To wire money from Canada to the US, you collect the recipient’s US banking details, choose between a Canadian bank, credit union, or online transfer service, and authorize the payment after verifying your identity. Most transfers land in the recipient’s account within one to five business days. The flat fee is usually $30 to $50, but the exchange rate markup your provider adds is where most of the real cost hides.
What You Need Before You Send
Every provider will ask for the same core information about the person receiving the money. Getting any of it wrong can delay the wire by days or bounce it back entirely.
- Recipient’s full legal name and address, matching exactly what’s on their US bank account. Nicknames and misspellings trigger holds.
- The nine-digit ABA routing number for the recipient’s US bank, printed on the bottom left of US checks.
- The recipient’s account number at that bank.
- The bank’s SWIFT/BIC code, an eight- or eleven-character identifier your Canadian bank uses to route the payment internationally. The recipient can get this from their bank.
Your Canadian bank must also verify you before it will move the money. Expect to hand over your name, date of birth, address, and government-issued ID. US banks run parallel checks on the receiving side, including confirming the recipient’s taxpayer identification number, or a passport or alien identification number for non-US persons.1eCFR. 31 CFR Part 1020 – Rules for Banks
Choosing How to Send
Three main channels are available, and each trades cost against speed and convenience.
Canadian chartered banks handle international wires through their online platforms and their branches. Online transfers are capped; in-branch SWIFT transfers usually aren’t. National Bank, for example, sets no per-transaction limit on in-branch SWIFT wires but caps online transfers at $10,000 per transaction, $70,000 per week, and $125,000 per month.2National Bank. International Transfer Other banks set their own thresholds, so confirm yours before assuming a large amount can go online. Banks that also operate US subsidiaries sometimes settle the transfer internally, which can shorten timelines.
Credit unions offer international wires too, typically routing them through shared processing networks. Fees and exchange rates vary widely between credit unions, so compare before committing.
Online money transfer services are the third option. These providers register as money services businesses with FINTRAC and generally advertise tighter exchange rate spreads than banks.3Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. Money Services Businesses Their transfer limits tend to be lower, and first-time users often wait longer for identity verification.
What the Transfer Actually Costs
The flat fee is only part of it. Most Canadian banks charge between $30 and $50 to send an international wire, and the recipient’s US bank may add its own incoming wire fee. The larger cost is the exchange rate markup.
When your provider converts Canadian dollars to US dollars, it doesn’t use the mid-market rate you see on Google or financial news sites. Banks typically build in a spread of 2% to 4% above that rate. On a $10,000 CAD wire, that’s $200 to $400 quietly added to your cost on top of the flat fee. Online transfer services usually offer tighter spreads, which is their main pitch against traditional banks.
Intermediary banks can also take a cut. When your Canadian bank has no direct relationship with the recipient’s US bank, the wire passes through one or more correspondent banks, and each may deduct a handling fee, commonly $15 to $30. You often won’t know in advance how many intermediaries are involved, which makes the final amount landing in the recipient’s account somewhat unpredictable. Ask your bank whether it has a direct correspondent relationship with the recipient’s bank; the answer tells you whether to expect these deductions.
How Long It Takes, and Why You Can’t Take It Back
Most Canada-to-US wires arrive within one to five business days. Same-day or next-day delivery happens when both banks share a correspondent network. Transfers routed through intermediaries take longer. In transit, the wire moves through the SWIFT messaging system, which tells each bank in the chain where to send the funds next.
Once the money lands in the recipient’s account, the transfer is final and irrevocable.4Payments Canada. Wire Payment That finality is why wires are used for real estate closings and other large transactions, and it’s also why you need to be confident about the recipient before authorizing. There is no chargeback process comparable to a credit card dispute. Keep your bank’s confirmation and transaction reference number; that reference is the key to tracing the wire if something goes wrong.
Your Right to Cancel or Fix an Error
US federal remittance rules give you a 30-minute window after payment to cancel the transfer for a full refund, provided the recipient hasn’t already picked up or received the funds.5eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.34 – Procedures for Cancellation and Refund of Remittance Transfers Cancel in time and the provider must return the full amount, including fees, within three business days. The protection applies to providers handling more than 500 remittance transfers a year, which covers essentially every major bank and transfer service.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1005.30 – Remittance Transfer Definitions
If the wire goes through but something is wrong (money in the wrong account, less arriving than disclosed, or a transfer that never shows up), the provider has 90 days from your error notice to investigate, and must report back within three business days of finishing.7eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.33 – Procedures for Resolving Errors Once a wire has been sent, recovering the money without the provider’s help is very difficult, which is why these procedural rights matter.
Reporting Rules at the $10,000 Threshold
Both countries require reporting on large cross-border transfers. The obligations fall on the financial institutions, not on you as the sender, but they explain why your bank asks certain questions.
In Canada, banks and money services businesses must report international electronic funds transfers of $10,000 CAD or more to FINTRAC.8Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. Reporting Electronic Funds Transfers to FINTRAC The rule covers a single transaction and any combination of transfers totaling $10,000 CAD or more within 24 hours.9Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. Financial Transactions Reported to FINTRAC Your bank files this automatically; you supply ID and answer questions about the purpose of the transfer.
On the US side, banks keep records of cross-border transfers over $10,000 under the Bank Secrecy Act.1eCFR. 31 CFR Part 1020 – Rules for Banks Deliberately splitting a larger transfer into smaller ones to stay under the threshold, known as structuring, is a federal crime. Willful violations carry criminal penalties of up to $250,000 in fines and five years in prison, or up to $500,000 and ten years when tied to a broader pattern of illegal activity.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5322 – Criminal Penalties If you legitimately need to send $25,000, send it in one wire.
Tax Filings the Transfer Can Trigger
Wiring money is not itself a taxable event. But if you’re a US person (citizen, green card holder, or US resident), certain filings can be triggered by having Canadian accounts or receiving money from Canadian relatives. If you’re a Canadian resident sending your own money to your own or someone else’s US account, these particular rules don’t apply to you.
US persons with Canadian financial accounts whose combined value exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) with FinCEN by April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15.11Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Report Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts The threshold is aggregate across all foreign accounts, not per account. Two Canadian accounts at $6,000 each cross the line.
Separately, the IRS requires Form 8938 from taxpayers with foreign financial assets over specific thresholds. Single filers living in the US must file when total foreign assets exceed $50,000 on the last day of the tax year or $75,000 at any point during the year. Married joint filers living in the US file at $100,000 on the last day or $150,000 at any point. Thresholds are higher for taxpayers living abroad.12Internal Revenue Service. Do I Need to File Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets The FBAR and Form 8938 can cover the same accounts; they go to different agencies with different thresholds, and you may owe both.
A US person who receives more than $100,000 in total gifts or bequests from a nonresident alien individual or foreign estate in a tax year must report those gifts on IRS Form 3520, with each individual gift over $5,000 within that total separately identified.13Internal Revenue Service. Gifts From Foreign Person The gift itself isn’t taxed. But missing the form triggers a penalty of 5% of the unreported gift for each month it’s late, capped at 25%. On a six-figure transfer from a Canadian family member, that penalty adds up quickly.
Cutting the Cost
Exchange rate markup is where most of your money goes, so start there. Compare the rate your provider offers against the mid-market rate at the moment of transfer. A spread above 1.5% means you’re likely paying more than an online provider would charge. Banks sometimes negotiate better rates on larger wires, particularly if you ask in a branch.
Consolidating transfers reduces the flat-fee portion. One $10,000 wire at a $40 fee beats four $2,500 wires at $40 each. Just size each wire to what you actually need to send. Adjusting amounts to avoid reporting thresholds is structuring, and it’s the one form of cost management that carries prison time.