“The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your back pocket.”
– Will Rogers

Banks of Canada

Immigrants in Canada have a wide range of banks they can choose from. The most well-known banks in Canada are the following:

Immigrants are advised to work very carefully with the money they bring to Canada. The *minimum amount of Canadian Dollars a family of four must have when they come to Canada is $27,297, in the Federal Skilled Worker program. In certain situations, for example when the applicant has a job offer, a Federal Skilled Worker can come to Canada without showing settlement funds.

While the amount of money you bring with you to Canada might feel significant, you have to purchase various goods and services soon after your arrival in Canada. Please take time to view our ‘Shopping‘ page. Immediate expenses might include a car, a deposit for renting a house, special winter clothing, and furniture. Immigrants are advised to be very conservative with their funds right from the start.

If a person intends to come to Canada in the next few months, the Canada Currency Converter can be used to determine how many Canadian Dollars (CAD) will be bought with foreign currency.

Immigrants are required by law to declare if they have more than $10,000 CAD in their possession when they enter Canada.

The banking system in Canada is very advanced and services such as internet banking, automatic teller machines, and telephone banking are widely used.

*Minimum amount of CAD needed? The number of settlement funds recommended by Canada Immigration is updated yearly. When reviewing these amounts, please verify the amounts directly on Canada Immigration’s website.

Canada Monthly Budget (Basic Necessities)

Immigrants are strongly advised to keep a budget. Everyone will have a unique budget depending on their needs, tastes and size of their family. An example of one monthly budget for a family of four (in Canadian Dollars) could be as follows:

HOVER OVER THE PIE CHART AND CLICK TO VIEW CHART VALUES. Please note: This is only a rough estimate of the minimal monthly expenses to live in Canada, and it varies throughout provinces.

Also remember that there are other costs such as:

vehicle licenses
driver training

Immigrants also have to save for:

times of possible unemployment (there is Employment Insurance which pays the unemployed a certain wage every week – but this is about 50 – 60% of a persons wage), and
holidays (if you get paid per hour / if you work on a contract basis).

Credit Score History

Any time you apply for financing, whether it be a Mortgage, vehicle finance or perhaps a line of credit at a department store, your credit history will be checked and your score evaluated. Financial institutions that are in the business of lending money use credit scores as their primary source of risk evaluation. A high credit rating is therefore of utmost importance if you wish to gain credit. Credit ‘Lenders’ consider credit history the most accurate indicator of a ‘Borrower’s’ willingness and ability to repay debt. Your credit score is linked to your S.I.N (Social Insurance Number) and as a general rule of thumb your credit score is based on the following factors:

Length of Credit History (Having No credit history is considered more risky than a few missed payments)
Number of Credit facilities currently active
Employment History
Ratio of Total Credit Facility to Current Balance Owed
Number, Frequency and Severity of Missed or Default Payments
Number of enquiries
Records of Civil Litigation

Here are some simple tips to establishing and maintaining a high credit score:

With no Credit History your best way of establishing one is to open a “Secured Credit Card”, make a few purchases and pay the balance off.
Never miss a payment; it will affect your credit score for at least 5 years. (If an error has been made by the lending Institution then ensure that it is rectified and demand a letter explaining how an error was made!!!)
Ensure you have only 3 facilities open and your balance on each is below 75% of the available limit.
If you have closed a credit facility or paid off a loan, ensure the lending institution has removed it from your credit report.
Since your score is adversely affected by the number of enquiries you have on your report, when shopping around for finance, the use of a broker is highly recommended. Brokers who are specialists in their respective fields are able to pull one credit report and utilize the information in applications to multiple ‘Lenders’. If you approached every ‘Lender’ individually it would result in multiple enquiries on your credit report and ultimately affect your ability to borrow.
Whenever you receive mail containing the words “Low Introductory Rate”, tear it up and throw it away! Don’t fall into the credit trap that has resulted in the consumer credit level reaching a staggering $1.6 Billion, accumulating interest as high as 28% p.a.

Credit Report Agencies

As already explained, a credit history will be used to obtain a mortgage or when buying a car or when renting an apartment or house.
Some companies that provide this service are listed below:

Trans Union of Canada Inc
Consumer Relations Centre
P.O. Box 338, LCD 1
Hamilton
Ontario
L8L 7W2
905 – 525-0262
1-866-525-0262

https://www.transunion.com/

A consumer can buy a report online at Trans Union for CAD$14.99. This company provides two reports; a basic report for CAD$14.50 and a deluxe report for CA$21,50 (shows the consumer how to correct a score over time). The score is developed by Fair Isaac & CO (FICO) and the scores range between 300 and 900, with the higher score showing a better rating than a lower score. The average Canadian score is about 770.

Equifax
Box 190
Jean Talon Station
Montreal
Quebec
H1S 2Z2
416-227-8800
1-800-465-7166

http://www.consumer.equifax.ca/home/en_ca

This company provides two reports; a basic report for CAD$14.50 and a deluxe report for CA$21.50 (shows the consumer how to correct a score over time). The score is developed by Fair Isaac & CO (FICO) and the scores range between 300 and 900, with the higher score showing a better rating than a lower score. The average Canadian score is about 770.

Consumers have the right to access credit information

Immigrants should also remember as consumers they have the right to access their credit information.

Risk of checking credit too often

There is a soft credit check and a hard credit check. The terms are “soft pull” and “hard pull”. Soft pulls generally do not affect one’s score, but hard pull’s do. To check once a year is okay, but to check more is risky as some lenders might be concerned about why a certain consumer is checking his/her credit history so many times a year.

Fix credit

Sometimes the credit information held on consumers is incorrect. It is not uncommon for people to be flagged with accounts they do not even have. A consumer can correct these errors – but the onus rests on the consumer to check this out and have it corrected. Immigrants are advised to always keep record of all their communications with credit reporting agencies and should not expect any errors to be corrected unless it is in writing.

Financial