I have a US based TD account (also a US Harris Bank account, which is owned by BMO). Both of these banks make it easy for Canadian customers to open an account, but TD has the lower no-fee minimums. No Social Security Number or ITIN is needed; chequing accounts are generally not interest-bearing, so there is no tax reporting necessary. And even if an account did bear interest, that wouldn't necessarily imply that you are required to file a US tax return. More likely the bank would just be required to withhold a percentage, and you would only need to file a tax return if you thought you were owed a refund (and cared enough to bother).
Your credit options may not be as good as you think if you have no US based credit history; the credit history files (i.e. TransUnion, Experian, et al) are specific to your country of residence and generally can not be accessed by a lender in another country.
This much is true, at least to a point, but once you have one US credit card, a history is established and you're more or less set, as long as it is kept positive and current. The trick is in getting that first card. Equifax has both Canadian and US operations, and my understanding is that credit history *can* be accessed across the accounts, but not without some jumping through hoops. Usually you need a US residence, but it's entirely plausible that TD might facilitate this for Canadian customers.
Depending on your situation, a US based bank account might be more or less convenient than a Canadian USD account. I use mine mostly for direct investment, and have occasionally found it handy for other purposes, but it's a little more difficult to access funds (from Canada) than a Canadian USD account. For example, it's difficult to deposit US cash unless you can get to a US branch or ATM. If you do your regular banking at TD Canada, this might be easier; I know they do have specific plans around cross-border accounts, but I thought they usually assumed you would have USD accounts in both Canada and the US. Might be mistaken. I know the Royal Bank accounts worked that way. I don't actually bank with TD in Canada, so while I've looked at the program, the details are fuzzy.
