The best bank account in Canada, for those that need an advanced banking package with a ton of features is the TD Canada Trust Select Service Account.

This is a followup to my original article here, where I posted a list of Canada Trust locations that have the coin counters.

So this will be a bit of a review and tips that I feel others should know of before they go. 

Well, I finally got the chance to use the machines myself.

Click here for NOVEMBER 2010 Update: CIBC Launches First Debit Visa Card in Canada: So Far, LOOKS GOOD!

Average Canadian Currency Exchange Rates for 2008

Please click here for the 2009 CRA Average Currency Exchange Rates

The CRA has a rather annoying process to get the average 2008 exchange rates for income tax reporting purposes.

Well, it's January 27th, and I just received my CitiMastercard Enrich Rebate cheque. Their credit card is pretty much the only one in Canada that gives you 1% cash back from the first dollar with no annual fees and no minimums (though there is a max rebate of $250/year I think).

The cheques are mailed out of Toronto/Mississauga, so it's likely an overnight thing for me, but those out East or West might need to wait a few days before getting them.

As stated in my review of the prepaid cards available on the Canadian market, there are those that are non-reloadable and anonymous, and those that are reloadable and engraved with your name and everything.

Seriously, I'd highly recommend reading through my Canadian Prepaid Visa & Mastercard review. Seriously. 

Avoid the MuchMusic Prepaid Card, you pay too much for what you get. 

TD does have 4 ATMs in Southern Ontario that do dispense US$ cash. These can be convenient after-hours if you need cash late at night or during a holiday, or want to avoid bank lineups. I assume you can withdraw from your Canadian dollar TD account with their usual commissions. I would also think that non-TD customers could use them, at TD's regular commissions and ATM fees.

TD ATMs that give out US$ Cash:

Click the link to open up a map in a new window

Canadian ETFs and their Management Fees: A Comparison Chart

As far as I know, there are no restrictions on Canadians buying US ETFs (just watch out for those currency exchanges, and differences in tax-treatment). And the US has been exploding in ETF Offerings, with over 100 launched just this year. Heck, you can even buy “Russian Ruble ETFs”.

The Deal Extreme Website is down as of January 22, 2009. A bunch of people are ending up at my Deal Extreme review page here anyway, because they were searching for sites about deal extreme being down. 

I will post updates on any updates I get on when they'll be back or if they're down for good.

I just wanted to put a little comparison of all of the TFSA brokerage accounts available to Canadians.

Please, if you have further information on the Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) offered by these brokers, leave a comment, and I'll add it in. 

My Personal View on Air Miles Credit Cards

I prefer cash-back cards, less hassle and you never have to worry about your points getting de-valued, but an Air Miles credit card is still better than a no-rewards card!

Quick Canadian Passport Application Guide

This is a shortened/condensed version of my more in-depth & longer Canadian Passport guide, which has received over 60 000 reads since May 2007. By using this guide, I got my new passport (not renewal) in hand within 7 days without paying anything extra, and spent 30 minutes in a passport office that had a 2 hour lineup to get to a counter. 

I got hit with an overlimit fee on my TD Rebate Rewards Credit Cards

I'll say that these fees are a bit sneaky.

I just wanted to post a quick review on a good experience I had with a florist in London Ontario, Bloomers Flowers.

The 1.25% Rebate Credit Card Details

This Mastercard credit card has no annual fee, and offers a 1.25% cash back IF you spend more than $9000 in a calendar year. If you spend that much, or more, you get the 1.25% rebate on ALL of your spending. So this isn't one of those tiered reward credit cards, like the TD Rebate Rewards Card.

On this page, I plan on providing links to as many sources for the Canadian Dollar to US Dollar Exchange rates as I can. It has been fluctuating greatly in recent weeks, so up-to-the-minute figures are best.

Now, there are two kinds of data: The actual rates, and then what rates you can get when you want to actually bring US Currency to a place and change it into Canadian.

TD Rebate Rewards Visa Card

The Toronto Dominion Rebate Rewards Visa is a fairly run-of-the-mill no fee credit card. It has one main benefit over TD's basic "Green" Visa card, and that is its 0.5% cash back on your first $3000 in purchases, and then 1% cash back, up to some maximum.

For Christmas, I'm sure many people are looking toward possibly buying one of those prepaid Mastercard or Visa cards. I would say DON'T buy one of these as a gift.

Prepaid Visa & Mastercards Are Worse than Store-Branded Cards as Gifts

It's like giving money that's less useful than money. Why would you want to do that? People like money, and I don't believe (unless it's really thoughtful) much in giving out non-unique gift cards when one could just use the cash.

Why Get a Prepaid Mastercard or Prepaid Visa?

In my opinion, there are only two reasons to get a Prepaid Mastercard/Visa card:

1. You can't get a credit card, but need to make some purchases that require a Mastercard/Visa Credit Card
2. You have a credit card, but want to make a purchase 100% anonymously, or pseudo-anonymously.

The Muchmusic Prepaid Mastercard is the kind that you need to fill out an actual application for, and you get a Mastercard that has your (teen's) name on it.

Looking to Safely Save Some Euros?

The Bank of Nova Scotia, errr, Scotiabank does offer a Euro Savings account that is easy to open for personal account holdings.

Scotiabank's Euro Daily Interest Savings Account Review

No fees if you have more than 200 Euro in the account, otherwise 1 EUR /month

2 in-branch transactions included/month, 0.60 EUR thereafter

Just thought others would benefit from this read world experience.

I shipped a package via Canada Post Surface Mail from Toronto Ontario Canada to Paris France.

I'm sure UPS/Fedex/DHL could get it there faster, but probably at a substantially higher price.

This is just a synopsis of the reality of the new US bank and financial institution (like insurance companies) bailout bill that did finally get approved by the US Government. 

US Bailout Bill full of Pork, or is it?

Lots of people are complaining about various provisions in the US bailout bill, like those for children's arrow makers, Virgin Islands rum distillers and others.

Lots of people like to say that these are "pork" riders to the bailout bill. I'm not saying these tax breaks are good or bad.

Why the FDIC and CDIC Need to Spread Bank Insurance Risk Around

There's been quite a bit of talk as to whether and/or how much the FDIC (in the USA) and the CDIC (in Canada) should raise the limit for deposit insurance on for deposits in eligible bank accounts, GICs, CDs and other insured vehicles.

As of June 1st 2009, Canadians will be required to show a valid passport to get into the United States, whether entering by land, water, or air.

So, if you're driving over the border, you'll need more than just a Photo ID and Birth Certificate or Citizenship card (though bringing them along isn't a terrible idea).

Get Rid of that Spare Change!

2013 Update: Rob reports that now >300 locations with coin machines, so do a search on http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/customer-service/contact-us/branch-locator/index.jsp