Fast facts
- Banks in Canada employ over 280,000 Canadians from coast-to-coast-to-coast and serve over 99 per cent of Canadian adults.
- Banks serve close to 3 million self-employed workers and small and medium-sized businesses, powering communities across Canada.
- Banks are essential contributors to our economy and contribute almost $70 billion to Canada’s GDP – about 3.6 per cent.
The bottom line
Whether Canadians are paying bills, saving for their future, or managing daily expenses, Canada’s banks are on their side to make banking straightforward and secure.
October is Cyber Month! Download the tools you need
October is Cyber Month in Canada and around the world—a perfect opportunity to raise awareness about how to spot and avoid scams.
Our comprehensive fraud prevention toolkits offer essential strategies to safeguard your personal and financial information.
Show me all toolkits available.
The Canadian Bankers Association website has additional resources and practical information to help you better understand the products and services available from banks in Canada. Learn more on our website.
Stay informed and stay ahead
From sector updates to fraud prevention tips, get all the information you need to make informed decisions with confidence. Our free newsletters are insightful and just a click away.
- Sign up for the CBA’s Fraud Prevention Tips newsletter
- Sign up to receive insights about banking sector topics by subscribing to CBA Briefings
Managing money in today’s world
Want to understand more about money and how to manage it? We have a variety of tools to help you make informed financial decisions.
For Canadians
Of all the relationships Canadians have with companies, few are more personal and important than those they maintain with their bank.
Recognizing this vital connection, banks are firmly on their side, providing tools to securely manage daily expenses, save for a big purchase or plan for retirement.
Understanding how to manage money effectively is an important life skill, and banks play a key role in providing the knowledge and tools needed to achieve financial well-being. By promoting financial literacy, banks empower their customers to make informed decisions, avoid debt, and build a secure financial future.
Banks actively support and strengthen financial literacy through community educational activities and bankers volunteer their time to deliver community-based programming such as the CBA’s free and non-commercial financial literacy seminars: Your Money Students for youth and the Your Money Seniors program for older adults.
Banks are also continuously enhancing their security measures to protect against cyber crime. This includes collaborating with law enforcement, government agencies, and payment partners to educate the public on fraud prevention, with substantial investments in cybersecurity aimed at protecting the financial system and personal customer information.
For small businesses and the economy
Canadian banks support families in buying homes and saving for retirement, help small businesses grow and thrive, and drive economic growth, benefiting all Canadians.
Small and medium-sized businesses (SME) are the lifeblood of the Canadian economy and the anchors of our local communities. The majority of bank business customers are SMEs and banks work hard to meet the needs of this market – one that is increasingly competitive, diverse and technologically savvy. In fact, all banks have dedicated departments to help their SME customers. During economic downturns, banks continue to support their customers to ensure they emerge resilient, strong and growing.
Banks are a major contributor to employment in Canada, providing over a quarter of a million jobs across the country. Additionally, most Canadians have a stake in Canadian banks, either directly through owning shares or indirectly through pension funds and mutual funds, including the Canada Pension Plan. Pension funds and RRSPs benefit from the dividends that banks pay, which was around $26 billion in 2022 alone. This means that the success of banks not only supports jobs but also helps secure the financial future of millions of Canadians.
You can learn more on how banks help Canadians and small businesses to grow and provide economic benefits.