Canadian Western Bank (CWB; ), also operating as CWB Financial Group, was a Canadian

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

based in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. The bank serves clients both in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

and in other provinces. It was announced on June 11, 2024 that it would be acquired by

National Bank of Canada The National Bank of Canada () is the sixth largest commercial bank in Canada. It is headquartered in Montreal, and has branches in most Canadian provinces and 2.4 million personal clients. National Bank is the largest bank in Quebec, and the se ...

in 2025. National Bank and CWB has, on March 1, 2025, amalgamated and will continue as one bank under the name National Bank of Canada. The CWB Financial Group is made up of 10 banking, lending, wealth and trust companies. Its loan book is almost equally represented across BC, Alberta and Ontario. As part of its expansion plans, CWB has opened a branch in Mississauga, Ontario, just west of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and a regional office in

Downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the nor ...

History

Canadian Western Bank was formed through the 1988 merger of two banks: the Bank of Alberta (founded 1984), and the Western & Pacific Bank of Canada (founded 1982). It was led by Bank of Alberta co-founders Charles Alexander Allard and Eugene Pechet. In 1993, it acquired Western Canadian branches of Metropolitan Trust. In 1994, Canadian Western Bank and North West Trust Company merged into Canadian Western Bank. In 1996, it acquired BC Bancorp (chartered in 1967), and purchased the Aetna Trust Company, which was renamed Canadian Western Trust Company. In 2001, it acquired the Kelowna and Regina branches of the

Laurentian Bank of Canada The Laurentian Bank of Canada (LBC; ) is a Schedule 1 bank that operates primarily in the province of Quebec, with commercial and business banking offices located in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia. LBC's Institution Number ( ...

Acquisition history

* Western Canadian branches of Metropolitan Trust, 1993 * Acquired BC Bancorp (chartered 1967), 1996 * Aetna Trust Company, 1996 - renamed Canadian Western Trust Company 1996 * Kelowna and Regina branches of Laurentian Bank, 2001 * Canadian Direct Insurance Inc. (CDII), 2004 * Valiant Trust Company, 2004 * Branch of National Bank of Greece (Canada), 2005 * National Leasing, 2010 * Maxium Group, 2016 * iA Investment Counsel Inc., 2020

Operations

Canadian Western Bank's operating affiliates include: * Motive Financial (100% ownership) – high-interest savings accounts, GICs, and TFSAs. Before 2017, it was called Canadian Direct Financial. * Canadian Western Financial Ltd. (100% ownership) – mutual fund dealer. * Canadian Western Trust Company (100% ownership) – personal and corporate trust services. Optimum Mortgage is a division of Canadian Western Trust Company and offers residential mortgages via a network of mortgage brokers. * National Leasing Group Inc. (100% ownership) – commercial equipment leasing. * Valiant Trust Company (100% ownership) – specialty trust services including stock transfer, corporate trust, escrow and employee plan services. * CWB Wealth Management (previously Adroit Investment Management Ltd (76.5% ownership) – investment and wealth management.

Motive Financial

Motive Financial is the virtual banking division of Canadian Western Bank. As such, eligible deposits are held at Canadian Western Bank, a member of Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC). Motive Financial is an

online bank Online banking, also known as internet banking, virtual banking, web banking or home banking, is a system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial institut ...

. Motive serves customers in all provinces except Quebec. Accounts can be opened online. Deposits and withdrawals can be made using one of The Exchange ATM network’s 2400 ATMs. Debit-card purchases can be made using the

Interac Interac is a Canadian interbank network that links financial institutions and other enterprises for the purpose of exchanging electronic financial transactions. Interac serves as the Canadian debit card system and the predominant funds transf ...

network. Transfers to and from other banks may be done by

electronic funds transfer Electronic funds transfer (EFT) is the transfer of money from one bank account to another, either within a single financial institution or across multiple institutions, via computer-based systems. The funds transfer process generally consists ...

(EFT), by

Interac e-Transfer Interac e-Transfer (formerly Interac Email Money Transfer or EMT) is a Canadian funds transfer service between personal and business accounts in participating Canadian banks and other financial institutions, offered through Interac Corporation ...

, or by writing cheques. Because motive offers no in-branch services, it offers higher interest rates than conventional banks.

Membership

Canadian Western Bank is a member of the

Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation The Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC; ) is a Canadian federal Crown Corporation created by Parliament in 1967 to provide deposit insurance to depositors in Canadian commercial banks and savings institutions. CDIC insures Canadians' de ...

(CDIC). It also belongs to the Cirrus,

, Mastercard, and The Exchange interbank networks.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Banks of Canada Financial services companies based in Alberta Companies based in Edmonton Banks established in 1988 1988 establishments in Alberta