Best way to move funds from USA to Canadian account?

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Hi everyone, i’ve looked through the forums and i’m not clear on the best way to move funds from USA to Canada. Please can anyone share their thoughts? Are there other means to move funds asides wire transfers? Does the bank offer the best rate? Please let me know. Thanks!

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I have a similar question, especially concerning how easy it is to transfer funds from my US bank accounts to my Canadian’s after I’ve moved to Canada? Would it become a hurdle if I needed to transfer funds from the US without being present in the US?

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Wire transfers are the best based on my research. Go for a single (or limited) no of transfers as opposed to several small ones since you’re charged a fee (at both ends - could be between USD 50-70) for the transaction. Doesn’t take more than 2 business days in my experience.

Open up a USD account with your Bank in Canada so that you can hold your money without losing any in exchange. Mind you, if you need to take out money from this USD account at a later date, the bank will apply its own lower exchange rate and take a cut.

You do not have to be physically present in the US to do this. And for whatever reason you want to keep your US account (say you’ll be visiting frequently or plan on going back) you should be able to reach out to your US bank and make that work too.

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Hi, thank you for sharing your experience. When you said, “Mind you, if you need to take out money from this USD account at a later date, the bank will apply its own lower exchange rate and take a cut”, exchange rate wouldn’t apply if you took out the money in its original USD, right?

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That’s a good point. I believe the bank’s rate also applies when depositing in a different currency. Best to check with your bank in Canada.

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On this forum there is a separate thread which discusses this issue (e.g. Tranfering funds - Moving to Canada on PR/Work Permit or Actually Moving to Canada: My Experience and Things you need to do)
You will have to go through them and other answers posted here to determine what’s the best way to move funds. TLDR: there’s no magic way to transfer easily without getting hit with fees.

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