This was an eye opener coming to Canada - people *pay money* to have a bank make money with their money. Crazy! And pay for cheques/checks, too - at an INSANE price per book.
Suggestion: don't. There are plenty of free options. Most banks have some complimacated way of getting a simple chequing account for free, but really, why jump through the hoops?
Canada:
PCF (everywhere except Quebec) - free chequing, unlimited free cheques, no tellers but all CIBC ATMs
Tangerine - becoming "Scotia-fied" which isn't great but still free. Cheques are not free after the first lot
Credit unions - generally the account is free but you may have to pay per transaction
Hack - use a line of credit as your chequing account. Only works with some banks - CIBC, PCF, TD - free cheques. Just keep the account in the black and you pay no interest, with a massive free overdraft!
US:
Alliant Credit Union is one I just found out about. There are dozens of credit unions. But ACU is one of/the largest I think, and work nationally (internationally, in fact - they had no issue opening an account to my Canadian address).
I don't begrudge the banks a profit, honestly. But coming from a country where current accounts are free with no restrictions on the number of transactions... paying seems nuts.