Updated List of Banks in Canada 2023

The Canadian banking industry is one of the leading contributors to the country’s GDP and one of the top employers of labour. Let’s explore banks in Canada, shall we?

With over 90% of Canadian adults having a bank account, you can expect a great deal of competition in the banking industry.

There are over 80 banks in Canada including domestic and foreign banks. With over 5,700+ branches, these banks are categorized by their regulation, market cap and assets. 

Canadian banks offer a different range of solutions ranging from retail banking, corporate banking, private banking and investment banking.

In what follows, you will learn about all the banks in Canada across different categories.

Domestic Banks in Canada

Domestic banks refer to Canadian-based banks that are not subsidiaries of foreign banks.

The following is the current list of domestic banks in Canada that are regulated under the Canada Bank Act.

As you can see, there are 34 domestic banking institutions in Canada with most of them located in the great city of Toronto.

Foreign Banks in Canada

As the name implies, foreign banks are an extension of foreign banking institutions in Canada. They’re also regulated by the Canada Bank Act.

That said, the following is the updated list of foreign banks in the country.

As the above table shows, there are currently 15 foreign banks in the Great White North, most of which are based in Toronto.

Foreign Bank Branches in Canada

These are branches of foreign banks in Canada that are also regulated by the Canada Bank Act.

Unlike foreign banks in Canada, foreign bank branches can’t accept deposits of less than $150,000.

Below is the updated list of foreign bank branches in Canada. 

From the above table, you can see that there are 28 foreign bank branches in Canada across Ontario, BC and Quebec.

Note that the above is a list of full-service foreign bank branches in Canada. 

Below are the foreign bank branches in Canada that are focused on lending. 

Foreign Bank Representative Offices in Canada

Foreign bank representative offices in Canada exist on behalf of foreign banking institutions.

These offices are only allowed to represent foreign banks on corporate affairs and customer service.

The Canada Bank Act restricts foreign bank representative offices from conducting banking activities in Canada.

Below is the list of the 18 foreign bank representative offices in the country.

Online Banks in Canada

As technology is advancing, Canada is witnessing an increasing popularity of online-only banks. 

Some of these banks operate independently while others operate as subsidiaries or direct banks of financial institutions in Canada.

For many Canadians, online-only banks are the best alternative to brick-and-mortar banks today. 

This is due to the low banking fees, low or zero minimum balance requirement, competitive interest rates and ease of use of online-only banks. 

That said, below are some of the leading online-only banks in Canada:

• Tangerine Bank
• EQ Bank
• Motive Financial
• Oaken Financial
• Neo Financial
• Simplii Financial

Click here to learn about the best online banks in Canada.

The Big Five Banks in Canada

The Big Five Banks is a term that is popularly used to identify the largest banks in Canada based on market capitalization and assets.

Below are the Big Five Banks in Canada by market capitalization.

• Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
• Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) 
• Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)
• Bank of Montreal (BMO)
• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)

When it comes to assets, the above banks are still in the top five. However, in terms of assets, TD takes the lead followed by RBC. 

Schedule I Banks in Canada

In Canada, banks that are allowed to conduct full banking activities by the Federal Bank Act are referred to as Schedule I banks.

Besides the above Big Five Banks, the following are examples of Schedule I banks in Canada:

• Canadian Tire Bank
• Equitable Bank
• General Bank of Canada
• Haventree Bank
• HomeEquity Bank
• Laurentian Bank of Canada
• Motus Bank
• National Bank of Canada
• President’s Choice Bank
• Tangerine
• Wealth One Bank of Canada

Schedule II Banks in Canada

Schedule II banks are foreign banks in Canada that are allowed to conduct banking activities including deposit collection.

Below are the examples of Schedule II banks in Canada: 

• HSBC Bank Canada
• Bank Of China (Canada)
• Habib Canadian Bank
• Citibank Canada
• Amex Bank of Canada
• J.P. Morgan Bank Canada
• ICICI Bank Canada
• SBI Canada Bank

Schedule III Banks in Canada

Foreign bank branches in Canada are categorized as Schedule III banks. 

As noted earlier, foreign branches are not allowed to accept deposits of less than $150,000 in Canada.

Below are some of the foreign bank branches in the country: 

• Citibank N.A. 
• The Bank of New York Mellon
• Capital One Bank (Canada Branch)
• Bank of China, Toronto Branch
• Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Canada Branch
• Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Canada Branch
• Comerica Bank
• Deutsche Bank A.G.
• MUFG Bank, Ltd., Canada Branch
• PNC Bank Canada Branch
• U.S. Bank National Association
• Rabobank Canada