Hi

I landed 2 days back in the worst weather ever:-) and applied for my SIN. I'll be returning to US in a couple of days and plan to be back in canada after a year or so. Is it advisable to open a bank account now? eg. would that be of advantage to have a credit history, hedging against exchange rates, maintain tax history etc. Is HSBC a good bank to open an account?

Thanks

If you are interested to maintain your Canadian Resident Status actively, it is good to open Bank account.

However as explained by you, you will not be resident of Canada for 2004 for tax purposes. (Refer to article on Taxation for iNdividuals posted on this website). You need not open a bank account. You already have applied for SIN.

HSBC is a good bank. You may consider
TD Bank
CIBC
RBC
They are also good bank
IN terms of branches network in Canada, TD bank is good particularly in Ontario

This is more personal choice. Every bank has some benefits and some issues. They are totally commercial organization. So you have to look which services youare looking for and what you expect from them.

It is advisable to open a bank account, and if you are comfortable in internet banking, then you should consider opening bank account with 'President's Choice' as it offers you completely free banking without charges. All the other big banks either charge exhorbitantly for their services or require you to keep some minimum balance ($1000-$5000) depending on the bank to give you service free of charge.

No body can predict accurately what the exchange rate would be after a year or two from now. Hence, you can also open a US Dollar account as well and can convert them to Canadian funds in stages so that you can average out the exchange rate over a period of time. ING Direct is also another bank which offers internet banking and US Dollar accounts without any service charge. The only thing is that it does not give you a facility of cheques and you would also have to open an account with another bank, in order to transfer funds 'to and from' your ING account.

You have already applied for SIN. I would say that after opeing the bank account and getting SIN you should also apply for OHIP (Health Card) and if possible a Canadian Credit Card as well ( I presume you already have US Credit cards) so that you are able to start your 'Credit History' in Canada as well which would come in handy if you apply for a mortgage in future.

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Pramod Chopra
Senior Mortgage Consultant
Mortgage Alliance Company of Canada

By opening bank account, having health card, credit card and SIN, you are proving that youhave maintained your ties with Canada. So you will be required to file tax return in Canada. However youwill be entitled to claim rebate on foreign tax paid in US.

You have to make decision - if you want to come back to Canada, go for all.