Before you start

Passport and immigration document
Proof of a Quebec address
Social Insurance Number, for interest-bearing and registered accounts
An initial deposit, if you start with a secured credit card

Step-by-step

1
Open a chequing account on a newcomer package
RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC, National Bank and Desjardins all run newcomer offers that waive fees for an introductory period and accept applicants with no Canadian credit file. Several can be started from abroad before you land.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
2
Look seriously at Desjardins rather than defaulting to the Big Five
The caisse network is cooperative, member-owned and headquartered in Lévis, and its branch density in this region is far higher than any national bank's. Members share in surplus earnings. Service and documentation are French-first — which here is simply how banking works.
In personWho: You
3
Apply for a secured credit card in your first fortnight
You deposit a sum and get a card with that limit. Used for small regular purchases and cleared in full every month, it builds a Canadian credit file out of nothing. There is no faster legitimate route.
In personWho: YouWeek 1–2
4
Ask by name whether an unsecured newcomer card is available
Most institutions will issue an unsecured card to a recent immigrant on the strength of the immigration document and an employment letter, but counter staff routinely default to offering the secured version. Asking directly can save the deposit and several months.
In personWho: You
5
Open a TFSA and check when your contribution room actually started
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 it is one of the most common newcomer mistakes in Canada.
OnlineWho: You
6
Set up a specialist service for international transfers before you need one
Canadian banks charge substantial fees and poor spreads on cross-border transfers. Arrange the alternative before you have to move a rental deposit, not after seeing the rate.
Mobile appWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Work permit, CSQ or Confirmation of Permanent Residence
Social Insurance Number
Proof of Quebec address
Employment letter, often requested for credit products

Things most newcomers don’t know

In this region the caisse is not the alternative to the bank — it is the bank.

Desjardins is the largest financial institution in Quebec, its head office is in Lévis across the river, and in Québec City its branch and ATM density exceeds any national bank's. Newcomers arriving with an internationally written list of the Big Five often never consider it, then discover their employer, landlord and colleagues all bank there. Its documentation and service are French-first, which in this city is not a drawback so much as the default.

Source: community-reported

Your credit history does not transfer, and here it gates the flat as well as the loan.

Landlords routinely run a credit check, mobile carriers require one or a deposit, and no lender will look at a foreign record. Arriving with twenty spotless years abroad and being treated as a blank file is a genuine shock. The only fix is time plus deliberate activity, which is why a secured card in month one matters far more than it looks at the time.

Source: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

Ask for the newcomer credit card by name — it is almost never volunteered.

Most major institutions have a specific unsecured product for recent immigrants, approved on immigration status and income rather than a Canadian score. Branch staff frequently offer the secured card instead because it is the safer default for them. One direct question can save a deposit and half a year of score-building.

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 and the Canada Revenue Agency does find it. It is among the most common expensive newcomer errors precisely because the advice online is written for people who have always lived here.

Source: Canada Revenue Agency

Common mistakes to avoid

Waiting months to start a credit file and then needing one for a lease application.
Accepting a secured card without asking whether an unsecured newcomer card exists.
Never considering Desjardins because it was not on an internationally written list.
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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