Canadian banks are the most important players in the Canadian financial system. Canadian banks serve millions of customers worldwide offering a wide array of services to retail customers, small businesses, big corporations, and governments. Canadian banks operate through wide banking network of over 8,000 bank branches and around 17,000 ATMs in Canada. The Canadian banking industry has 22 domestic banks, 24 foreign bank subsidiaries and over 15 foreign bank branches. Canadian banks play a very important role in the Canadian economy.
The “Big Six” Canadian banks are RBC Royal Bank, TD Bank Financial Group, Scotiabank, CIBC, Bank of Montreal and the National Bank of Canada. These banks have sizable banking presence outside of Canada, most notably in US, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Asia.
The first Canadian bank was the Bank of Montreal founded in 1817. Until 1871 each of the Canadian banks issued its own currency, and at that time the official Canadian currency became the Canadian Dollar.
The Bank Act of 1991 divides banks operating in Canada in three schedules. Schedule I banks are banks allowed to accept deposits that are not a subsidiary of a foreign bank. Examples of Schedule I banks are RBC, TD Bank, Scotiabank, CIBC and BMO. Schedule II banks are a subsidiary of a foreign bank allowed to accept deposits in Canada. Examples of Schedule II banks are Citibank Canada, AMEX Bank of Canada and ING Bank of Canada., The Schedule III banks are foreign banks which can do banking business in Canada. Examples of Schedule III banks are Bank of America, Deutsche Bank AG and Credit Suisse.