Send money from Canada to Romania
Grey moves money from Canada into a Romanian bank account as a euro credit carried by SEPA. Banca Transilvania, BCR and BRD Societe Generale all receive it. The rate and the fee appear together before you confirm, and the rate is fixed from that moment. Grey does not convert to lei, so read the next section before you send anything.
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A euro credit into a Romanian IBAN, not lei
The Romanian community in Canada is young by immigration standards. Most of it arrived after 1990 and settled thickly in Toronto, Montreal and the Kitchener-Waterloo corridor, where engineering and IT hiring pulled people in. The money going back is parents, a flat in Cluj or Iasi, a sibling at university, sometimes a builder finishing a house nobody lives in yet.
Here is the part to read twice. Grey does not convert Canadian money into lei. What lands in Romania is a euro credit into your recipient's IBAN, carried by SEPA the same way a payment from Germany or Italy would be. Banca Transilvania, BCR and BRD Societe Generale all take it.
If your recipient holds a euro account, or is content to convert at their own bank counter, this is a workable and often cheaper route than a Canadian bank wire. If they need lei in hand tonight and have no euro account, it is not the right tool, and you should know that on this page rather than at the confirmation screen.
Three steps from a Canadian address to a Romanian IBAN
Open the account
Sign up and verify with a valid identity document. It is free, it takes about five minutes, and you can do it before you have any money to send.
Hold euro on Grey
Your Grey balance is held in US dollars, provided by Lead Bank, or in pounds or euro. For Romania a euro balance is the natural one, since euro is what leaves at the other end.
Pay the IBAN
Enter your recipient's Romanian IBAN, check the euro figure and the fee on the confirmation screen, and send. They need no Grey account to receive it.
What a transfer to Romania actually costs
The second cost is the one people forget, and on this corridor it sits with the recipient rather than the sender. If they convert euro to lei at their own bank, that bank sets the rate. Ask them once what they get, then decide together whether a euro account in Romania is worth opening. Plenty already have one.
Against a wire from a Canadian bank, the comparison is not only price. A wire to Romania is a form, a branch visit or a secure message, a correspondent leg you cannot see, and a deduction that may show up at the far end. A euro credit through SEPA is an ordinary European payment, and your recipient's bank treats it as one.
The rate is fixed when you confirm, not when it settles
Grey shows a live rate while you are setting the transfer up. When you press confirm, that rate is the rate. It does not drift while the payment is in flight, and the euro figure your recipient sees is the euro figure you were shown.
That matters on this route for a dull reason. Most people sending to Romania are sending a set amount for a set purpose, a mortgage instalment or a term of fees, and the number at the other end has to be exact rather than roughly right.
Grey next to a Canadian bank wire to Romania
A wire from a Canadian bank to Romania travels through a correspondent chain, and the pricing of international wires at the big Canadian banks is a standing complaint for a reason. You pay a sending charge, you convert at whatever the bank quotes that morning, and an intermediary may take a cut before the money reaches Bucharest. Grey shows the rate and the fee before you confirm, sends the euro through SEPA, and lets you follow the transfer from confirmation to settlement. Neither route puts lei in the account, so compare them on price and visibility instead.
What lands in the Romanian account
Your recipient needs no Grey account, no app and no collection code. The euro arrives in their Romanian bank account as an ordinary SEPA credit and shows in their banking app the way a payment from anywhere in the euro area would.
The IBAN is all you need
Enter the recipient's Romanian IBAN. Banca Transilvania, BCR and BRD Societe Generale are all supported, along with other Romanian banks.
SEPA, and often SEPA Instant
The euro credit typically lands on the Romanian IBAN within minutes when the balance is already funded. Where SEPA Instant applies, settlement is a matter of seconds rather than a working day.
Euro in, euro on the statement
The credit shows as euro. If your recipient wants lei, their own bank does that conversion at its counter, on its own terms.
Getting money onto Grey from Canada
This is the step Canadians ask about first, and the honest answer is that Interac e-Transfer will not do it. Interac stops at the border. Your Grey balance is funded by money arriving from a client, an employer or a transfer you make yourself.
Paid by a client
Contractors and consultants invoice in US dollars, pounds or euro and have the payment land on Grey directly, ready to go on to Romania.
Paid by an employer
If you work for a company outside Canada, salary can arrive on your Grey balance in the currency it is paid in.
Moved by you
Money you already hold elsewhere can be transferred onto Grey and kept there until the Romanian payment is due.
Once the balance is in place, the Romanian transfer is a matter of choosing the saved IBAN and confirming the euro amount.
What Canadians actually send to Romania for
Parents who stayed
A monthly top-up for a pension that does not stretch, usually to the same account, usually on the same date each month.
Property in Romania
A flat kept in Cluj, Timisoara or Brasov still has upkeep, tax and a caretaker, and someone in Canada is paying for all three.
University and rent
Nieces, nephews and younger siblings studying in Bucharest or Iasi, where the rent falls due monthly whatever the exchange rate is doing.
Estates and family paperwork
Notary fees, inheritance costs and the long tail of settling a relative's affairs from another continent.
Four purposes cover most of the traffic on this route, and each has a different tolerance for surprises at the far end.
Five reasons Romanian Canadians use Grey
Open the account, hold a euro balance, enter the Romanian IBAN and confirm. The whole thing takes longer to read about than to do.
If the euro rather than lei point is a problem for your recipient, find that out before you sign up rather than after. If it is not, this is a direct route into any Romanian bank.
FAQs
Does Grey send Romanian lei to Banca Transilvania?
No. Grey delivers a euro credit into the Romanian IBAN through SEPA, and any conversion into lei happens at your recipient's own bank.
What details do I need to send money from Canada to Romania?
The recipient's Romanian IBAN and their name. Nothing else is required, and they need no Grey account to receive the euro.
Can I fund my Grey balance with Interac e-Transfer from a Canadian bank?
No. Interac e-Transfer does not cross the border. Fund the balance from a client, an employer or a transfer of money you already hold.
Which Romanian banks can Grey pay?
Banca Transilvania, BCR and BRD Societe Generale are all supported, along with other Romanian banks that accept SEPA credits into an IBAN.
How long does a SEPA transfer to Romania take?
Transfers from a funded Grey balance typically arrive within minutes, and SEPA Instant settles in seconds where the receiving Romanian bank supports it.
Is the euro rate fixed before the money leaves Canada?
Yes. The rate is fixed when you confirm, so the euro figure on that screen is the figure credited in Romania.
Why can my recipient in Bucharest not receive lei from Grey?
Grey settles this corridor in euro through SEPA rather than converting into leu. A recipient with a euro account, or a willing bank, handles the rest.
Does my family in Romania need to download anything?
No. The euro arrives as an ordinary SEPA credit in their existing bank account and appears in their banking app like any European payment.
Can I hold euro on Grey rather than converting each time I send to Romania?
Yes. Grey holds balances in euro, pounds and US dollars provided by Lead Bank, so you convert once and send euro repeatedly.
What does it cost to send euro to a Romanian IBAN?
A fee and an exchange rate, both shown together before you confirm. There is no second conversion once the euro reaches Romania.
Can I send money to Romania from Toronto for a mortgage payment?
Yes. Euro credited to the Romanian IBAN can cover a mortgage, rent or bills, though a leu-denominated loan may need converting at the recipient's bank.
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