Before you start

Passport and immigration document
A Canadian address
Social Insurance Number, for interest-bearing and registered accounts
A deposit, if you end up 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 move funds ahead of the move and walk into a branch with the account already created. Doing it before you land removes a week of friction at the point when you have the least slack.
OnlineWho: You
2
Open on a newcomer package rather than a standard account
Newcomer programmes 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 are given 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 newcomer card first, because branch staff often default to the secured one.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
4
Use the card small and clear it in full every month
Put a recurring charge on it and pay the balance in full. Low utilisation plus perfect payment history is what builds the score; carrying a balance builds nothing but interest. A usable score generally emerges over six to twelve months.
Mobile appWho: You6–12 months to a usable score
5
Get an employment letter before your first viewing, not after your third rejection
A letter stating role, salary and start date does much of the work a credit file would in a competitive rental market. Landlords here routinely ask for one. Having it printed and in hand at the viewing beats promising to email it.
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
Proof of a Canadian address
Employment letter, for credit products and for rental applications

Things most newcomers don’t know

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

A well-priced flat in Mississauga can attract dozens of applications in a day, and the landlord picks. One of the things they pick on is a credit report. In a loose market an empty file means paying a larger deposit; here it can mean simply not being chosen. That turns 'start building credit early' from prudent advice into the thing that determines where you live.

Source: community-reported, consistently corroborated

Ask for the unsecured newcomer credit card before accepting 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 reach for the secured product, which locks up a deposit unnecessarily and takes longer to turn into a usable score. One direct question is worth several months of credit history.

Source: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — banking for newcomers

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 endlessly quoted online. Newcomers accrue it only from the year of arrival. The over-contribution penalty is charged monthly on the excess and is not waived for a misunderstanding. It is one of the most common expensive newcomer mistakes in Canada precisely because the online advice is written for people who have always lived here.

Source: Canada Revenue Agency

Ask an employer whether pay is deposited to a specific bank before you choose one.

It rarely matters mechanically — payroll goes anywhere — but a great many Mississauga employers have a workplace banking arrangement with one institution that waives fees or discounts a mortgage rate for staff. Newcomers open an account in their first week from the branch nearest the hotel and never learn the arrangement existed. Asking HR takes one email.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Arriving at a competitive viewing with no credit file and no employment letter.
Opening a standard account instead of asking for the newcomer package by name.
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.

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