Your newcomer bank offer is ending: how to avoid fees or switch banks

Find out when your offer ends

• Look at the welcome letter or account agreement from when you opened the account. Most newcomer packages last about 12 months.
• After the offer ends, the account usually moves to a regular plan, which can cost about $10 to $30 a month.
• Set a reminder one month before the end date, and check your statement for a new monthly fee line.

Ask your bank for a cheaper plan first

• Since December 1, 2025, most large banks must offer anyone a low-cost chequing account for $4 a month or less, with at least 18 debit transactions and no minimum balance.
• The same banks must offer a no-cost account to newcomers in their first year in Canada, students, youth, seniors receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement and RDSP beneficiaries.
• Ask whether keeping a minimum balance would waive your monthly fee, and how much it is.
• Changing to another account at the same bank is usually simpler than switching banks, and low-cost account rules say there is no fee for it.

Compare other options

• Online banks often have no monthly fee, but may have fewer branches and services for newcomers.
• Credit unions are member-owned local institutions. Many offer low-fee accounts and personal service.
• Compare the costs you will really pay: e-transfers, ATM withdrawals, cards used abroad and sending money home.
• Check that a bank is a CDIC member, or that a credit union is covered by its provincial deposit insurer.

How to switch banks, step by step

• Open the new account first. Don't close the old one until everything has moved.
• Give your new account details to your employer for direct deposit, and update your banking information with the Canada Revenue Agency for tax refunds and benefits.
• Make a list of pre-authorized payments, such as rent, phone, internet, insurance, gym and subscriptions, and move each one.
• Stop writing cheques from the old account and wait until any cheques you wrote have been cashed.
• Watch both accounts for a month or two. When nothing is left, move the remaining money and close the old account, and ask for written confirmation.

What to watch for

• Some banks charge a fee if you close an account soon after opening it. Ask before you close.
• If you received a cash bonus, check its conditions. Closing the account too early can mean paying it back.
• A payment taken from an empty or closed account can lead to a non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee.
• Bank accounts do not affect your credit score, but credit cards do. If your newcomer package included a credit card with no annual fee, keeping it open can help your credit history.
• Never share your PIN, passwords or one-time codes, even with someone who says they are helping you switch.

Coming changes

In Budget 2025, the federal government said it will work with banks to make moving a chequing account to another institution simpler and will review fees such as e-transfer and ATM charges. No dates have been set yet, so check the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada for updates.