Snowbirds
Funding a winter in the US without paying the bank’s spread on every transfer. The highest-volume question Knightsbridge gets.
Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange, Toronto
Rahim Madhavji
President, Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc., author, and currency commentator.
Rahim founded Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange in 2009 after leaving RBC Capital Markets and private equity to fix one problem: Canadians were paying too much to move money across borders, and nobody was telling them. Since then, more than 150,000 clients have exchanged over $30 billion through Knightsbridge. His four books on cross-border money have more than 500,000 free downloads across all editions. He writes the way he talks: plain numbers, no jargon, and the same advice he gives his own family.
Connect
Since 2009
Helping Canadians Exchange Currency
150,000+
Clients
$30B+
Exchanged
Knightsbridge has been ranked among Canada’s fastest-growing companies by the Globe and Mail and the Financial Times. Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc. is a FINTRAC-registered money services business (M09819788), regulated by the AMF in Quebec.
About Rahim
Helping Canadians keep more of their money since 2009
Rahim Madhavji started his career in mergers and acquisitions at RBC Capital Markets, then moved to TorQuest Partners, a Toronto-based private equity firm. He holds an HBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University. In those years, he saw how banks priced currency for big clients, and how differently they priced it for everyone else.
He founded Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange in 2009 to give Canadians a fairer exchange rate, with the markup clearly disclosed. Today the company has served more than 150,000 clients and exchanged over $30 billion. In 2019, he pitched Knightsbridge on CBC’s Dragons’ Den and received a $1 million offer on air. He is a former member of the Forbes Finance Council.
Rahim still takes client calls. That is where his books come from. The same questions came up thousands of times, from snowbirds heading to Florida, from families selling a US condo, from business owners paying suppliers in Texas. He wrote the answers down so people could read them before they spent a dollar.
Career journey
From Bay Street to your kitchen table
Ivey Business School
Earned his HBA at Western University’s Ivey Business School, where the interest in how money moves began.
RBC Capital Markets
Worked in mergers and acquisitions, advising on deals where currency swings could change a company’s value.
TorQuest Partners
Moved to private equity and saw first-hand the exchange rates large institutions receive, and the gap between those rates and what a family gets at a branch.
Knightsbridge, 2009
Founded Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange to show Canadians the markup on their exchange rate and charge less. Pitched the company on Dragons’ Den in 2019 and received a $1 million on-air offer.
Author, today
President of Knightsbridge and author of a four-book series on cross-border money, written for the people who call the office every day.
Areas of focus
The four money problems Canadians call about most
Buying and selling US property
Moving a down payment south, or bringing a sale home, when a single transfer can be worth more than a car. FIRPTA, timing, and the rate all matter.
Paying US suppliers
How small Canadian businesses pay American vendors without the margin quietly disappearing into fees.
Property in Europe
Buying in Italy, Spain or Portugal in euros, from the first deposit to the notary’s final payment.
The series
Four books, written for the people who call
Free guide. Snowbirds
The Snowbird’s Money Book
Ten chapters for Canadians who spend winters in the US: how the exchange rate really works, when to move money, what the banks charge, US bank accounts, healthcare deposits, the 183-day rule, and the questions to ask any currency provider. Written in plain English. No email required.
Free guide. Selling US property
Coming Home
You sold the condo in Florida or the house in Arizona. Now the proceeds have to come back to Canada. This book covers FIRPTA withholding, the CRA side, why transfer timing often matters more than sale price, and how to avoid handing the bank a slice of the biggest cheque of your life.
Free guide. Small business
Paid in America
For Canadian business owners who pay or get paid in US dollars. How to find what the exchange rate is actually costing your business in one afternoon, the worksheet to do it, the seven mistakes that cost the most, and how to pay suppliers on time without paying the bank’s markup.
Free guide. Property in Europe
A Place in the Sun
More Canadians are buying in Italy, Spain and Portugal. This book covers the money side: getting the tax number first, the three transfers from deposit to notary, sending euros safely, the tax questions to ask before you sign, and how long you can actually stay.
How Rahim works
“Every exchange rate has a markup hiding in it. My job is to show you where it is, tell you what we charge and when we checked it, and let you decide. If a bank does better for you on a given day, take it.”
Rahim Madhavji, President, Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc.
Talk to the Knightsbridge team.
Tell us where the money is going and when. We will quote you a live rate, show you the markup and when we checked it, and you decide.
Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc. is registered with FINTRAC as a money services business (registration M09819788) and regulated by the AMF in Quebec.
AUD
CAD
EUR
GBP
NZD
USD
The person Canadian newsrooms call when the dollar moves.
Rahim explains the Canadian dollar on BNN Bloomberg, CTV News, and CBC, and his comments on rates, the Bank of Canada, and cross-border spending have appeared in the Globe and Mail, Reuters, Bloomberg, the Toronto Star, and the Financial Post. He is a member of the Forbes Finance Council. He publishes a Canadian Dollar Update on the Knightsbridge site every other business day.