How old do you have to be to get a bank account in Canada?

Question

As much information as possible please.

I'm mostly thinking of Royal Bank, BMO, TD Canada Trust, and Scotiabank.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

My parents set up my first bank account when I was about 6 and had it signed over to me when I was around 11 or 12 I think...depends if you want your own independent one or if one joint with the parents is ok.  If you're looking for a transaction/chequing account.  Go with PC Financial...no services fees for anything pretty much.

Answer 2

My kids had accounts at BMO when they were 3 & 5 years old.  They charged $2.50 a month, so we ended up getting them savings accounts at ING which are free, but need to be connected to a chequing account at a major bank (which are not free).

The current fees for a student account at BMO are $4 if you don't do a lot of banking, and $8.50 if you do.  They'll set you up with the plan best suited to your banking needs.  If you keep a balance of $1500 in your account at all times, then the fee is waived.  http://www4.bmo.com/personal/0,4344,3564...

Scotiabank says their accounts are free for people under 19, and you can collect Scene points (if you're over 14) to redeem for free movie tickets (which we still had Scotia in my town, lol) http://www.scotiabank.com/cda/content/0,...  You can't get any better than that!

I personally wouldn't touch TD Bank with a 10 foot pole.  BAD experiences with them.  

Royal Bank website doesn't make it easy to figure their rates http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/RBC:SKMrjI71...

Someone here yesterday was complaining about PC Financial, saying that were high fees she didn't understand and she wasn't able to do anything with her account because she was under 18.  So I'd be sure to read the fine print if you decide to check them out.