Let’s cover a little about currencies. It is very important
that you have enough cash at hand for any kind for emergency. Then you would also need cash once you reach Canada. I used my travel currency card everywhere. I also opened a bank account a week after I arrived in Canada (I had opened another account while I was still in India). Once I had the local accounts, I withdrew all the money from my currency card and transferred it to my local account.
Here is the
break-up of how much you should ideally carry.
1.
Rs.1000-3000 cash and a credit card if possible
2.
$500-$1000 cash. (Have around $50-$100 USD and
rest in CAD. USD is more widely accepted in Europe)
3.
THE MOST
IMPORTANT thing of all- travel currency card. This is one of the most
convenient things around. This is a prepaid card (SBI Vishwa Yatra, AXIS Thomas
Cook travel card etc). You can load it with currency in India use it as a
normal debit card in Canada. I carried all my money (for at least the next four
months) in this form. You can swipe these cards (no extra charge) in Canada
like a normal debit/credit card and withdraw cash at an ATM ($1-$2 charge per
transaction). So I used this method to transfer
money from India to Canada. Whenever, I am in need of money, my parents
load money into this card and I get the money in my card within a day. This is
the best method to transfer money because if you do a normal wire transfer, you
are charged Rs.500-800 in transaction charges. This is much more convenient.
4.
You can
also open a Canadian Bank account while you are in India. Oh yes, I did
that too. Scotia bank has a start right program. They open an account in Canada
for you once you give them all the documents. (You would need your VISA ready
for opening the account though). You have to get in touch with the partner bank
for that. The partner bank in India is Kotak Mahindra. They open the account in
15-20 days. You can collect your student (debit and credit card) from the branch,
once you land in Canada.
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