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I am a US citizen. Have a brokerage account in Canada and now would like to open a bank account and get a safty deposit box in a Canadian bank to keep some gold coins in. What are the laws associated with doing this. I do want to do everything legally or not at all.
While all the major banks require the account holder to be a Canadian resident if they are applying for an account online some allow non-Canadian residents to open certain bank accounts (not for investment purposes) if the non-Canadian resident applies in person.You will likely be required to provide a passport and photo id.In Canada you are free to keep what you want in a safety deposit box. It is not against the law to keep cash in a safety deposit box or gold coins.Let me know if you need any further information or clarification.Please click accept so that I can receive credit for providing you with this information.
Thanks for your answer. What do you mean in the statement "certain bank accounts (not for investment purposes)". I would be moving US $'s there to transfer to Canadian $'s in the account. That in itself is investing. Also are there any laws as to moving gold coins from the US to Canada and if so is there a limit as to how many ounces can be moved?
You are required to report amounts greater than $10,000 CAN to the customs officer when you bring this amount, or mail it etc, over the border. Gold coins are considered to be currency.
This comes from Part 2 of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act which deals with Reporting of Currency and Monetary Instruments. Under Part 2, every cross-border transfer, including those by mail or courier, of any currency or any monetary instruments at or above an established threshold must be reported to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). The established threshold at this time is $10,000.
If you do have over $10,000 you are going to be need to be able to provide documentation indicating what the coins are for, etc or they will be seized.
Money has been seized, at times, even when there is appropriate documentation. Things are pretty tight at the border these days and open to discretion.
As I understand it you have to pay GST and PST as well if you are leaving the coins in Canada. Sorry, I wasn't clear about what I was saying last night about the investment account. I meant that for regular bank accounts you generally need to apply in person rather than online etc if you are a non-resident.
Experience: Lawyer
Thanks for your very professional reply. I will hit the accept button as this is what i needed to get the process started. One more thing, what GST and CST stand for.
GST- goods and service taxPST - provincial sales taxGood luck!