 | |
| Industry | Banking |
|---|---|
| Founded | 15 May 1867 |
| Founder | William McMaster |
| Defunct | 1 June 1961 |
| Fate | Merged with the Imperial Bank of Canada |
| Successor | Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce |
The Canadian Bank of Commerce was a Canadian bank that operated from 1867 to 1961. It merged in 1961 with the Imperial Bank of Canada to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which today is one of Canada's Big Five banks.
In 1866 a group of businessmen, including William McMaster, purchased a charter from the defunct Bank of Canada, which had folded in 1858. [1] [ failed verification ] The Canadian Bank of Commerce was founded the following year, issued stock, and opened its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. [2] [3]
The bank soon opened branches in London, St. Catharines and Barrie. [3] During the following years, the bank opened more branches in Ontario, and took over the business of the local Gore Bank, [3] before expanding across Canada through the acquisition of the Bank of British Columbia in 1901 and the Halifax Banking Company in 1903. [2]
By 1907 the Canadian Bank of Commerce had 172 branches. [2] By the beginning of World War II, this had expanded to 379 branches, [4] including a large building by Darling and Pearson in Winnipeg, Manitoba, built in 1910 in beaux-arts classic style. [5]
During World War I, 1,701 staff from the Canadian Bank of Commerce enlisted in the war effort. A memorial on the East and West Memorial Buildings in Ottawa, Ontario is dedicated to the memory of 1701 Men of the Canadian Bank of Commerce who served in the First World War [6] A War Memorial at Commerce Court in Toronto, Ontario commemorates their service.
In 1931, the Toronto headquarters of the bank, designed by architects John Pearson and Frank Darling, was completed. At 34 stories, for many years it was the tallest building in the British Empire. [7]
Once again, during World War II, 2,300 staff members enlisted in the armed forces.
The Canadian Bank of Commerce merged with the Imperial Bank of Canada in 1961 to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), now one of the Big Five Canadian banks. [1] [8]
The following are on the Registry of Historical Places of Canada.
The Canadian Bank of Commerce grew through acquisitions of other banks in Canada: [18]
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District of Toronto, Ontario. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was formed through the 1961 merger of the Canadian Bank of Commerce and the Imperial Bank of Canada, in the largest merger between chartered banks in Canadian history. It is one of two "Big Five" banks founded in Toronto, the other being the Toronto-Dominion Bank.
The Bank of Montreal, abbreviated as BMO, is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company.
Events from the year 1961 in Canada.
Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Street in that role in the 1970s.
The Imperial Bank of Canada was a Canadian bank that operated from 1873 to 1961. In 1961, Imperial merged with the Canadian Bank of Commerce to become the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
The Dominion Bank was a Canadian bank that was chartered in 1869 and based in Toronto, Ontario. On February 1, 1955, it merged with the Bank of Toronto to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank.
The Bank of Toronto was a Canadian bank that was founded in 1855 by a group of grain dealers and flour millers. On February 1, 1955, it merged with the Dominion Bank to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank. Its first president was James Grant Chewett, whose support was sought by financier Thomas Clarkson.
The Standard Bank of Canada was a Canadian bank established in 1872 as the St. Lawrence Bank by a group of Toronto businessmen led by John Charles Fitch.
CIBC Tower is a 187 m (614 ft) 45-storey skyscraper in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The International Style office tower was built by Peter Dickinson, with associate architects Ross, Fish, Duschenes and Barrett, and was the city's tallest building from 1962 to 1963. The building holds offices for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the corporate law firm Stikeman Elliott, the Canadian accounting firm MNP LLP, as well as numerous other businesses.
Commerce Court is an office building complex on King and Bay Streets in the financial district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The four-building complex is a mix of Art Deco, International, and early Modernism architectural styles. The office complex served as the corporate headquarters for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and its predecessor, the Canadian Bank of Commerce, from 1931 to 2021. Although CIBC relocated its headquarters to CIBC Square, the bank still maintains offices at Commerce Court.
John Andrew Pearson was an early 20th-century British-born Canadian architect and partner to the Toronto-based firm of Darling and Pearson.
Darling and Pearson was an architectural firm based in Toronto from 1895 through 1937. The firm was prolific and produced consistently fine work though the patronage of notable figures of the Canadian establishment, and is responsible for enhancing the architectural character and quality of the city, and indeed the rest of Canada, in the first quarter of the 20th century.
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building is a building at 265 Saint-Jacques Street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Sir Byron Edmund Walker, CVO was a Canadian banker. He was the president of the Canadian Bank of Commerce from 1907 to 1924, and a generous patron of the arts, helping to found and nurture many of Canada's cultural and educational institutions, including the University of Toronto, National Gallery of Canada, the Champlain Society, Appleby College, Art Gallery of Ontario and Royal Ontario Museum.
The Bank of Hamilton was established in 1872 by local businessmen in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada under the leadership of Donald McInnes, the bank's first President. Like the other Canadian chartered banks, it issued its own paper money. The bank issued notes from 1872 to 1922. The end dates are the final dates appearing on notes, which may have circulated for some time after.
Commerce Place in a commercial complex, consisting of two towers, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
The Financial District is the central business district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was originally planned as New Town in 1796 as an extension of the Town of York. It is the main financial district in Toronto and is considered the heart of Canada's finance industry. It is bounded roughly by Queen Street West to the north, Yonge Street to the east, Front Street to the south, and University Avenue to the west, though many office towers in the downtown core have been and are being constructed outside this area, which will extend the general boundaries. Examples of this trend are the Telus Harbour, RBC Centre, and CIBC Square.
CIBC is the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Russell Edward Harrison was a Canadian banker who served from 1973 to 1976 as president and from 1976 to 1985 as chairman of the board of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. After serving with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in World War II, Harrison joined the Canadian Bank of Commerce in November 1945 in Winnipeg. Beginning in 1953, Harrison held several managerial position with the Bank of Commerce in Ontario and Quebec, and after its merger with the Imperial Bank of Canada in June 1961, with the new Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. In 1969, Harrison was appointed an executive vice-president at the bank's head office in Toronto, and in 1970 was elected a director. In December 1973 he succeeded Jeffery Page Rein Wadsworth as the bank's president, and in December 1976 succeeded Wadsworth as chairman of the board. Harrison retired as chairman in January 1985. He died on 5 January 2014 at age 92.
Major Lindsay Stuart Mackersy was a Scottish-Canadian banker who served from 1953 to 1956 as president and from 1956 to 1961 chairman of the Imperial Bank of Canada, and then from 1961 to 1963 as the first chairman of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Mackersy began his career with the Imperial Bank in 1911. After serving as an artillery officer in the war, he rejoined the bank and, over the ensuing decades, received a series of managerial positions. He was assigned to the head office in Toronto in 1943, became president in 1953, and chairman in 1956. In October 1960, Mackersy initiated the discussions that resulted in the formation of the CIBC. After the merger in 1961, he became the new bank's first chairman, remaining in office until 1963. He retired as a director in 1966, and died in 1973 at age 82.
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