Purchasing ETFs

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Forza_Azzurri
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2022 5:49 pm

Purchasing ETFs

Post by Forza_Azzurri »

I’m a Canadian citizen living in California for the past 3+ years on a work visa. I still have some interest-earning investments in Canada but file solely in the US. I’m interested in purchasing ETFs and have some questions.

Purchasing ETFs in Canada:
1. Can I purchase Tangerine ETFs (effectively move money from my Tangerine saving accounts in Canada to a Tangerine Global ETF Portfolio) without incurring any strange tax costs?
2. What’s the impact if I open up a Canadian online discount brokerage account (such as Questrade) to purchase the ETFs while seeding it with money from the Tangerine saving accounts?

And then on the flip side: purchasing American ETFs using a robo advisor like Sofi or a discount broker like TD Ameritrade. Are there any tax considerations I need to consider either as a Canadian living in the US or when I move back to Canada?

Thanks in advance for your help.
nelsona
Posts: 18311
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Re: Purchasing ETFs

Post by nelsona »

1. No. This would be considered a non-retirement brokerage account, which tangerine cannot, nor Questrade, nor any other Cdn brokerage, allow you as a US resident to open or manage.
2. See 1.

You can invest with any US brokerage; when you move back to Cananad, you can transfer these to a CDn broker and close the US accounts.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
Forza_Azzurri
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2022 5:49 pm

Re: Purchasing ETFs

Post by Forza_Azzurri »

Thank you for the help. I appreciate it.

Quick follow-up for the American ETFs: Are the rules the same for the US as they are for Canada in that when we move back to Canada, MUST we close out the ETFs and transfer them to a CDN broker (as a CDN resident cannot hold these accounts)?
nelsona
Posts: 18311
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Re: Purchasing ETFs

Post by nelsona »

Yes, as I responded earlier. I guess I should have stress that you MUST rather than you can move these to canada.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
Forza_Azzurri
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2022 5:49 pm

Re: Purchasing ETFs

Post by Forza_Azzurri »

Thanks for the clarification! Appreciate it.
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