Best Bank for Newcomers to Canada

In our article about The Best Bank Accounts for Newcomers to Canada, we cover the eligibility requirements and key considerations for opening a bank account if you’ve recently arrived in Canada as an immigrant, work permit holder, or permanent resident.

While new online-only banks are a compelling option, in many cases new Canadians maintain banking relationships with their country of origin and are more frequent users of international transfer and in-branch services. That sets their requirements apart from other consumers. And that’s partly why many banks offer specific banking packages for newcomers. The main reason, of course, is that the Canadian banking system is saturated and consumer relationships are sticky, so it’s best to target new customers from the moment of their arrival in Canada (or even before).

Whatever the motivations of banks, newcomers to Canada can take advantage of great deals on banking services.

We’d like to highlight one of our favourite newcomer banking offerings from a full-service bank, the National Bank of Canada (“NBC” or “National Bank”).

National Bank of Canada is a major player

While a significant financial institution with around $418 billion in assets, over 30,000 employees, and a designation as one of six “domestic systemically important banks”, National Bank of Canada flies under the radar outside of its home province of Quebec.

NBC has particularly competitive financial products in areas like credit cards, small business banking, and newcomer banking. While this article is about National Bank’s services for newcomers, we cover the benefits of their World Elite Mastercard here.

One major downside of NBC if you’re outside of Quebec is that their ATM and branch network isn’t as extensive as the Big 5 banks.

However, they have turned around this potential disadvantage by offering free ATM debit card transactions nationally via THE EXCHANGE®, a network of over 3,000 terminals in Canada which allows reciprocal access to the ATMs of dozens of financial institutions.

Members tend to be local credit unions and new online banks but there are also larger financial institutions such as HSBC, Alterna, DUCA, Canadian Western Bank and Manulife Bank, as well as international banks like ICICI and SBI (India), Bank of China and ICBC (China) and KEB Hana (Korea). A typical “Big 5” bank would impose service charges if you use an ATM outside of the bank’s own network.

Another major benefit of THE EXCHANGE network is that, while it only operates in Canada, it has a partnership with the Allpoint Network and Accel® Network in the USA through which you can withdraw cash surcharge-free at any Allpoint ATM, as well as at some Accel Network ATM locations. You can consult their ATM locator here.

National Bank of Canada’s newcomer banking package

Here are the main features of National Bank’s newcomer banking package:

Chequing account with no fixed monthly fee for up to 3 years
Access to a Canadian National Bank Mastercard credit card without credit history (subject to credit approval)
12 months free access to the Assistance for newcomers telephone service, offered via National Bank Assistance Network. This service provides support for questions about daily life, legal issues, housing, personal finances, and immigration.
Mortgage loans without a credit history for temporary or permanent residents (subject to credit approval by National Bank. Certain conditions apply.)
Car loans without a credit history (subject to credit approval by National Bank. Certain conditions apply.)

It’s noteworthy that you can sign up for the Newcomer Bank Account at any point from 90 days before your arrival in Canada until 5 years post arrival.

Click the image below to check out the full details of National Bank of Canada’s “Newcomer Bank Account”

Open a newcomer bank account at National Bank of Canada

Summary and recommendations

National Bank is great for newcomers to Canada

Our general advice to newcomers to open a core account at a legacy bank remains, and National Bank of Canada is a compelling choice. In Mr. Thrifty’s opinion, National Bank is the best bank for newcomers to Canada as it beats the offerings of the Big 5 banks for the length of time they offer no-fee banking services. As well, you’re not giving up too much in terms of convenience since they offer fee-free ATM services across Canada through THE EXCHANGE network. The picture is even rosier if you happen to live in Quebec. An additional benefit is their highly-rated mobile app (Apple | Google).

Open a HISA too, to maximize your interest earnings

However, if you have excess funds and wish to take advantage of higher interest rates, you would be better off establishing another account at an online financial institution. Mr. Thrifty tracks the interest rates offered by most banks offering High Interest Savings Accounts (HISAs). For more details, please consult our Guide to High Interest Savings Accounts.

Use a specialist foreign exchange service to get the best FX rates

Another important point if you’ll be making frequent foreign exchange transfers is that the rates offered by Canadian banks tend to be very poor, so while there is no transparent fee it is certainly embedded in the rate you are quoted. You’ll be much better off with a specialist foreign exchange service like OFX. We cover OFX and other services in our article on How to Save Money When Exchanging Currency.