POF and declaring funds on arrival

[wallp92]

Hi..

I believe I am required to satisfy an officer at the port of entry that I have enough funds to cover myself for a while.
But I have some questions about POF on arrival:

1. How much money am I allowed to carry with me to Canada?
2. What if my bank account no longer has the required amount in it, but I do have them in cash?
3. Do I need to declare the money? Will they ask questions about the source? Or will showing them a bank receipt be enough?

Thank you.

 

[AndyUK]

1. You can bring as much cash as you want - there's no limit, however you have to declare it if it's more than 10k CAD.
2. That's fine. You will have to move your funds to Canada one way or another - bank wire, cash, whatever. Nothing wrong with withdrawing the money to bring it in cash to Canada.
3. I'm assuming you mean declare the cash you're bringing? If it's above 10k CAD then yes. I'm assuming that showing the same letter/statements you used for POF is perfectly sufficient. If you're bringing much more in cash then I'm not sure to what degree you have to prove the source. Maybe someone else can help. I expect that the larger the amount, the more information you may need to provide.

 

[wallp92]

1. You can bring as much cash as you want - there's no limit, however you have to declare it if it's more than 10k CAD.
2. That's fine. You will have to move your funds to Canada one way or another - bank wire, cash, whatever. Nothing wrong with withdrawing the money to bring it in cash to Canada.
3. I'm assuming you mean declare the cash you're bringing? If it's above 10k CAD then yes. I'm assuming that showing the same letter/statements you used for POF is perfectly sufficient. If you're bringing much more in cash then I'm not sure to what degree you have to prove the source. Maybe someone else can help. I expect that the larger the amount, the more information you may need to provide.

I see you too got your COPR in January. Congratulations man.

If I'm traveling with my wife, do you think I should declare 19k CAD? maybe each can carry about 9.5k CAD, which remains below the threshold of 10k CAD right?
Also, as the principal applicant I believe I'm responsible to show that I have about 16k CAD or something to support myself and my wife - as per the POF numbers. Do you think they will accept that I am only carrying 9.5k while my wife has the rest?

 

[lenivi]

I see you too got your COPR in January. Congratulations man.

If I'm traveling with my wife, do you think I should declare 19k CAD? maybe each can carry about 9.5k CAD, which remains below the threshold of 10k CAD right?
Also, as the principal applicant I believe I'm responsible to show that I have about 16k CAD or something to support myself and my wife - as per the POF numbers. Do you think they will accept that I am only carrying 9.5k while my wife has the rest?

Have you already explored opening a bank account in Canada and wiring the funds there prior to arrival?

 

[wallp92]

Have you already explored opening a bank account in Canada and wiring the funds there prior to arrival?

I have not explored or considered that option. I wasn't even aware that I could open a bank account in Canada prior to arrival.
I wonder how I can do that..

 

[AndyUK]

I see you too got your COPR in January. Congratulations man.

If I'm traveling with my wife, do you think I should declare 19k CAD? maybe each can carry about 9.5k CAD, which remains below the threshold of 10k CAD right?
Also, as the principal applicant I believe I'm responsible to show that I have about 16k CAD or something to support myself and my wife - as per the POF numbers. Do you think they will accept that I am only carrying 9.5k while my wife has the rest?

Thanks

I'm not sure if you can split the funds. I never tried to carry any larger amounts in cash so I never looked into the details.

Re opening a bank account - check Canadian banks websites a look for options for newcomers. I think HSBC and CIBC allow to open an account prior to arrival but I'm not 100% sure. I only looked into it very briefly.

 

[lenivi]

I have not explored or considered that option. I wasn't even aware that I could open a bank account in Canada prior to arrival.
I wonder how I can do that..

Yes, you can. Quite a few banks allow you to do so, but I find HSBC's process to be the most straightforward. They also give you a letter that you can use as proof of funds when landing.

https://www.hsbc.ca/new-to-canada/applying-from-outside-of-canada/