Banks in Canada | Overview & Guide to Top 10 Banks in Canada

Overview of banks in Canada

Even if Canada has multiple banks, due to the decline of Government’s support and aid, the banking system undergoes a critical scenario. As per Moody’s Investors Service, the approach of Canadian banks remain negative in 2017 as well.

If we investigate the stance of Government in regards to the banking system in Canada, we would see that there is a huge mortgage debt (which has doubled in the last 10 years) that created reasonable rise in the unemployment and in the interest rate.

Even if there’s a tepid economic growth in Canada, the Canadian banks are performing quite well. These highly rated banks are also compared with the best banks in the world.

Structure of banks in Canada

The Canadian banking system is robust (irrespective of lesser Government’s support) and we can classify the financial companies in Canada into five broad categories –

Chartered Banks
The Cooperative Credit Movement
Life Insurance Companies
Trust and Loan Companies
Security Dealers

As per the last data (as on August, 2017), it was found that there are 29 domestic banks in Canada. There are also 24 foreign banks that are subsidiaries. Other than that, 27 foreign bank branches and 3 foreign bank lending branches offer full gamut of respective banking services.

Around C $4.6 trillion of assets are managed by the financial institutions in Canada. 70% of these assets are managed by the banks. And 90% of the banking assets are controlled by the top six banks in Canada.

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Top 10 banks in Canada

As per the last report on 31^st July, 2017, here is a list of top 10 banks in Canada ranked by the total assets controlled –

#1. Toronto-Dominion Bank:

As per the report of 31^st July, 2017, this is the largest (top-most) bank Canada with controlling assets. Toronto-Dominion Bank controls around C$1.202 trillion of assets. The net income of this bank as in the year 2014 was C$7.7 billion and the revenue in the same year was C$29.9 billion. This bank was founded in the year 1955 and its head-quarter is in Toronto-Dominion Centre, Toronto, Ontario. This is one of the largest banks in Canada and it was ranked 66^th in 2015 on Forbes Global 2000.

#2. Royal Bank of Canada:

Royal Bank of Canada is the second largest in terms of controlling total banking assets in Canada. It handles total assets of around C$1.201 trillion. In the year 2016, Royal Bank of Canada has earned a net income of US$8.35 billion and revenue of US$35.28 billion. Royal Bank of Canada has employed 78,000 people. This bank is one of the oldest banks of Canada and was established in the year 1864. The head-quarter is situated in Toronto, Ontario.

#3. Bank of Nova Scotia:

This is the third largest bank in Cananda in terms of controlling total assets. Bank of Nova Scotia handles around C$906.332 billion. It has employed around 89,214 employees as per the data of 2015. In the year 2016, it has generated a net income of C$7.413 billion. The revenue in the same year was C$26.049 billion. This bank is pretty old. It was established in the year 1832 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The head-quarter is situated in Toronto, Ontario.

#4. Bank of Montreal:

The fourth largest bank of Canada, in terms of total assets acquired, is Bank of Montreal. It handles around C$708.617 billion of total assets. Bank of Montreal has generated revenue of US$19.188 billion in the year 2016. In the same year, the net income of Bank of Montreal was US$3.455 billion. It has employed around 45,234 employees. It is one of oldest banks in Canada. It was established in 1817, more than 200 years ago. Its head-quarter is situated in Montreal, Quebec.

#5 .CIBC:

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is the fifth in terms of total assets acquired in Canada. As per the last report, this bank has acquired total assets of C$560.912 billion. In the year 2016, it has generated revenue of C$15 billion. In the same year, after paying off all the expenses it produced net profit of C$4.3 billion. 43,213 employees work in here. It was established on 1^st June, 1961. The head-quarter of CIBC is in Commerce Court, Toronto, Ontario.

#6. Desjardins Group:

Desjardins group isn’t a bank, but the largest associations of credit unions in North America. It was established in the year 1900 in Levis, Quebec and the head-quarter of this group is situated in the same place. This financial institution provides a gamut of services like checking accounts, stock broking, insurance, asset finance, investment banking, consumer finance etc. Around 47,655 people work here. Desjardin group is also a member of Interact and issues MasterCard and Visa credit cards. Total assets acquired by this group are C$271.983.

#7. National Bank of Canada:

In terms of total assets acquired, this bank in Canada has taken the seventh spot. The total assets acquired by National Bank of Canada are C$240.072 billion. In the year 2016, it has generated revenue of C$5840 million and net profit of C$1256 million. As per the last report on 31^st October, 2016, it has been found that 21,770 people work in National Bank of Canada. It was established in the year 1859. The head-quarter of National Bank of Canada is situated in Montreal, Quebec.

#8. HSBC Bank Canada:

On the eight position, in terms of total assets acquired, HSBC Bank Canada has secured its spot. The total assets acquired by HSBC Bank Canada are C$95.810 billion. As you can understand, HSBC Bank Canada is a foreign subsidiary of HSBC Bank. It was founded in the year 1981 and since then it has been serving the customers of Canada. 6000 people work in HSBC Bank Canada. The head-quarter of this bank is in Vancouver.

#9. Laurentian Bank of Canada:

This bank in Cananda has secured the ninth position in terms of total assets acquired. The total assets acquired by Laurentian Bank of Canada are C$45.212 billion. In the year 2016, this bank has generated revenue of $915.5 million. And in the same year, net profit of this bank was $187 million. 3600 people work in here. It was quite old bank, established in the year 1846. The head-quarter is situated in Montreal, Quebec.

#10. Canadian Western Bank:

On the tenth position, we have Canadian Western Bank, in terms of total assets acquired. The total assets acquired by Canadian Western Bank are C$25.345 billion. The revenue and the net income of Canadian Western Bank in the year 2015 were C$579 million and $319 million respectively. As per the report of 2013, around 2037 people ⁽¹³⁾ work here. It was founded in the year 1988. And the head-quarter is situated in Edmonton, Alberta.