All big banks in Canada have Newcomers banking packages catered for permanent residents and work permit holders within 5 years of arrival date in Canada. These bank packages usually include a chequing account with no monthly fee or minimum balance requirement for at least 1 year, a credit card without credit history, and other benefits. Below are the top banking packages for newcomers:

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)

CIBC Banking Packages for Newcomers include:

• CIBC Smart Account for Newcomers: a chequing account with unlimited transactions, no minimum balance requirement and no monthly fee for 2 years. After one year, you do need to maintain $4,000 in the account, or have at least $100,000 total relationship with CIBC to waive monthly fee. $100,000 can be in a CIBC Trading or Investment account.
• CIBC Credit Card with up to a $15,000 credit limit without any secured deposits

For a limited time, you will also get $350 bonus after you complete required activities under the welcome bonus program terms and conditions. If you apply for CIBC Smart Account for Newcomers using my referral link, we will both get $50 bonus. This is in additional to the above $350 bonus from CIBC.

National Bank of Canada (NBC)

National Bank of Canada’s newcomer include:

• A Chequing account with unlimited transactions, no minimum balance requirement and no monthly fee for up to 3 years:
  • Save $15.95/month in 1st year
  • Save $15.95/month in 2nd and 3rd year by having a National Bank Mastercard personal credit card, Online bank statement, and Payroll deposit or electronic payment of 2 bills per month.
• A National Bank Mastercard credit card with no credit history. If you are qualified, try to get the National Bank World Elite Mastercard, which has $150 annual fee but also offers $150 travel enhancement credit and great insurance, making it effectively $0 annual fee and one of the best credit cards to keep long term.

If your profession is in NBC’s professional banking list, I would strongly suggest you consider switch the the professional banking package, because such package gives you access to no monthly fee chequing account, line of credit with low interest rate, ranging from prime+0% to prime+0.5%, and waives maintenance fee for National Bank’s Direct Brokerage account. Under professional banking, you do need to keep a National Bank Mastercard credit card, but as mentioned above, the National Bank World Elite Mastercard has effectively $0 annual fee.

The downside of National Bank of Canada is that it does not have a large network of branches and ATMs compared to other big banks in Canada. However, its ATM card can access any ATMs in Exchange Network.

NBC occasionally has welcome bonus for new client, so keep an eye for such bonus before you open a chequing account with National Bank of Canada.

HSBC Canada

HSBC Canada Newcomers Program include:

• An Advance Chequing or Premier Chequing account with unlimited transactions, no minimum balance requirement and no monthly fee for 1 year. What differentiate HSBC from other bank is that after one year, you can still enjoy no monthly fee if you meet certain conditions:
  • Advance Chequing: You maintain at least $5,000 in total relationship with HSBC Canada, or hold a personal HSBC Canada residential mortgage with original amount of at least $150,000. The $5,000 minimum balance can be in an investment account and doesn’t need to be in the chequing account itself, which is what other banks usually require to waive monthly fee.
  • Premier Chequing: You maintain at least $100,000 in total relationship with HSBC Canada, or hold a personal HSBC Canada residential mortgage with original amount of at least $500,000, or have income deposits of $6,500 within a calendar month plus confirmation of at least $100,000 in assets under management in Canada.
• A HSBC Mastercard credit card with no credit history. HSBC World Elite Mastercard is another great credit card to keep long term. It has $150 annual fee but also offers $100 travel enhancement credit, no foreign transaction fee and great insurance. You also receive $25 rebate on the annual fee if you have an Advance Chequing account, and $50 rebate on the annual fee if you have a Premier Chequing account.

HSBC Canada is best for newcomers that have banking relationship with HSBC in their home countries, because it offers international account opening and global transfer with preferential exchange rate. If you have Premier status with HSBC in one country, you also get Premier status with HSBC in other countries.

Like National Bank, HSBC also does not have large network of branches and ATMs compared to other big banks, but HSBC debit card can access any ATMs in Exchange Network.

For a limited time, you will get up to $400 bonus (Advance Chequing) or $500 bonus (Premier Chequing) after you complete required activities under the welcome bonus program terms and conditions

Other banks

TD Canada Trust (TD), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Scotia and Bank of Montreal (BMO) also have newcomers programs that offer:

• A Chequing account with unlimited transactions, no minimum balance requirement, no monthly fee for 1 year, and welcome bonus. After 1 year, you do need to maintain minimum balance in the chequing account to waive monthly fee. RBC does not even offer options to waive monthly fee, but it has certain fee rebate if you have multi-product with RBC.
• A credit card with no credit history.

I find these offers are inferior to CIBC, National Bank of Canada, and HSBC’s newcomers programs.