List of Banks in Canada, How to Open a Bank Account in Canada

Economy—overview: As an affluent high-tech industrial society, Canada today closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system pattern of production and high living standards. Since World War II, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. Canada started the 1990s in recession and real rates of growth have averaged only 1.1% so far this decade. Because of slower growth Canada still faces high unemployment — especially in Quebec and the Maritime Provinces — and a large public sector debt. With its great natural resources, skilled labor force and modern capital plant, however, Canada will enjoy better economic prospects in the future. The continuing constitutional impasse between English- and French-speaking areas is raising the possibility of a split in the federation making foreign investors somewhat edgy. 

 

If you have assets worth $300,000 USD or more and would like it safeguarded in an Canada Bank Account, click here for a consultation request..

 

GDP: purchasing power parity—$658 billion (1997 est.)

 

GDP—real growth rate: 3.5% (1997 est.)

 

GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$21 700 (1997 est.)

 

GDP—composition by sector:

 

agriculture: 3%

 

industry: 31%

 

services: 66% (1997)

 

Inflation rate—consumer price index: 1.8% (1997)

 

Labor force:

 

total: 15.3 million (1997)

 

by occupation: services 75% manufacturing 16% agriculture 3% construction 5% other 1% (1997)

 

Unemployment rate: 8.6% (December 1997)

 

Budget:

 

revenues: $106.5 billion

 

expenditures: $117.2 billion including capital expenditures of $1.7 billion (1996)

 

Industries: processed and unprocessed minerals food products wood and paper products transportation equipment chemicals fish products petroleum and natural gas

 

Industrial production growth rate: 1.7% (1997 est.)

 

Electricity—capacity: 113.645 million kW (1995)

 

Electricity—production: 532.64 billion kWh (1995)

 

Electricity—consumption per capita: 17 448 kWh (1995)

 

Agriculture—products: wheat, barley,wild rice, oilseed tobacco fruits vegetables; dairy products; forest products; commercial fisheries provide annual catch of 1.5 million metric tons of which 75% is exported

 

Exports:

 

total value: $208.6 billion (f.o.b. 1997)

 

commodities: newsprint wood pulp timber crude petroleum machinery natural gas aluminum motor vehicles and parts; telecommunications equipment

 

partners: US Japan UK Germany South Korea Netherlands China

 

Imports:

 

total value: $194.4 billion (c.i.f. 1997)

 

commodities: crude oil chemicals motor vehicles and parts durable consumer goods computers; telecommunications equipment and parts

 

partners: US Japan UK Germany France Mexico Taiwan South Korea

 

Debt—external: $253 billion (1996)

 

Economic aid:

 

donor: ODA $1.6 billion (1995)

 

note: ODA and OOF commitments $10.1 billion (1986-91)

 

Currency: 1 Canadian dollar (Can$) = 100 cents

 

Exchange rates: Canadian dollars (Can$) per US$1—1.18540 (November 2004) 1.4408 (January 1998) 1.3846 (1997) 1.3635 (1996) 1.37241 (1995) 1.3656 (1994) 1.2901 (1993)

 

Fiscal year: 1 April—31 March

 

Source - world66.com

 

*If you have assets worth $300,000 USD or more and would like it safeguarded in an Canada Bank Account, click here for a consultation request..

 

Government

 

= Bank of Canada (Central Bank)

= Business Development Bank of Canada

 

"Big six" banks

 

= Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)

= Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Canada Trust)

= Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)

= Bank of Montreal (BMO)

= Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)

= National Bank of Canada

 

Currently, the biggest bank in Canada is Royal Bank. It is the largest based on both assets and market capitalization, followed by (in order) TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, CIBC and National Bank.

 

Major credit unions

 

= Desjardins Group (Mouvement des caisses populaires Desjardins)

 

While it is not a bank per se, the Desjardins Group has larger assets than the National Bank of Canada (a member of the Big Six), and is the largest private employer in Quebec.

 

= VanCity

 

VanCity is one of the large Credit Unions in Canada. Based out of Vancouver, BC.

 

Minor banks

 

= Alberta Treasury Branches

= Bridgewater Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Alberta Motor Association

= Canadian Western Bank

= Canadian Tire Financial Services

= Citizens Bank of Canada

= First Nations Bank of Canada, affiliated with the Toronto-Dominion bank

= General Bank of Canada

= Home Trust Company

= Laurentian Bank of Canada

= Manulife Bank of Canada

= Pacific & Western Bank of Canada

= President's Choice Financial

= Western Bank of Canada

 

Foreign banks with operations in Canada

 

= AMEX Bank of Canada (a subsisidary of American Express of the United States)

= Bank of America National Association

= Bank of China (Canada) (a subsidiary of the Bank of China of the People's Republic of China.)

= National Bank (Pakistan)

= Habib Bank (Pakistan)

= BCP Bank

= Bank of East Asia (Canada)

= Bank of Cyprus

= BNP Paribas [1]

= BPI Bank

= Butterfield Bank (a subsidiary of Butterfield Bank of Bermuda)

= Citibank Canada (a subsidiary of Citigroup of the United States)

= CTC Bank of Canada

= Deutsche Bank

= Glitnir (a subsidiary of Glitnir bank of Iceland)

= ICICI Bank Canada

= ING Bank of Canada

= Korea Exchange Bank (a subsidiary of Korea Exchange Bank of Korea)

= MBNA Canada (a subsidiary of Bank of America of the United States)

= HSBC Bank Canada (a subsidiary of HSBC of the United Kingdom)

= Sears Canada Bank (a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase that issues credit cards for the Sears Canada department store)

= State Bank of India

= Totta

 

Schedule I banks

 

= Bank of Montreal

= Bank of Nova Scotia

= Bank West

= Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

= Canadian Tire Bank

= Canadian Western Bank

= Citizens Bank of Canada

= CS Alterna Bank

= Dundee Wealth Bank

= First Nations Bank of Canada

= Laurentian Bank of Canada

= Manulife Bank of Canada

= National Bank of Canada

= Pacific & Western Bank of Canada

= President's Choice Bank

= Toronto-Dominion Bank

= Royal Bank of Canada

= Ubiquity Bank of Canada

 

Defunct or merged banks

 

= Amicus Bank was in voluntary liquidation and its assets repatriated to CIBC.

= Bank of British Columbia's assets acquired by HSBC Canada.

= Bank of the People was purchased by the Bank of Montreal in 1840.

= Bank of Toronto merged with The Dominion Bank in 1955 to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank, now known as TD Bank Financial Group.

= Banque canadienne nationale merged with Provincial Bank of Canada/Banque provinciale du Canada to become National Bank of Canada

= Provincial Bank of Canada/Banque provinciale du Canada. Merged with Banque canadienne nationale to become National Bank of Canada

= Canadian Bank of Commerce merged with Imperial Bank of Canada to form The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce also known as “CIBC”.

= Canadian Commercial Bank

= Eastern Townships Bank with the Canadian Bank of Commerce in 1912.

= Montreal City and District Savings Bank or La Banque d’Epargne converted from a savings bank to a regular bank and changed its name to Laurentian Bank of Canada

= Continental Bank of Canada became Lloyds Bank of Canada

= The Dominion Bank merged with Bank of Toronto in 1955 to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank, now known as TD Bank Financial Group.

= Farmer's Bank of York, Upper Canada

= Farmers' Bank of Rustico is a community bank in Prince Edward Island that closed after the passage of the 1871 Bank Act.

= Home Bank

= Imperial Bank of Canada merged with Canadian Bank of Commerce to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, also known by the initialism CIBC

= Lloyds Bank of Canada became HSBC Canada

= Molson Bank of Montreal was merged into the Bank of Montreal in 1925.

= Northland Bank

= National Bank of Greece's Canadian assets merged into Bank of Nova Scotia in 2005

= Standard Bank of Canada merged with Canadian Bank of Commerce in 1928

= Standard Chartered Bank of Canada

= Sterling Bank

= Unity Bank of Canada was acquired by Provincial Bank of Canada/Banque provinciale du Canada.