The COVID‑19 outbreak was the most serious crisis Canada had faced in recent memory. And banks in Canada were committed to helping the country emerge from the crisis with a strong, sustainable economic recovery.

To confront the financial dimensions of pandemic, Canada’s banking sector worked in lockstep with the federal government, the Bank of Canada and regulators to immediately implement a series of relief initiatives to create tailored support plans for individuals and small businesses to help manage financial uncertainty and help blunt the economic impact of COVID‑19.

Through these efforts, Canada’s banks helped almost 800,000 homeowners with mortgage flexibility and provided more than 482,500 individuals with credit card payment deferrals. In total, Canada’s banks provided almost 2.1 million deferrals on all personal credit products, including mortgages, credit cards, lines of credit, personal loans and auto loans. We’ve worked with the Government of Canada to more efficiently and securely deliver the Canada Emergency Response Benefit to more than 4 million Canadians and have facilitated interest‑free loans to more than 898,000 small businesses through the Canada Emergency Business Account. And Canada’s six largest banks have waived more than $112 million in fees for personal bank accounts from March 2020 to February 2021. We’ve also made changes to our branches and customer service delivery methods to protect our employees and customers and provided more than $23 million in donations to support front-line workers and urgent community needs.

Personal customers

• Reduced credit card interest rates, deferred payments and instituted low minimum payments on credit cards, lines of credit and auto loans. As of January 31, more than 482,000 credit card deferral requests were completed by eight banks with close to 1.3 million deferrals on all personal credit products, excluding mortgages, including credit cards, lines of credit and auto loans.
• Canada’s six largest banks waived more than $112 million in fees for personal bank accounts from March 2020 to February 2021.
• Canada’s banks offered mortgage payment relief to customers by way of deferred mortgage payments. As of February 28,2021 13 CBA member banks provided help through mortgage deferrals or skip a payment to almost 800,000 Canadians, valued at more than $5.5 billion.
• Collaborating with the Government of Canada to offer online enrollment of Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) direct deposit to facilitate Canada Emergency Response Benefit payments. Over 4 million Canadians enrolled through their financial institution for CRA direct deposit.
• Instituted policies that prioritize seniors, frontline healthcare workers and vulnerable populations when they access in-branch services

Small business customers

• Canada’s banks serve three million self-employed, small and medium-sized enterprises across Canada and have authorized more than $254.6 billion in credit to this sector as of September 2020.
• Banks in Canada continue to lend to SMEs through the pandemic. According to the CBA’s most recent figures, loans and acceptances to SMEs in Q3-20 increased by more than three per cent compared to the same time last year.
• Banks delivered fast access to the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) program, facilitating small and medium-sized companies interest-free loans of up to $40,000, including the recent expansion of the program.
  
  
  • More than 898,000 CEBA loans were approved by financial institutions including banks, representing more than $49.2 billion in interest‑free credit for eligible businesses.
• As of February 2021, Canada’s six largest banks waived more than $4.9 million in fees for small business bank accounts since March 2020.
• Partnering with the Government of Canada to expedite access to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) for businesses. The new service allows eligible businesses to register their business payroll accounts for direct deposit with the Canada Revenue Agency directly through their bank business portals.
• Banks partnered with the Business Development Bank of Canada to offer a Co-Lending Program and with Export Development Canada to offer a Loan Guarantee Program for small and medium-sized enterprises through the federal government’s Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP).
• Banks also worked with the Government to deliver relief to particularly hard hit businesses through the Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program (HASCAP) Guarantee.
  
  
  
  • As of July 11,2021 more than 7,370 HASCAP loans were approved by financial institutions, including banks, representing more than $1.58 billion in guaranteed, low‑interest credit for eligible heavily impacted businesses.
• Worked with business clients to determine the best options to suit their specific circumstances. Banks introduced a range of flexible measures for existing loans, including deferrals and term extensions. More than 89,500 deferrals were extended to businesses (the majority of which are SMEs) with a total value of more than $3.3 billion.
• Provided advice and support of small business clients' immediate cash management or new lending needs.

Employees

• Implemented intensive cleaning programs to ensure that workplaces, including branches, remained as safe as possible for everyone.
• Paid bonuses and provided extra paid days off to customer-service employees who work in branches and call centers.
• Implemented broad-based work from home options for any roles that could be performed remotely to support public health efforts and the well-being of employees.

Communities

• Made gifts to Canadian charities such as BGC Canada, United Way Centraide Canada, Food Banks Canada and Breakfast Club Canada to provide essential services, community services and services for senior citizens.
• Seven banks donated more than $29 million to support frontline health care workers and community services urgently needed for vulnerable individuals affected by the public health, social and economic consequences of COVID-19.

Bank Announcements

Bank of Montreal
CIBC
Canadian Western Bank
Coast Capital Savings
Laurentian Bank
National Bank
RBC
Scotiabank
Tangerine
TD

February 10, 2022
BMO Business Xpress Exceeds $2 Billion in Credit Authorizations: Supporting Businesses through the Pandemic and Delivering Rapid Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs

October 18, 2021
Pandemic Paused but hasn't Derailed Canadians' Ambitions: CIBC Poll

August 23, 2021
CWB Financial Group introduces vaccination mandate

October 26, 2021
Coast Capital introduces Employee COVID‑19 vaccination policy to protect employees, members and communities

April 9, 2020
Deferral of minimum Visa payments and reduced interest rate

May 3, 2021
National Bank donates $50,000 to support people affected by the COVID‑19 pandemic around the world

July 23, 2021
RBC launches Time for More to Bring Canadians Back to the Businesses they Love

October 28, 2021
Canadians Rethinking How They Spend With Pandemic Money Habits Here to Stay, New Scotiabank Survey

November 24, 2020
Canadians say "bah humbug!" to COVID‑19: While rising debt is a concern for many, Canadians refuse to let it ruin the spirit of the holidays, Tangerine Bank survey reveals

January 26, 2022
TD awards $10 million to organizations tackling pandemic-related learning loss