Money transfer to Canadian account

[astralsource]

I see.

Incorrect. Royal Bank of Canada will allow you to open up a deposit-only account without being in Canada. Once you're in the country (either as a visitor or a PR) you can go into a branch and convert it to a full-use account. They have investment options(GICs) for non-residents too.

+1

Didn't know that.

Canada is awesome.
Good thread http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/opening-account-from-abroad-t122023.0.html

 

[sailorshinde]

You can open a GIC account from your home country.

I would recommend opening two accounts.

One with an established bank: CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank or TD.
Another with an online bank: Tangerine or Presidents Choice Financial.

Established banks give you access to a wide variety of services but online banks give you access to banking for free. With established banks you will have to pay monthly service charges. The moment you have your credit cards and mortgage and everything else in place, I would recommend moving to one of the online banks for your day to day banking as you can mostly do all your banking online and won't need to visit the branch much.

My two paise

 

[astralsource]

You can open a GIC account from your home country.

I would recommend opening two accounts.

One with an established bank: CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank or TD.
Another with an online bank: Tangerine or Presidents Choice Financial.

Established banks give you access to a wide variety of services but online banks give you access to banking for free. With established banks you will have to pay monthly service charges. The moment you have your credit cards and mortgage and everything else in place, I would recommend moving to one of the online banks for your day to day banking as you can mostly do all your banking online and won't need to visit the branch much.

My two paise

+1