Investing in India from Canada: A Quick-Start Guide

The India-Canada DTAA follows the same pattern as the US treaty on dividends: the individual-investor rate is 25%, HIGHER than India's own 20.8% domestic rate, because the lower 15% treaty rate applies only to a shareholder holding more than 10% of the Indian company -- not an ordinary retail investor. Interest is the better story: a flat 15% under this treaty (with no separate lower bank rate), comfortably below India's 31.2% domestic NRO rate, and worth claiming with a Tax Residency Certificate and Form 10F.

Practically, Indian AMCs have historically treated Canada-resident NRIs with the same caution as US-resident ones for fresh mutual fund onboarding -- fund houses that restrict US NRIs commonly restrict Canada NRIs too, even where the underlying regulatory driver differs by country. If you are a Canada-resident NRI, check the AMC Eligibility Checker on this site the same way a US NRI would, rather than assuming you are exempt from this friction.

The standard NRE (Canada-earned income, tax-free) plus NRO (India-sourced income, taxable) combination applies. Canada also participates in the OECD Common Reporting Standard, so your Indian financial accounts are visible to Canadian tax authorities via CRS reporting -- factor that into your own Canadian tax planning.