It's important to plan ahead and ensure you bring enough money to cover expenses for your first two months in Canada (approximately $3,000 - $4,000 CAD), as transferring funds can take several weeks. Keep in mind that changes in currency regulations and fluctuating exchange rates have caused problems for international students who depend on money from home.
For your day-to-day living expenses, we strongly recommend that once you’ve opened a Canadian bank account, have the bank in your home country transfer funds to this new account. There may be a transferring fee associated with this service. You should find out how much the service will cost from your bank. Funds transferred to Canada from outside the country are usually held for 7-12 days and will not be available to you during this time.
To pay your tuition and avoid delays in becoming fees arranged, pay your student fees directly to the University rather than depositing them first to your personal Canadian bank account.
About Canadian currency
There are five coins in circulation (5¢, 10¢, 25¢, $1, $2) and five bank notes or bills ($5, $10, $20, $50, $100). Canadian currency is often considered very colourful as each bank note is denoted by a different colour ($5 - blue, $10 - purple, $20 - green, $50 - red, and $100 - brown). Although you can carry cash to pay for your purchases, many Canadians use their debit and credit card for payments.
