Contractor in Canada working for US firm, better check or bank tranfer?

August 5, 2014 6:52 AM

What's more advantageous for a contractor working in Canada for an American company, bank transfer or check?

It's for freelance jobs, nothing big. I'm in Quebec, if it makes a difference. In the past I wasn't ever given an option. Bank transfer in more convenient (faster, saves me a trip to the bank), but I don't know if there's any advantage in getting a check that I'm overlooking. Paypal was also given as a option, but they probably would take a bigger bite from the total amount.

posted by TheGoodBlood to Work & Money (4 answers total)

Best answer: Check with your bank on how much, if anything, they will charge you to receive the transfer. I was paid by bank transfer for several years, and it was $10 per transfer received, though because it was my paycheque and a regular thing, my bank eventually agreed to waive that fee for me.

Also, if the cheque will be in American dollars, how much they will charge you to deposit that.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:08 AM on August 5, 2014

Best answer: If you get cheques, and they're in American dollars, you can also play the exchange rates a bit, and choose to hold onto them if the exchange rate is bad right at the moment when you get them, whereas with transfers, you'll get whatever the rate is when the transfer comes through.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:09 AM on August 5, 2014

Best answer: Every bank I've dealt with in Canada has put a 1 month hold on US cheque amounts deposited to CAD accounts. You get the exchange rate at time of deposit, you just can't get the money out for a month.
posted by scruss at 7:21 AM on August 5, 2014

Best answer: Vancity doesn't put a hold on USD checks. I deposited the money to my USD account and transferred this to CAD at my leisure. You should have a USD account so you can wait for favourable exchange rates if you don't need the money immediately anyway.

There is no advantage to checks if someone else is footing the cost for the wire transfer. You should find out how to get it transferred to a USD account so you don't get spanked on foreign exchange if it goes through on a bad day.
posted by crazycanuck at 9:27 AM on August 5, 2014