Hello Folks,
This site has been very helpful during my move to Canada from the US on work visa.
When I moved, I was under the impression that TD bank would allow me to open a US
trading account. However, after opening a bank account with TD I found out that they no longer allow work visa holder to get a trading account. Does anyone here know of any bank in Canada will work in my case?
Thanks a lot in advance.
Regards,
Aman
Not banks, but you can try Questrade, WealthSimple and Interactive Broker in that order. Questrade comes highly recommended because it allows direct trading in USD.
Same thing happened to me. I got to know only after opening the bank account with TD. Even the folks there didn’t know it wasn’t possible. I guess it’s a new rule since July 2020.
I used Questrade now as it comes with the low fees ($4.95 per trade, +$0.75 per contract) with Active Trader Package. You can do Norbert’s Gambit to transfer CAD to USD, or use their inhouse transfer tool which comes with a transfer fees. This is good if you’re actively day trading. If you’re only investing for short or long term, wealthsimple is good with no fees.
Can you clarify what you mean by a US trading account?
Do you want to open a registered account like a TFSA, RRSP or RESP or do you want to open a margin brokerage account.
I don’t know the regulations about registered accounts, but there isn’t anything known as a US trading account. There are margin accounts at various brokerages and banks that will let you hold and transact with US dollars without conversion. To the best of my knowledge, being on a work visa shouldn’t matter when it comes to owning and operating a brokerage account.
I am also moving to Canada next week. I plan to keep using Robinhood for trading( fidelity should work). Any specific reason for opening a new Canadian trading account? I understand that you might want to do this in long term but you should get your PR in 1/2 years anyways.