haven't been able to cover yet is how to start building my credit line / credit history in Canada. I lived in the US for a number of years, and credit history means everything there, I assume the same is true for Canada so I would like to start right away to work up a healthy credit history. In the US, there were these credit against deposit cards where you deposit let's say 500-1000 USD and that became your credit line, 6 months later and with frequent smaller purchase and re-filling of this initially deposit I was able to get a “real” credit card.

1) I will be living in Vancouver, BC any recommendations how to build my credit line/history here? Same structure as the US, if so any recommendation for these credit against deposit institutions, or any other/or better way to quickly build my credit?

2) I have decided to open 2 bank accounts when i land, one with RBC and one with TD as these offer what I am after in terms of consumer banking, figured i'll open both and decide down the line which one to keep, or just keep both. Maybe these institutions also offer credit card with people with no credit line?

Thankful for any suggestions, if you are or have been in the same situation as me

 

[eurmione]

Apologies if this has been covered before did some searches around the forum and couldn't find the answer I was looking for.

Will be moving to Canada in January and one thing that I haven't been able to cover yet is how to start building my credit line / credit history in Canada. I lived in the US for a number of years, and credit history means everything there, I assume the same is true for Canada so I would like to start right away to work up a healthy credit history. In the US, there were these credit against deposit cards where you deposit let's say 500-1000 USD and that became your credit line, 6 months later and with frequent smaller purchase and re-filling of this initially deposit I was able to get a “real” credit card.

1) I will be living in Vancouver, BC any recommendations how to build my credit line/history here? Same structure as the US, if so any recommendation for these credit against deposit institutions, or any other/or better way to quickly build my credit?

2) I have decided to open 2 bank accounts when i land, one with RBC and one with TD as these offer what I am after in terms of consumer banking, figured i'll open both and decide down the line which one to keep, or just keep both. Maybe these institutions also offer credit card with people with no credit line?

Thankful for any suggestions, if you are or have been in the same situation as me

You should open only 1 account. If you put in more than 5000$. Chances are they will give you a 500$ credit limit credit card. The more money you have in the bank, the higher chance. Dont go for RBC. It sucks and expensive and inconvinient. TD is better. Everywhere (include US). It has longer open hours, easier on giving out credit cards so you can build your history. If you keep a certain amount of money in the bank all the time, no monthly fee.

PS: have you ever heard a "joke" saying "Canada is the 53 states of USA"? Yes, our system is so similar to the point that some of the things are the same. I.e. credit history

 

[browntrout]

You should open only 1 account. If you put in more than 5000$. Chances are they will give you a 500$ credit limit credit card. The more money you have in the bank, the higher chance. Dont go for RBC. It sucks and expensive and inconvenient. TD is better. Everywhere (include US). It has longer open hours, easier on giving out credit cards so you can build your history. If you keep a certain amount of money in the bank all the time, no monthly fee.

TD/RBC where the ones that offered what i was after, clean website, internet banking, android etc etc. My friends currently in Vancouver do recommend TD over RBC just as you do, main reason they said (like you did) were more branches with longer opening hours, and less fees for the account, i know TD is completely free if you have a certain balance in the account.

PS: have you ever heard a "joke" saying "Canada is the 53 states of USA"? Yes, our system is so similar to the point that some of the things are the same. I.e. credit history

hehe, i have heard about that, just don't think it goes very well with Canadians, being associated as being a part of US that is

 

[eurmione]

TD/RBC where the ones that offered what i was after, clean website, internet banking, android etc etc. My friends currently in Vancouver do recommend TD over RBC just as you do, main reason they said (like you did) were more branches with longer opening hours, and less fees for the account, i know TD is completely free if you have a certain balance in the account.

hehe, i have heard about that, just don't think it goes very well with Canadians, being associated as being a part of US that is

Ya. It doesnt go well with canadians but we still use it in a sacastic way

 

[browntrout]

figured , so your recommendations is to try to get a credit card via the bank i am setting up my regular bank account with then. Makes sense, but how about if they wont give me the credit line? are there any other institutions i could use, don't care about terms i.e % on credit used, as that's not the purpose right now, only purpose is to build credit.

 

[NeedleArtist]

I bank at TD as well, and they do offer a secured VISA card. When my wife and I arrived in Vancouver they set up with dual joint checking accounts ($CA and $US) and a savings account. One fee covers all and includes a safety deposit box. We each deposited $1000 into separate secured savings accounts which are each tied to a secured VISA cards (each with a $1000 limit.) The savings accounts were locked down. After about 14 months of moderate usage and regular on-time payments, they lifted the savings account access restrictions and the VISA cards converted to "normal" unsecured accounts. Fast-forward 4 years and our accounts now have $5000 and $8500 limits.

We could have opted for fee-free accounts but prefer the convenience of our plan. Makes it easy to receive EFT transfers from the U.S. for my Army Retirement pay, VA Disability payments and Social Security. EFT deposits go into the US$ account (which unlike Canadian banks has a bank routing number attached to it like US banks) and I simply transfer over to the CA$ account when exchange rate is most favourable.

Note: We actually set up our TD banking accounts about 7 months before we actually arrived. In order to get better acquainted with the area, research housing, schools, etc. we moved to Lynden, WA about a year before our move to BC (about 3km S of Abottsford). Used it as a home base for almost daily cross-border explorations.

 

[browntrout]

I bank at TD as well, and they do offer a secured VISA card. When my wife and I arrived in Vancouver they set up with dual joint checking accounts ($CA and $US) and a savings account. One fee covers all and includes a safety deposit box. We each deposited $1000 into separate secured savings accounts which are each tied to a secured VISA cards (each with a $1000 limit.) The savings accounts were locked down. After about 14 months of moderate usage and regular on-time payments, they lifted the savings account access restrictions and the VISA cards converted to "normal" unsecured accounts. Fast-forward 4 years and our accounts now have $5000 and $8500 limits.

We could have opted for fee-free accounts but prefer the convenience of our plan. Makes it easy to receive EFT transfers from the U.S. for my Army Retirement pay, VA Disability payments and Social Security. EFT deposits go into the US$ account (which unlike Canadian banks has a bank routing number attached to it like US banks) and I simply transfer over to the CA$ account when exchange rate is most favourable.

Note: We actually set up our TD banking accounts about 7 months before we actually arrived. In order to get better acquainted with the area, research housing, schools, etc. we moved to Lynden, WA about a year before our move to BC (about 3km S of Abottsford). Used it as a home base for almost daily cross-border explorations.

Thanks for your reply!! seems most people are in favor of TD these days, and something like that is exactly what i am after initially. Don't mind to lock in a $1000 into a secured account to back the credit up in order to "build credit" as they day. Ill probably visit a TD branch as one of the things ill do after landing in Vancouver

 

[GK]

If you have AmEx is a very easy process to transfer credit history from one country to American Express Canada. Visit the AmEx site and you will find the information on "International Transfer" or what ever they call it.

 

[browntrout]

If you have AmEx is a very easy process to transfer credit history from one country to American Express Canada. Visit the AmEx site and you will find the information on "International Transfer" or what ever they call it.

thank you! will look into that also!