Hi Stuart,

I agree that does seem strange.

I was able to open an account with a credit union about 6 months before moving here. But that was during a visit here and we had to show passports etc. We didn't try to set anything up from outside of the country. So maybe that's where the problem lies.

I would definitely check with some different banks. It certainly makes life easier to already have the Canadian account, especially if you'll be selling your house and needing to wire the money over.

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It makes perfect sense to me stuart that they won't open an account before you are near your arrival date. Try asking your bank in the UK if someone from another country could open an account with them. The answer will be the same.

So accepting that, my question would be what you think you will gain by opening an account before you arrive? You say to 'build a credit history'. Well, it won't do that. Regular deposits in a bank account do nothing. The only things that build a credit history are paying bills, mortgages, etc. That's what the word 'credit' means in 'credit history'.

While there is nothing wrong with opening an account ahead of time and depositing some funds, it is also not a necessity.

Let me give you a real life example of how it can go if you do not open an account ahead of time.

First, if you are likely to have a large lump sum (house sale in UK) to transfer, you will want to set up an account in the UK with a Forex company such as Moneycorp. This process takes a little time so you do need to do that ahead of time. Once done, it will provide you with THE cheapest way to transfer funds from the UK to Canada. A bank to bank transfer is NOT the way to do this. So that's one reason not to try transferring funds 'on a monthly basis' from your UK bank account if that is what you were thinking of doing.

So you set up a Forex account and you are ready to move. You can arrange to instruct the Forex company by phone, fax, e-mail or in writing, to buy any currency you want and transfer to anywhere you want, at any time from anywhere.

So here is a real life example of day one of the arrival of my wife and myself in Canada from the UK.

Arriving on a Sunday afternoon, we took a taxi to a hotel. Prior to our departure from the UK, I had arranged (by phone) to buy a car. I had a deposit transferred to the account of the car dealership by the Forex company. The dealer knew when we would arrive and would have the car ready for pick-up.

On the Monday morning, I called the dealership, they sent over a car and driver to pick us up. At the dealership, we looked over the car and signed the purchase agreement. Then from their office I sent a fax to the Forex company instructing them to transfer money to the dealership's bank account in Canada. Purchase done. The dealership (in BC) had arranged at my request to have an Insurance broker come to the dealership and arrange insurance. Paperwork done in the dealership and payment on my UK credit card. Insurance done. The dealership then drove me to the Vehicle Registration office and transferred title of the car and it was then registered in my name. Payment on UK bank credit card again. Done. We drove away from the dealership in our new car. You can drive on your UK driving license for up to a year so need to change that immediately.

We then went to a bank. After having researched them online beforehand, we chose to use the CIBC. At the CIBC bank, we showed two pieces of ID each and opened an account in under half an hour. I then sent a fax from the bank to the Forex company instructing them to deposit X amount of funds in our new bank account. Bank done.

We then went for lunch before driving to a Real Estate office for our 2 pm appointment (arranged again from UK) with a real estate agent who then took us to see some rental properties in our budget range. All to be available immediately and all to be fully furnished. By 6 pm, we had chosen a place to stay, signed a rental agreement and paid the first/last month's rent on my UK credit card yet again.

A quick trip to a supermarket to buy a few basic groceries and we were moved in by 7pm. Move done.

Now not everyone is going to do it that way. I was a returning Canadian and so I was very familiar with how things work in Canada and quite confident of what I was doing. Buying a car by phone is not something everyone would be comfortable doing for starters.

My point is that the bank part is an easy part and not something you need to invest a lot of time and effort into beforehand. There are other parts you can also prepare for beforehand that may be better use of time.

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