The FBAR, formally the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, is a United States filing required of US persons whose foreign financial accounts exceed an aggregate value of US$10,000 at any time during the calendar year. It is filed electronically with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on FinCEN Form 114, separately from the income tax return.
The filing is informational; it discloses the accounts rather than itself imposing tax. For Canadian residents who are US citizens or green-card holders, ordinary Canadian bank, investment, and registered accounts can trigger an FBAR obligation. Penalties for non-filing can be substantial, with higher amounts for wilful failures than for non-wilful ones. The FBAR is distinct from, and in addition to, the FATCA reporting on Form 8938.