I have recently (15/01/2020) got my GIC certificate from Scotiabank and because there is no clear information available online for Pakistani students I have decided to write the complete process which I followed, also I chose Scotiabank because they have branches everywhere in Canada, unlike Habib Canada.
1.
Open GIC account: Follow the link to open GIC account on scotia (
https://startright.scotiabank.com/student-gic.html)
a. (Note: If you have a middle name as I have mine Adnan
Athar Janwari make sure you put your middle in 1st name column on scotia form with “-” because scotia form does not allow space in first name Example: Frist name as Adnan-Athar Last name as Janwari
b. The name should match with your passport name
c. Make sure you save or print screen the address whatever you mention on the Scotia form because you will need that exact same address while transferring funds.
(Timeline: takes few hrs to active)
2.
Open foreign currency Account: For transferring funds you need to have foreign currency account (dollar account) in any bank (I used Bank Al Habib) and for that, you need to be tax filer 1st so be filler and open the foreign currency account ASAP ( Timeline: In my case, it took 1 week)
3. Fund Transfer:
Provide below info to the bank for fund transfer
Name: Enter the student’s first and last name [note: Enter exactly as stated in Passport].
Address: Enter the home address of the student as stated in the application.
Account Number: Enter the 15-digit Scotiabank Investment account number (provided above).
Beneficiary Bank Information (Field 57)
THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA
TRANSIT 35972 SSG Transaction Processing
4715 Tahoe Blvd
Mississauga, Ontario, L4W 0B4
SWIFT Code: NOSCCATTCOL
a.
Note: Most of the students are paying 5% tax by mention
Purpose of Remittance as “Study/something study related” GIC account is your personal so if you mention Purpose of remittance as personal you will save your 5% tax this what I did and received the certificate in 5 days
b. Send and receiver add should be (Pakistan one in both)
c. For safe side send 100 CAD more
d. (Timeline: Took five days to receive my GIC certificate after transition)
Doc bank asked in my case:
Passport copy
GIC Amount cheque
Print screen of my GIC account details.
Hope this will help.