Big Five

The top five Canadian banks are collectively referred to as the "Big Five" due to their dominant position and significant influence within the country's banking and financial industry. This term has been used for many years to characterize these major banks, and it highlights their substantial market share and impact on Canada's economy. The financial sector of Canada is especially concentrated in these banks, which has been seen as a result of protectionist policies of the government and the country's small and dispersed population. These banks grew at an extraordinary rate of 10.7 percent per year, on average, from 2008 to 2018 compared with 3.64 percent for the five largest U.S. banks.^[1] While most Canadian banks operate only within Canada, the Big Five are best described as Canadian multinational financial conglomerates that each have a large Canadian banking division.^[2]

Big Six

National Bank of Canada, which began as a regional bank in Quebec but expanded nationally, is the sixth largest Canadian bank.^[9] In 2022, Canada’s Big Six held about 93% of all banking assets in the country. It is the same share they held a decade earlier, and a decade before that.^[10] RBC’s $13.5-billion takeover of HSBC’s Canadian division, announced in November 2022, will see it receive around $134 billion in HSBC assets^[11] and would increase the 93% share of assets the Big Six have to almost 95%.^[10]

Other large banks (excluding Big Six)

Domestic systemically important bank (D-SIB)

A domestic systemically important bank (D-SIB) is a bank that could disrupt the domestic economy should it fail. Canada's Big Six are designated as D-SIBs. D-SIBs are so important to the functioning of the financial system and the economy that they cannot be wound up under a conventional bankruptcy and liquidation process should they fail. The failure of any one of Canada’s D-SIBs, with the potential loss of financial services, even for a short period of time, could have a serious impact on Canada’s economy.^[17]

Desjardins

The Autorité des marchés financiers, which oversees Quebec’s financial sector, designated Desjardins Group as a D-SIB.^[18]

Global systemically important bank (G-SIB)

A global systemically important bank is a bank whose systemic risk profile is deemed to be of such importance that the bank’s failure would trigger a wider financial crisis and threaten the global economy. The Basel Committee has developed a formula for determining which banks are G-SIBs, deploying criteria including size, interconnectedness and complexity. National regulators subject banks determined to be G-SIBs to stricter prudential regulation such as higher capital requirements and extra surcharges, or more stringent stress tests.^[19]

In Canada, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions designated Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank as G-SIBs as well as D-SIBs.^[20][17]

Schedule I banks (domestic banks)

Under the Bank Act, Schedule I are banks that are not a subsidiary of a foreign bank, even if they have foreign shareholders. There are 35 domestic banks, including 3 federally regulated Credit Unions as of 8 March 2024.^[21]

Schedule II banks (subsidiaries of foreign banks)

Schedule II banks are banks allowed to accept deposits and which are subsidiaries of a foreign bank. As of March 2024, there were 15 of these banks in Canada.^[21]

More information Bank, Parent Country ...

Bank	Parent Country	Notes
AMEX Bank of Canada	USA
Bank of China (Canada)	China	Previously a Schedule III representative office.
Cidel Bank Canada	Barbados
Citco Bank Canada	Netherlands
Citibank Canada	USA
CTBC Bank Corp. (Canada)	Taiwan
Habib Canadian Bank	Switzerland
HSBC Bank Canada	UK	Acquired by RBC successfully with closing date of 28 March 2024.
ICICI Bank Canada	India
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Canada)	China
J.P. Morgan Bank Canada	USA
KEB Hana Bank Canada	South Korea	Formerly Korea Exchange Bank of Canada.
SBI Canada Bank	India
Shinhan Bank Canada	South Korea
UBS Bank (Canada)	Switzerland

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Schedule III banks (branches of foreign banks)

Full service

The following banks are not authorized to accept deposits in Canada of less than $150,000. As of August 2016, there were 28 such banks in Canada.^[21]

More information Bank, Parent Country ...

Bank	Parent Country	Notes
Bank of America, National Association	USA
Bank of China Limited	China
Bank of New York Mellon, (The)	USA
Barclays Bank PLC	UK
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., (The)	Japan
BNP Paribas	France
Capital One Bank (USA), N.A.	USA
China Construction Bank	China
Citibank, N.A.	USA
Comerica Bank	USA
Deutsche Bank AG	Germany
Fifth Third Bank National Association	USA
First Commercial Bank	Taiwan	[43]
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association	USA
M&T Bank	USA
Maple Bank GmbH	Germany	Holding group is based in Canada but chartered through a subsidiary German bank.[44] In liquidation.
Mega International Commercial Bank Co., Ltd.	Taiwan
Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Canada Branch	Japan
MUFG Bank, Ltd.	Japan
Northern Trust Company, Canada Branch (The)	USA
PNC Bank, National Association	USA
Rabobank Nederland	Netherlands
Société Générale (Canada Branch)	France
State Street	USA
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Canada Branch	Japan
U.S. Bank National Association	USA
United Overseas Bank Limited	Singapore
Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, Canadian Branch	USA

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Credit unions outside Quebec

As of 31 December 2022, the 208 credit unions and caisses populaires outside Quebec reported combined assets of $308.9 billion:^[49]

Desjardins

Most caisses populaires in Quebec (and some outside the province) are part of a network which operates as the Desjardins Group. Desjardins Group owns and operates a range of subsidiaries, including a securities brokerage, a venture capital firm, and a bank based in Florida.^[50]

As of 25 December 2023, Desjardins Group's consolidated assets totalled $407 billion CAD.^[51]