Getting settled in Canada

Lucie Xie (Certified Immigration Consultant):
When I first moved to Canada, there was a lot I needed to organize. Also, I had to make a lot of decisions.

Vikas Sheel (Director, Hilltop Granites Canada Inc.):
It was a fresh start for us. There were a lot of decisions to make..- for the personal as well as the business side.

Lucie Xie:
I was alone, I had to start from the very beginning, and I didn't know about banking.

Vikas Sheel:
We were looking for a financial institution as well as advisor who can help us in the right direction.

Reporter:
Vikas and Lucie are both recent immigrants to Canada. And, like many newcomers in their situations they had questions and concerns about their new home. Andrea Metrick, head of Client Strategy and Multicultural Markets with RBC Royal Bank, explains.

Andrea Metrick
We went to India and China to speak with people before they moved to Canada. We wanted to understand what more we could do to help them make their transition to Canada easier from a financial perspective. What we found was... initially the main concerns were based on a more practical nature. We found that people wanted to know how can I safely and conveniently store my valuables and money? How will I pay for things? When does it make sense to use cash, cheques or credit cards? What is the best way to transfer money from one country to another?

Vikas Sheel:
We didn't know that credit history is something which is not transferable from one country to another.

Andrea Metrick:
Most newcomers arrive in Canada without a bank account. You can open a bank account here, but if at all possible open an account before you arrive. If exchange rates are more favourable at a point in time, you will be able to transfer funds to take advantage of this. We make it possible to open an account while you're still in your home country. One of the other advantages of this is that when you arrive in Canada you will already have a banking relationship set-up and this will help you get the right financial advice early on.

Reporter:
Metrick says that newcomers often tell them that "they don't know what they don't know" so newcomers welcome proactive information from a trusted source.

Andrea Metrick:
We developed the RBC Welcome to Canada banking package that brings together the most relevant products, services and advice that they need – with discounts and additional benefits. We have added a guidebook called "Understanding banking in Canada." It contains the most important financial decisions that newcomers need to make, when they need to make them -- upon arrival in Canada, as they're getting settled and when they start planning for the future. The Guidebook has checklists and advice presented in a way that is easy to digest and put into practice.

Reporter:
For more information on the Welcome to Canada banking package and the Guidebook visit rbc.com/welcomeguide.
Martin Vanderwoude reporting.