Before you start

Passport and immigration document
A Canadian address
Social Insurance Number, for interest-bearing and registered accounts
A deposit, if you start with a secured credit card

Step-by-step

1
Pre-open the account from abroad if your bank allows it
Several major banks accept newcomer applications before arrival, which lets you transfer funds ahead of the move and walk into a branch with the account already created. Doing this before you land removes a week of friction at the worst moment.
OnlineWho: You
2
Open on a newcomer package rather than a standard account
The newcomer programs waive monthly fees for a promotional period, usually a year, and accept applicants with no Canadian credit file. Ask for it by name; a standard account is what you get if you do not.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
3
Apply for a credit card in the same appointment
This is the step to insist on. Newcomer cards are approved on immigration status and income rather than a Canadian score. If you are declined, ask for a secured card, where a refundable deposit backs the limit — but ask about the unsecured one first.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
4
Use the card small and clear it in full every month
Put a small recurring charge on it and pay the balance monthly. Low utilisation and perfect payment history are what build the score; carrying a balance builds nothing except interest.
Mobile appWho: YouA usable score generally emerges over 6–12 months
5
Ask your employer for a letter you can show a landlord
In a market this competitive, an employment letter stating salary and start date does some of the work a credit file would. Landlords here routinely ask for one, and having it ready when you view a flat rather than promising to send it later is a genuine advantage.
Via employerWho: You
6
Open a TFSA and check when your contribution room actually began
Room accrues only from the year you became a Canadian resident, not from the scheme's launch in 2009. Over-contributing on the assumption of full historic room is penalised monthly and the Canada Revenue Agency does find it.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport
PR card, Confirmation of Permanent Residence, or work permit
Social Insurance Number
Canadian address
Employment letter, for credit products and for rental applications

Things most newcomers don’t know

In this rental market, the credit check is a selection mechanism, not a formality.

Vacancy in Halifax has run very low for several years and a decent peninsula flat can attract dozens of applications in a day. Landlords choose, and one of the things they choose on is a credit report. Elsewhere in Canada an empty file mostly means paying a deposit; here it can mean simply not being picked. That reframes 'start building credit in month one' from prudent advice into the thing that determines where you live.

Source: community-reported, consistently corroborated

Ask for the newcomer credit card before you accept a secured one.

Several major banks issue unsecured cards to recent immigrants on the strength of an immigration document and an employment letter, with no Canadian score required. Branch staff often default to the secured product, which locks up a deposit unnecessarily and takes longer to convert into a usable score. One direct question is worth several months.

Source: Bank newcomer program terms

An employment letter is the substitute the market actually accepts.

You cannot manufacture a credit history in your first month, but you can walk into a viewing with a letter from your employer confirming role, salary and start date, plus references. Landlords in a competitive market are managing risk, and giving them something concrete to weigh is the practical workaround. Have it printed before your first viewing, not after your third rejection.

Source: community-reported

TFSA room starts the year you became a resident, not the year the scheme did.

Canadians accumulate room every year since 2009 and the cumulative figure is large and widely quoted online. Newcomers accrue it only from the year of arrival. The over-contribution penalty is charged monthly on the excess. It is one of the most common expensive newcomer mistakes in Canada, precisely because online advice is written for people who have always lived here.

Source: Canada Revenue Agency

Common mistakes to avoid

Arriving at a competitive rental viewing with no credit file and no employment letter.
Opening a standard account instead of asking for the newcomer package.
Accepting a secured card without asking whether you qualify for an unsecured newcomer card.
Carrying a balance in the belief that it builds credit faster — it does not.
Over-contributing to a TFSA on the assumption of full historic room.
Letting the newcomer fee waiver lapse into a paid monthly plan unnoticed.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.