Can USA residents open up investment accounts in Canada?

[clovering]

Does anyone know if a non resident can open up an investment account in Canada?

i am a canadian citizen who moved to the usa 7 years ago. i am a permanent resident of the usa and my husband is a usa citizen.

i have an rrsp account in canada but would also like to open up an investment account there as we intend to move back to canada at some point. we have called several banks and they won't allow us to open up an account as non-residents.

i'd appreciate any info possible..

thanks..

[agnelson]

Non-RRSP accounts cannot be opened by US residents. For the brokerage to deal with you would violate federal SEC and your state regs.

RRSPs were given special treatment negociated stse-by-state in the early 2000's.

[Steven]

Plus I'm not sure what the advantage would be to doing this. If you want to use something Canadian, various Canadian banks have US branches that offer similar products to those they offer in Canada. You can still keep the investment after you move back. You just get a 1099 instead of a T5.

[PaulB]

You are able to open Non-RRSP accounts in Canada by US residents. The investment firm must meet the regulatory requirements of the province and State/SEC. In addition, the custodian must have appropriately licensed traders in order to trade for you. We have several cross border investment clients with both RRSP and Non-RRSP accounts. Often the advantage of keeping Non-RRSP accounts in Canada is to segregate assets for the purposes of identification (proceeds from Canadian grandparents; inheritances etc.)
Trading and custody of assets can become awkward as it is often difficult to find a custodian (TD, Scotiabank, National Bank) that has a US licensed trader available for retail clients. There are usually several qualified traders at the institutional level. If you would like more clarity or references to the rules please reply to me privately. I hope this helps you.

[agnelson]

Indeed, firms such as Blackmont and Seabank Capital -- and yes, pacifica -- have set themselves up as "cross-border" brokers in order to satisfy the various jurisdictional hurdles faced by cross-border investors.

Note that these firms are most useful in handling accounts which simply CANNOT be moved from one country to another (ie. 401-k, Roths, RRSP etc). In such cases, the high fees involved in dealing with these firms are unavoidable -- and in fact are probably highly recommended.

IMHO, However, for most consumers, paying extra for such services simply for "indentifying" granny's inheritance, which can easily be moved cross-border or left as-is, and dealt with by a brokerage licensed in the investor's state/province of residence is not justified.

That is why I only mention these firms when one brings up the retirement fund issue, and not simply the whim to invest with a broker outside their home country.

[ExpatAmerican]

Yes, you can open a Canadian brokerage account (cash, RRSP, 401K, IRA) with Darrell Thompson at Blackmont Capital Corp. in Toronto, ON. Blackmont and Darrell both have the necessary licensing for US residents (both the firm and the broker need to be both federal and state licensed in the resident investors jurisidiction). He can be reached toll-free at 866-775-7704, locally at 416-874-8007 or emailed at dthompson@blackmont.com.