Canadian Banks – The "Big Five Banks"
The “Big Five Canadian Banks” term refers to the top five banking institutions in Canada. These banks are Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Scotiabank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and Bank of Montreal. The big five Canadian banks dominate the Canadian financial markets having a combined market share of over 90%. These banks are in reality international banks with market share in USA, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Asia. They have thousands of employees across Canada and worldwide. You might encounter the “Big Six Banks” term as well, which is the “Big Five Banks” and the National Bank of Canada, which mainly servers customers in Quebec.
RBC Financial Group or simply Royal Bank of Canada is the largest Canadian bank with headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. The bank was founded in 1864, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Royal Bank has over 70,000 employees worldwide with offices in more than 30 countries and operates 21% of all Canadian ATMs. Royal Bank common shares are listed on Toronto Stock Exchange, Swiss Electronic Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange.
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank Financial Group) is the second major Canadian bank headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The bank was founded in 1855 in Toronto. TD Bank has over 58,000 employees, serving 14 million customers worldwide. The TD bank Financial Group common shares are listed on Toronto Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Scotiabank previously known as The Bank of Nova Scotia is the Canadian bank with strongest international presence. The bank was founded in 1832 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Scotiabank does business in over 40 countries, most notably in the Caribbean, Central and Latin Americas, Mexico and Asia. Scotiabank has over 12 million customers offering personal, business and investment banking services. The bank has 57,000 employees worldwide. Scotiabank common shares trade on both Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.
The Bank of Montreal marketed as BMO Financial Group is Canada’s oldest bank, established in 1817 in Montreal, Quebec. The bank has 35,000 employees and provides a wide range of financial services to its customers in Canada and USA. BMO is listed on Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange.
CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) was founded in 1867 in Toronto, Ontario. The bank has its headquarters in Toronto, and has over 37,000 employees worldwide, providing a wide range of financial services to over 11 million clients. CIBC is the smallest of the “Big Five” Canadian banks. CIBC is listed on Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.
The Canadian banking system is well established and developed and Canadian banks are one of the important pillars of the Canadian economy and society. Canadian financial institutions maintain a network of over 7,500 bank branches and over 17,000 ATMs. The top five Canadian banks are all members of the Canadian Banker Association and Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation.