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Royal Bank of Canada's Chartered Banks Acquisitions Timeline

By thecanadiannumismatist | Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Also known as RBC, the Royal Bank of Canada is now a Canadian multinational financial services company and one of the largest bank in Canada. RBC also has 127 branches across seventeen countries in the Caribbean and operates several branches across the United States.

Over the years, it merged with multiple chartered banks that issued banknotes.

In 1934, the newly created Bank of Canada was given the responsibility, through an Act of Parliament, to regulate the country's money supply and to promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada.

The new central bank was also given the exclusive right to issue bank notes in Canada. In 1944, it was forbidden for Canadian Chartered banks to issue banknotes. Below, the list of chartered banks that merged with the Royal Bank of Canada.

1864

In 1864, the Merchants Bank of Halifax was founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as a commercial bank that financed the fishing and timber industries and the European and Caribbean import/export businesses. By 1869 the Merchants' Bank was officially incorporated and received its federal charter in the same year.

1901

In 1901, the Merchants Bank of Halifax changed its name to the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).

1910

In 1910, RBC merged with the Union Bank of Halifax.

1912

To improve its position in Ontario, RBC merged with Traders Bank of Canada in 1912.

1917

RBC merged with Quebec Bank, which was founded in 1818 and chartered in 1822 in Quebec City.

1918

RBC's presence in Manitoba and Saskatchewan was strengthened through a 1918 merger with Northern Crown Bank, the product of the 1908 merger of Northern Bank (established in 1905 in Winnipeg) and Crown Bank of Canada (1904), based in Ontario.

1925

RBC's presence in the Canadian Prairie was further expanded by the 1925 merger with the Union Bank of Canada, which had begun in Quebec City in 1865 as the Union Bank of Lower Canada, but changed its name in 1886.