Moving $ from CAN to USA for down payment

[anthello 19]

Has anyone done this? Either by transferring savings or cashing out RRSP? Or both? Any tips? I'm on my CR-1 extension right now pending PR-1.

[Coco8 1,042]

I'm not from Canada, but you can try paypal. If you can put your money from Canada in PayPal, then PayPal allows you to send it to a bank account in the US. The other advantage of paypal is that everything is very fast. 

 

Here you have the costs: https://www.paypal.com/ca/webapps/mpp/send-money-abroad

 

I think it is much cheaper than doing an international transfer, but might depend on your bank. It is much cheaper than a wire, for sure, and Western Union. 

[Jmc1 13]

I recommend TransferWise app and I hear OFX app is good too. These are best for smaller amounts (each transfer under $5,000 ish I think), I often use for $500 at a time with just $2 fee per transaction for that amount. Very small fee, great rate and super simple to set up and use the app.

 

For larger amounts I'd speak to a currency broker such as Currency Index etc. I follow http://www.poundsterlingforecast.com/category/sterling-strength/ for my own currency, sure there's a Canadian equivalent and you may find good tips here too.

[Lemonslice 4,841]

36 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

I'm not from Canada, but you can try paypal. If you can put your money from Canada in PayPal, then PayPal allows you to send it to a bank account in the US. The other advantage of paypal is that everything is very fast. 

 

Here you have the costs: https://www.paypal.com/ca/webapps/mpp/send-money-abroad

 

I think it is much cheaper than doing an international transfer, but might depend on your bank. It is much cheaper than a wire, for sure, and Western Union. 

PayPal will be costly (and is not a safe way to move large amounts-you have very little protection should something go wrong).

Look up the exchange rate and fees to do a wire transfer - compare with transfer between CAD and USD accounts at RBC and TD.  On large amounts, 0.05% difference is a big chunk.

 

RRSPs will be taxed - you can't use the Home Buyers' plan as a non resident. 

 

When I had to transfer a big chunk in 2010, best ended up being xe.com 

 

[Danni.B 37]

Wire transfer from a Canadian Bank is the cheapest and fastest if you are still in Canada. In terms of the conversion rate, you can always try to negotiate a better rate at the bank if you are transferring a large sum.

 

Any RSP redemptions will be added to your current year's taxable income; depending on the amount you are taking out of the RSP, there will be an automatic 10%, 20% or 30% withholding tax up front. And if you are already a non-resident in Canada (for tax purposes), there is a 25% non-resident tax for RSP withdrawal.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Progress Reports to Canada regional forum.

[wowswift 3]

My inlaws gave us money for our first home. Bank wire is best since your lender is going to want to see where the money came from. 

 

Never do do a check or cashiers check. Inlaws gave us some cash recently as a gift cuz FIL sold his business and retired, and even though it was in US funds, the bank likes to milk it and can hold on to your money for 6 weeks. They basically try to make us much money as they can on it till they give it to you. Think we only had to wait 2 weeks but it was still annoying. 

[NikLR 13,227]

I used cross border banking with RBC.  It's also available with TD.  Suggest looking into it. 

[Udella&Wiz 325]

The Tax hit on cashing out an RRSP and then on top of it the exchange rate? That's quite a chunk you'd lose.