Personal Finance Money transfer

What are the best banks to send money abroad from Canada?

Piyush Singh

18.12.24

Read time 3 minutes

International payments are on the rise. A Payments Canada survey¹ revealed that 1 in 5 Canadians made international transfers in 2023, a 33% increase from 2022. Electronic funds transfers (EFT) from chequing accounts or PayPal were the most common methods. So what is the best Canadian bank for international transfers? We’ll explore what to consider when transferring money through your bank account and introduce Wise, a cost-effective alternative offering mid-market exchange rates and minimal fees.

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What are the best Canadian banks for international transfers? BMO Global Money Transfer RBC International Money Transfer CIBC Global Money Transfer Scotiabank International Money Transfer TD Global Transfer Quick Comparison of the banks Meet Wise – An Alternative to Banks for International Transfers

What are the best Canadian banks for international transfers?

In this guide, we’ll focus on the international transfer options and features provided by Canada’s top five banks.

BMO Global Money Transfer

BMO’s Global Money Transfer² lets you send international funds easily via mobile or online banking. The current exchange rate is displayed upfront, allowing you to compare rates with other financial institutions before committing.

You can send money from any Canadian dollar account or, if you’re sending money to the States, you also have the option of using a US dollar account — either chequing or savings.

If you have recipients that you often send money to, you also have the option of saving their information.

Key Features	Key Considerations
Send money to 50 countries	Transfers can take 1 - 3 business days to process
Flat fee of $5 per transaction	Minimum 2.5% currency conversion fee³
Maximum transfer amount depends on your debit card daily limit	Minimum CAD $100 transfer amount

RBC International Money Transfer

RBC International Money Transfer⁴ is available to RBC personal account clients with Canadian dollar accounts. You’ll need to have RBC’s online banking or mobile app to use the service.

Key Features	Key Considerations
Send money to 200 countries	Transfers can take 2 - 5 business days to process
No transfer fees	Fees may be charged by intermediary and or receiving banks
Maximum transfer is $50,000 per day	Minimum 2.5% currency conversion fee⁵

CIBC Global Money Transfer

CIBC’s Global Money Transfer⁶ lets you process a transfer using an eligible credit card, a personal CIBC bank account, or your lines of credit. It’s easy, it’s secure, and you can move your money using CIBC’s online or mobile banking.

Key Features	Key Considerations
Send money to 130 countries	Transfers typically complete within 1 to 3 business days
No transfer fees	CIBC doesn’t publicly post its exchange rates
Maximum transfer is $15,000 per day	Minimum CAD $100 transfer amount

Scotiabank International Money Transfer

Scotiabank’s International Money Transfer⁷ is still fairly new, and they only have a limited number of countries that allow you to send money internationally from Canada. You can transfer from eligible Canadian dollar accounts using Scotiabank’s online or mobile banking.

Key Features	Key Considerations
Send money to 21 countries	Funds can take up to 5 business days to process
Flat fee of $1.99 except for newcomers to Canada — they can send money for no fee	Minimum 2.5% currency conversion fee⁸
Maximum transfer is $50,000 per day	Minimum CAD $100 transfer amount

TD Global Transfer

TD Global Transfer is one of the ways TD Bank lets you transfer money internationally. Once you’ve registered to use the service, you can transfer money from your TD personal bank accounts.

Key Features	Key Considerations
Send money to over 200 countries	Transfers typically complete within 1 to 5 business days
No transfer fees when sending money to the US. Otherwise, fees vary depending on a variety of scenarios⁹	Minimum 2.5% currency conversion fee¹⁰
Maximum transfer is $6,500 per day	No minimum amount

Quick Comparison of the banks

Bank	International Transfer Fees	Transfer Duration
BMO	Flat fee $5	1 to 3 business days
RBC	No transfer fees	2 to 5 business days
CIBC	No transfer fees	1 to 3 business days
Scotiabank	Flat fee $1.99 (no fees for Canadian newcomers)	Up to 5 business days
TD	No transfer fees to the US, otherwise fees vary	1 to 5 business days

It’s probably hard to miss that Canadian banks charge foreign exchange rate fees — a percentage added to the mid-market exchange rate, the rate at which banks exchange money. The fee when exchanging Canadian and US dollars typically falls at around 2.5%, but that amount increases with other currencies.

Meet Wise – An Alternative to Banks for International Transfers

If you’re not familiar with Wise, we exchange your money at the mid-market rate, potentially saving you a lot of money. Add to that, our transfer fees are minimal^*. Based on these features, Wise stands out as a strong alternative for international transfers.

The true cost of sending CAD to EUR

Additionally, Wise allows you to send money to over 160 countries, and more than 40 currencies, including CAD and USD. And with a Trustpilot rating¹¹ of 4.3, what more could you ask for?

Why wait? If you’re looking for the best way to transfer money internationally in Canada, using a Wise account will save you the most money—even if someone else is offering no transfer fees.

Final Thoughts

As you’re aware, there are more banks in Canada than the ones we’ve listed here. But all banks in Canada do have something in common. When you want to transfer money internationally, they charge you a fee — which many people are unaware of — when they convert currencies. And depending on the currency you’re exchanging to, that could be up to 5%.

Choose Wise and keep more of your money by avoiding high exchange rate markups.

Sources:

Sources verified on 12 December 2024

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.