Remember back in 2022 when the Trudeau Government invoked the Emergency Measures Act to freeze the bank accounts of anti-vaccine protestors? Approximately 300 accounts holding about $8 million were frozen without a court order or any form of due process. Since then, I’ve seen a regular stream of Canadians contacting me about moving their assets out of Canada and setting up offshore bank accounts.

Reason # 1 – Protection from your home government

So, the first reason for keeping your money offshore is to protect it from your home government. If you have all or some of your money in an offshore bank account, or ideally more than one offshore account, then that money is outside of the immediate reach of the Canadian government.

Reason # 2- Protection from lawsuits and creditors

Canada and the United States are litigious countries. Anybody can file a lawsuit against you simply by filing a statement of claim and paying the filing fee. If you are a high net-worth individual then you are a target for being sued.

Having your money located in another country makes it difficult for potential plaintiffs and creditors to get at your money. This is especially true if the account is located in a “defendant friendly” jurisdiction such as Belize.

Reason # 3- Currency diversification

Having your money in offshore accounts in different countries and different currencie is a good way to diversify your assets

Reason # 4 – Higher interest rates abroad

Canadian banks pay next to nothing on savings accounts and less than inflation on GICs.

By contrast, many overseas banks pay substantially higher interest rates than you will get at home. Terabank in the United Arab Emirates, for example, pays 12.2 % on a 12-month term deposit for deposits in the local currency. TCB Bank in Georgia, as another example, pays 11.3 % for term deposits of 12 months. And if you want to keep your funds in US dollars, ABA Bank in Cambodia, which is a subsidiary of National Bank of Canada, pays 6% on a 12-month term deposit.

Now I’m not telling you to rush out and open a bank account in Dubai, or Georgia, or Cambodia, I’m just pointing out that many overseas banks will pay much higher interest rates than you can get at home.

Shop around to see what’s on offer with banks in other countries, do your own due diligence, and then maybe open a small account to test the waters.

If you would like more information on opening an offshore bank account click here