Sending money from Canada to India

The cheapest route to India changes with the amount and the day. The comparison below fetches live quotes and ranks providers by the rupees that land, which counts the fee and the exchange-rate margin together.

What India's own survey found about cost

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) surveyed the banks and transfer companies that handle money sent to India. For 2023-24 it found a weighted average cost of 4.6% on transfers under US$200, against 2.4% on transfers of US$200 to US$500. It put the average cost of digital remittances to India at 4.0% in the second quarter of 2024 (RBI Bulletin, March 2025).

A fixed fee explains much of that gap. A flat $5 is 2.5% of $200 and 0.5% of $1,000. If you send small amounts every week, one larger transfer a month may cost less, provided your family can wait for it. Why the fee misleads covers the exchange-rate margin that sits on top.

What the money is usually for

The same RBI bulletin says inward remittances to India are mainly for family maintenance and savings. It also counts withdrawals from non-resident deposit accounts as a major component of the total. In other words, a large share of what arrives is household money, not one-off payments, so a small difference in cost repeats every month.

How it reaches the family

The RBI bulletin names three ways funds reach a beneficiary in India: NEFT, IMPS and BBPS. For money transfer operators, it reports that 73.5% of remittances received in 2023-24 came through the digital mode.

• Bank transfer. The money goes to an account number at an Indian bank. Your provider will ask for the account number and the branch's IFSC code. Copy both from the bank's own passbook or app, not from memory.
• UPI. The RBI bulletin does not list UPI as a channel for receiving remittances. If a provider advertises UPI payout, ask the provider which accounts and apps it supports and what it charges.
• Cash pickup. Some providers offer it. The bulletin gives no separate cash figure for India, so ask the provider for the exact payout terms and the ID the recipient will need.

Which method suits your family depends on their bank and their phone. Ask them which one they use every day, then compare providers for that method.

Which account in India

Indian banking rules treat people living abroad differently from residents. Under the Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulations, 2016, the RBI defines two accounts for them (RBI):

• NRE (Non-Resident External) account. Regulation 5(1)(i) lets an authorised dealer accept NRE deposits from a non-resident Indian.
• NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary) account. Regulation 5(1)(iii) lets an authorised dealer accept NRO deposits from any person resident outside India.

These are accounts for the person who lives abroad. If you are sending to a parent or sibling who lives in India, the money normally goes to their ordinary resident savings account, and the NRE and NRO rules above do not describe it. The details of each account, including what can be credited and what can be sent back out, sit in schedules to the regulations. Banks apply them in their own way, so ask your bank in India before you move your own savings.

Tax on the receiving side

Whether the person in India owes tax on money you send is a question under Indian law, not Canadian. India replaced the Income-tax Act, 1961 with the Income-tax Act, 2025, which came into force on 1 April 2026, and the government has described the change as one of wording and structure, not tax policy (PIB release of 1 April 2026, as reproduced by TaxHeal). Treatment of gifts, including gifts between relatives, is set out in that Act and the rules under it.

This page does not state what the rule is. The recipient can read the current text on the Income Tax Department's website or ask a chartered accountant in India. Do that before a large transfer, and keep the bank record of it.

The Canadian side

When you send money abroad through a bank or a money services business, that business has reporting duties to FINTRAC, Canada's financial intelligence unit. For an international electronic funds transfer of $10,000 or more in a single transaction, the business must file an Electronic Funds Transfer Report. The 24-hour rule also applies: two or more international transfers that total $10,000 or more inside a 24-hour window are reportable when they are linked by the same sender or the same beneficiary (FINTRAC).

FINTRAC says the reporting entity is responsible for meeting these requirements. The duty is the business's, not yours. You may be asked for identification and for where the money comes from. Answer the questions as asked and keep your receipts.

How big the Canada corridor is

Canada was the source of 3.8% of India's inward remittances in 2023-24, up from 1.6% in 2020-21. India's total inward remittances that year were US$118.7 billion (RBI Bulletin, March 2025).

Checks before you send

• Confirm the provider is registered with FINTRAC. How to compare remittance services shows where to look.
• Send a small amount first and ask your family to confirm it arrived in the right account.
• Compare again at the amount you really send. A provider that wins at $200 may not win at $2,000.
• Repeat the comparison every few months. Margins move without notice.

How much you can afford to send is a separate question, and how much to send home works through it.

Sources

All pages read on 2026-10-28.

• Reserve Bank of India, Bulletin article on remittance costs, channels and corridor shares: rbi.org.in
• Reserve Bank of India, Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulations, 2016, amended to 29 June 2026: rbi.org.in
• FINTRAC, Reporting electronic funds transfers to FINTRAC: fintrac-canafe.canada.ca
• Press Information Bureau, Income-tax Act, 2025 comes into force (1 April 2026), reproduced by TaxHeal: taxheal.com

This page is general information, not tax, legal or financial advice.