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For a foreign owner, a business bank account in Canada is opened in the name of a Canadian corporation, incorporated federally under the Canada Business Corporations Act or under a provincial statute. The route to the account is set by the identification rules every Canadian bank applies under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, and by each bank’s policy on branch visits. The Bank Act’s duty to open a retail deposit account (section 627.17) is owed to natural persons, so a corporation’s application rests on the bank’s own assessment.
Every bank operating in Canada, foreign bank branches included, is supervised by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) monitors how banks comply with consumer protection measures. FINTRAC, the anti-money laundering supervisor, publishes the guidance on how a bank identifies a corporation and its owners. Provincially regulated credit unions and caisses populaires fall outside CDIC: their deposits are protected by provincial insurers such as the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario or, in Quebec, the Autorité des marchés financiers.
Deposits at a member of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), a list that includes RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC and National Bank, are insured up to C$100,000, principal and interest combined, per depositor and per insured category at each member institution. A corporation is a depositor in its own right, so its eligible deposits can be insured separately from its shareholders’ personal deposits; a sole proprietorship’s are added to the owner’s own. Chequing and savings accounts, GICs, term deposits and foreign-currency deposits such as US dollars are covered; mutual funds, shares, bonds, ETFs and cryptocurrencies are not. The Department of Finance consulted in 2025 on changing the limit, including a higher one for business depositors, but CDIC still states C$100,000.
The bank confirms that the corporation exists from its certificate of incorporation, an annual filing under provincial securities legislation or a current record showing its name, address and directors, and may take these from the Corporations Canada database or a provincial registry. It records the names of all directors and the names and addresses of everyone who directly or indirectly owns or controls 25% or more of the shares, maps the ownership structure, and confirms it by a second method: the minute book, the securities register, the register of individuals with significant control, a shareholder agreement or a registry search.
The three banks are OSFI-supervised CDIC members; Wise is a payment service provider.
| Provider | What it is | How a corporation applies | What it asks for |
|---|---|---|---|
| RBC Royal Bank | Bank | Online only for a single-owner corporation with one signatory and Canadian ID (passport, driver’s licence or permanent resident card); other businesses use a branch, and online applicants still visit one to collect the client card and sign documents | For a corporation over 12 months old: ID for all directors or officers and a certificate of status, annual filing, corporate profile report or notice of assessment |
| TD Canada Trust | Bank | Online application of about 15 minutes, then a Business Banking Specialist by appointment or callback | Articles, certificate of business registration, each director’s name, address and occupation, the full ownership structure, a utility or property tax bill for the business address, original photo ID for each signing authority |
| Scotiabank | Bank | Non-residents, and non-Canadians without a work or study permit, work with a branch representative | Articles, original photo ID, the name, address and occupation of each owner of 25% or more; after 12 months, a certificate of incorporation, corporate profile report or similar |
| Wise Business | Payment service provider registered with the Bank of Canada and FINTRAC; says it is not a bank | Fully online verification | Registration number, addresses, directors and owners; no crypto, tobacco, adult content or bearer shares |
For an owner abroad, plan on a director or signing officer dealing with a branch. A Wise account can run alongside: Wise says it keeps client money separate from its own funds and does not lend it out.
A corporation under the Canada Business Corporations Act keeps a registered office in the province named in its articles and needs at least 25% resident Canadian directors, at least one where the board has fewer than four. Manitoba applies the same test; Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces have no director residency rule, and shareholders face no residency test anywhere. The bank records every director’s name when it confirms the corporation exists, so the directors on the public record should be current before you apply.
The CRA business number is assigned automatically on federal incorporation and in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island; elsewhere the corporation registers separately.
A Canadian account has no IBAN: a payer abroad needs the bank’s SWIFT code, the three-digit institution number, the five-digit branch transit number and the account number. Canadian-dollar wires run on Lynx, Payments Canada’s high-value system, and Canada is outside SEPA. Canadian banks also offer US dollar business accounts held in Canada, TD among them, and CDIC covers those deposits. An account at a bank in the United States is a separate application, covered on our page on US business bank accounts.
We can supply a ready-made Canadian corporation or handle company formation in Canada, federally or in a province, and help prepare the bank application: the articles and supporting records, an ownership chart that reaches every 25% holder, a current ISC register and the documents each bank lists. The bank takes the decision, and no one can promise an account. Our Canada overview and the guide to a shelf company with a bank account cover the rest.
Yes, for a corporation incorporated in Canada, but expect a branch to be involved. Scotiabank says non-residents must work with a branch representative, and RBC’s online application takes only Canadian ID and still ends with a branch visit. FINTRAC’s rules accept a foreign passport equivalent to a Canadian document, so the constraint is bank procedure rather than law.
Not on every bank’s list. Scotiabank asks for a CRA registration number only from organisations receiving public donations, and TD’s corporate checklist does not mention one. A corporation formed federally or in one of eight provinces, Ontario and British Columbia among them, receives it automatically; one formed in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador or the territories registers with the CRA separately.
Yes, at a CDIC member such as RBC, TD or Scotiabank. Eligible deposits are insured up to C$100,000 per depositor and per insured category at each member institution, a corporation’s deposits can be insured separately from its shareholders’ own, and US dollar deposits count. A provincially regulated credit union or caisse populaire is covered by its provincial insurer instead.
The law allows it: FINTRAC lets a bank verify a passport remotely if it can authenticate the document. Bank policy is narrower. RBC requires a branch visit to collect the business client card and sign documents even after an online application, Scotiabank routes non-residents to a branch representative, and TD works through a specialist by appointment or callback. Wise verifies online.
No. A Canadian account is identified by the bank’s SWIFT code, a three-digit institution number, a five-digit transit number and the account number, and a payer abroad needs all four. Canada is outside SEPA, so euro payments arrive as international transfers, while domestic Canadian-dollar wires settle through Lynx, Payments Canada’s high-value system.
It can hold US dollars in Canada, since banks such as TD offer US dollar business accounts and CDIC covers foreign-currency deposits. An account in the United States is harder: Mercury and Relay accept only US-registered companies, and a US bank must ask a foreign company without a US tax number for other government documents proving it exists. A US subsidiary with its own EIN avoids that.