Canada accounted for 3.8% of the money India received from abroad in 2023-24, according to the Reserve Bank of India's sixth remittances survey. That is a smaller share than the Gulf states or the United States send, but the route serves a wide mix of people: international students, recent immigrants and families settled in Canada for decades. There are two main ways to send: a wire from a Canadian bank, or a money transfer specialist that pays out over India's instant rails. Compare both by the rupees delivered, because a low fee can hide a wide margin. The money transfer guide explains the cost ideas that apply on every route.
How much does it cost to send Canadian dollars to India?
Sending CAD 200 to India cost 4.28% on average in the World Bank's Q3 2025 survey, and sending CAD 500 cost 2.69%.
Fees averaged CAD 6.09 on the smaller amount and CAD 7.48 on the larger, and exchange-rate margins about 1.2% on both. The fee dominates small transfers, while the margin takes over as amounts grow: on CAD 2,000, a 1.2% margin costs about CAD 24, roughly three times the survey's average fee.
| Amount sent | Average fee | Exchange-rate margin | Total cost (% of amount) | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA$200 | CA$6.09 | 1.23% | 4.28% | CA$8.56 |
| CA$500 | CA$7.48 | 1.19% | 2.69% | CA$13.44 |
For the bigger sums many senders move, the table applies the live mid-market rate and two sample margins, one typical of a specialist and one closer to what a bank might build in.
| You send | At the mid-market rate | With a 0.8% markup | With a 2.5% markup |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA$250 | ₹16,963 | ₹16,827 | ₹16,539 |
| CA$1,000 | ₹67,852 | ₹67,309 | ₹66,156 |
| CA$2,000 | ₹135,704 | ₹134,618 | ₹132,311 |
| CA$5,000 | ₹339,260 | ₹336,546 | ₹330,779 |
Check any quote against the CAD to INR converter, and use the money transfer cost calculator to add the fee. The exchange-rate markups guide explains how to turn a quoted rate into a percentage.
Should you use a bank wire or a money transfer specialist?
Price both, because a wire from a Canadian bank and a specialist transfer can differ by more than CAD 50 on a CAD 2,000 transfer.
A bank wire travels over SWIFT, sometimes through an intermediary bank that takes its own charge, and is credited to the Indian account on an Indian working day. Many specialists instead collect your dollars in Canada and pay out from funds already in India over IMPS, NEFT or UPI, which is why their transfers can land within minutes. Either can be the cheaper option on a given day, which is why the comparison has to be done on real quotes.
Before you wire money to India from a Canadian bank
- Get the exchange rate in rupees per Canadian dollar and the fee together, before you commit.
- Ask whether the payment leaves in rupees or in Canadian dollars; if it leaves in dollars, the Indian bank or an intermediary converts it at a rate you can't see in advance.
- Ask whether intermediary or receiving-bank charges may be deducted on the way.
- Check the daily cut-off time, since a wire booked after it goes out the next business day.
- Keep the confirmation and its reference number, which the bank needs to trace a delayed payment.
Worked example: CAD 2,000 to a savings account in Ludhiana
On November 2, 2026, the reference rate was about ₹67.97 per Canadian dollar, so CAD 2,000 was worth ₹135,940 at mid-market.
- Bank wire: a CAD 30 fee and a 2.5% margin, giving ₹66.27 per dollar. You pay CAD 2,030 and ₹132,540 arrives.
- Specialist: a CAD 7.50 fee and a 0.8% margin, giving ₹67.43 per dollar. You pay CAD 2,007.50 and ₹134,860 arrives.
- Bank cost: CAD 2,030 is worth ₹137,979.10 at mid-market, so ₹5,439.10 goes on the fee and margin, about CAD 80.02 or 3.94% of what you paid.
- Specialist cost: CAD 2,007.50 is worth ₹136,449.78, so the cost is ₹1,589.78, about CAD 23.39 or 1.17%.
The specialist delivers ₹2,320 more while charging CAD 22.50 less, and any intermediary or receiving-bank charge on the wire would widen the gap. In lakh notation, ₹1,34,860 is just over 1.3 lakh.
Whichever route you pick, the details your family sends decide whether the money arrives: an account number with the branch's IFSC and the name exactly as the bank holds it, or a UPI ID linked to a KYC-compliant account that accepts foreign inward transfers. IMPS moves up to ₹5 lakh per transaction per payment at any hour. The US to India guide explains these details, NRE and NRO accounts and India's gift rules in depth.
Why can't Interac e-Transfer pay an Indian account?
Interac e-Transfer is built to send money to people in Canada through Canadian online banking, so it has no route to a bank account in India.
Interac also runs a separate international transfer service with a card network partner, offered through some Canadian banks, but that is a different product with its own fee and exchange rate, and it should be compared like any other quote. The everyday e-Transfer matters on this route for another reason. Criminals use it to move money in small pieces between Canadian accounts before it leaves the country, and Interac warns that people offered jobs as e-Transfer "agents", paid to receive money and wire it abroad, are being used as money mules. Anyone who takes part, even unknowingly, could be treated as an accomplice and prosecuted.
What does FINTRAC require when you send money abroad?
Nothing that you file yourself: banks and money services businesses carry the obligations, which is why they check ID and keep records on larger transfers.
| When | What the provider must do |
|---|---|
| You ask for a transfer of CAD 1,000 or more | Verify your identity and keep a record of your details and occupation, the recipient's details and the exchange rate used, with its source, for five years |
| CAD 10,000 or more leaves in one transfer, or in several within 24 hours | File an electronic funds transfer report with FINTRAC within five working days |
| You pay CAD 10,000 or more in cash, at once or within 24 hours | File a large cash transaction report |
| Something about the transfer looks suspicious, at any amount | File a suspicious transaction report |
These reports are neither a tax nor an accusation. Splitting a payment to stay under CAD 10,000 achieves nothing, because the 24-hour rule adds the pieces together, and breaking up payments to avoid a report is itself a warning sign providers watch for.
Before you register with a non-bank provider, look it up on FINTRAC's registry of money services businesses, which FINTRAC notes is not an endorsement. Since September 8, 2025, the Bank of Canada has also supervised payment service providers under the Retail Payment Activities Act. Those that hold customers' money must keep it in a trust account, or in a segregated account backed by insurance or a guarantee, so it is protected if the firm fails. The Bank of Canada publishes its own registry.
New to Canada: ID checks and your first transfers
Identity checks can trip up newcomers. One common method lets a provider confirm who you are from your Canadian credit file, but only if that file has existed for at least three years. If you arrived recently, expect to use government-issued photo ID instead, such as your passport or permanent resident card, and to give an address and occupation that match your other records.
Plan the paperwork for larger sums, too. Money from selling property in India, a fixed deposit that has matured or savings you brought with you can all prompt questions about the source of funds, and a provider that can't get answers may delay or refuse the transfer. Keeping the sale deed, bank statements and your Canadian pay slips together saves time.
Your first year also brings a filing exemption worth knowing: Form T1135 is not required for the year you first became resident, even if your Indian savings are large. The next section explains when it starts to apply.
Do you need to file Form T1135 for money in India?
Only if the total cost of your foreign property, Indian bank accounts and fixed deposits included, topped CAD 100,000 at any point in the year.
Form T1135 is an information return: it reports what you hold abroad, and filing it adds no tax. Below CAD 250,000 throughout the year, the simplified method in Part A lets you report by type of property rather than account by account. For property you owned when you arrived, the cost amount is its fair market value on the day you became resident. The form is due with your income tax return, which for most people means April 30.
Money you send to your own NRE or NRO account counts toward the threshold. Money you give to relatives does not, because it is no longer yours. Suppose your Indian deposits were worth CAD 96,800 when you immigrated and you later add CAD 14,700 from Canada: the total, CAD 111,500, passes CAD 100,000, so you file, using Part A.
Whether or not you cross the threshold, interest from Indian accounts is part of your worldwide income. Report it in Canadian dollars on line 12100 of your return, and claim a foreign tax credit on line 40500, using Form T2209, for any Indian tax deducted at source.
Is money you send to India taxed in Canada?
No: Canada has no gift tax, so sending your own money to family creates no Canadian tax bill.
The CRA also treats most gifts as non-taxable for the person who receives them, though income later earned on a gift is taxable. In India, money received from relatives is exempt for the recipient, while gifts from people who are not relatives become taxable once they total more than ₹50,000 in a tax year. Choose the family-maintenance purpose code, P1301, for regular support.
The NRE account needs one caution on this route. For a non-resident Indian, NRE interest is tax-free in India, but once you are resident in Canada that interest is still taxable here, because Canada taxes residents on worldwide income. NRO interest is taxed in both countries, and the foreign tax credit reduces the double charge.
Diwali, Gurpurab, Vaisakhi and Canadian holidays
Festival weeks are when many families send money home, and Sikh festivals such as Guru Nanak's birthday and Vaisakhi matter to many Canadian families alongside Diwali.
| Date | Occasion | What to plan for |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, November 8, 2026 | Diwali | Send several days early |
| Tuesday, November 24, 2026 | Guru Nanak's birthday | Bank holiday in many Indian states |
| Friday, December 25, 2026 | Christmas Day | Canadian banks closed, so wires wait |
| Wednesday, April 14, 2027 | Vaisakhi | Punjab's harvest festival |
| Friday, April 30, 2027 | Canadian tax filing deadline for most people | T1135 is due with the return |
| Friday, October 29, 2027 | Diwali | Send several days early |
| Sunday, November 14, 2027 | Guru Nanak's birthday | Send a few days ahead |
Bank wires don't move on Canadian statutory holidays, and Indian branches close on Sundays and on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, so a wire sent on the Friday before a long weekend can take several days. IMPS and UPI payouts run every day of the year. For more on how timing works across borders, see how long international transfers take.
Scams that target Indian students and newcomers
Impostors posing as immigration officials lead the list. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada warns of a telephone scam aimed at international students and says it never asks for payment by phone. Its staff never ask you to deposit money into a personal bank account or to send it through a private money transfer service, never threaten you and never contact you from free email services.
Money mule recruitment is the second danger. In a 2026 special bulletin on extortion directed at South Asian communities, FINTRAC said criminal networks rely on people already living in Canada to receive and pass on funds, typically financially vulnerable young Indian men on study permits, and that the money often moves through email money transfers. An offer to earn easy money by lending your account, or by forwarding transfers to India, is a recruitment pitch, however friendly it sounds.
Report fraud to your bank and the police, and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. If the call or the receiving account is in India, report it on India's 1930 cybercrime helpline as well. Money transfer scams covers the patterns seen on every route, and the guide to sending money from Australia to India covers another large diaspora corridor.