Can I use overseas savings for a down payment in Canada?

Yes, but the money must be clean and traceable. Canadian lenders follow anti-money-laundering rules and want a 90-day paper trail showing where the funds came from and proof they landed in your account. Fifteen days in your account before closing is an absolute minimum; because of enhanced anti-money-laundering due diligence you should aim to have the funds in place 90 days before you apply.

What documents prove the source of overseas down payment funds?

Ninety days of statements for the source account including overseas ones, wire transfer receipts showing sender, recipient, amount and date, proof of the funds arriving in your Canadian account, and an explanation with supporting documents for any large one-off deposit such as a property sale or inheritance.

How early should I transfer down payment money to Canada?

Aim to have the funds in a Canadian account 90 days before you apply, not 15 days before you close. Fifteen days before closing is the bare minimum some lenders accept, not the target. Enhanced anti-money-laundering due diligence means a full 90 days of clean statements turns a potential problem into a non-issue.

Answers › New to Canada

Can I use my savings from overseas for the down payment?

Answered by Rajiv Verma, Mortgage Broker · Reviewed 18 August 2026 · About a 3 minute read

The direct answer

Yes — but the money has to be clean and traceable. Canadian lenders follow anti-money-laundering rules, so they want a 90-day paper trail: where the funds came from, and proof they landed in your account. The practical rule: the money should be in your account at least 15 days before closing as an absolute minimum — and preferably 90 days before you even apply, because of enhanced anti-money-laundering due diligence. Move it early and keep every statement and receipt, and you’ll be fine.

THE SHORT VERSION

Overseas savings are perfectly acceptable — this is routine
You need a 90-day paper trail showing source and arrival
Keep every wire receipt and statement, both countries
15 days before closing is the bare minimum. 90 days before you apply is what you should actually aim for
Move the money early. This is the single biggest avoidable delay on newcomer files.

Why lenders ask

It isn’t suspicion of you. Canadian financial institutions are legally required to verify where down payment funds come from. Every lender does it, on every file, including for people born here.

The difference for newcomers is only that the trail crosses a border, so it takes a little more paper to show.

What the paper trail looks like

90 days of statements for the account the money came from — overseas included
Wire transfer receipts, showing sender, recipient, amount and date
Proof of the funds arriving in your Canadian account
An explanation of the source if there are large deposits — sale of a property, an inheritance, business income, savings over years
Supporting documents for that explanation where it’s a one-off — a sale agreement, for instance

The rule that saves people: aim to have the money here 90 days before you apply — not 15 days before you close.

Fifteen days before closing is the bare minimum some lenders will accept. It is not the target. Anti-money-laundering due diligence has become more demanding, and a full 90 days of the funds sitting in a Canadian account with clean statements behind them turns a potential problem into a non-issue. Money arriving three weeks before closing becomes a scramble — and occasionally a missed closing date.

Where files run into trouble

Money that arrives too late. The most common problem by a distance.

Funds moved through several accounts. Every hop is another set of statements. A straight line from source to your account is far easier than a route through three people.

Cash deposits. Very difficult to document, and lenders are rightly cautious. Keep it in the banking system.

Money held in someone else’s name. If a relative is transferring it, that’s a gift — which is fine, but it needs a gift letter confirming it doesn’t have to be repaid, plus the same trail from their account.

Statements in another language. Usually acceptable with a translation. Ask early rather than assuming.

What to do now, even if you’re months away

Open your Canadian account and start using it
Transfer the down payment now, in as few moves as possible
Save every receipt — on both sides of the transfer
Keep 90 days of statements for the source account before it’s closed
Leave it alone once it’s here. Don’t move it between accounts; let it sit and season.

What to check

Whether you can produce 90 days of history for the source account
Whether any deposit is large and one-off, and what documents explain it
Whether any of it is a gift, and from whom
How long the funds will have been in Canada by your likely closing date
Whether documents need translating

What to do next

Tell me where the money is, how it will move, and roughly when you want to buy. I’ll tell you exactly what to keep and what to do first — before the transfer, not after.

This is the easiest problem in the whole process to avoid, and the most annoying one to fix late.

Talk it through →

Related questions

Answered by Rajiv Verma, Mortgage Broker · Mortgage Architects — FSRA Brokerage Licence #12728 · Licensed in Ontario · Office 289.505.0631 · Direct 647.291.7116

General information about Ontario mortgages — not financial, legal or tax advice. Documentation requirements and seasoning periods vary by lender and change. Every file is reviewed individually.