The Dominion Bank
| Industry | Banking |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merged with the Bank of Toronto |
| Successor | Toronto-Dominion Bank |
| Founded | 1869 |
| Founder | James Austin |
| Defunct | 1955 |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
The Dominion Bank was a Canadian bank based in Toronto and incorporated in 1869 that merged on February 1, 1955 with the Bank of Toronto to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank.
In 1871, the Dominion Bank was launched by entrepreneurs and professionals under the leadership of James Austin with the opening of its first branch on King Street in Toronto, Ontario. They were dedicated to creating a new institution “conducive to the general prosperity of that section of the country.” The Dominion Bank was a cautious institution, “selecting its customers carefully, serving them well, and duly prospering with them” (in the words of the official history). It too created a network of branches, and in 1872 became the first Canadian bank to have two branches in one city – Toronto.
With the maturing of the Canadian economy and the opening of northern Ontario and the West in 1880s and 1890s, the banks became more aggressive in loans to resource industries, utilities, and manufacturing. In 1897, the Dominion Bank opened its first western branch in Winnipeg. In the first decade of the twentieth century, the bank rapidly expanded their branch networks in central Canada and across the west.
To mark its rise as a significant national institution, the Dominion Bank moved to a landmark head office at King and Yonge Street in 1879.
The First World War brought new challenges for the bank when they were called upon to finance war expenditures and to support the innovation of war bonds marketed to the general public. Half the staff of the bank served in the armed forces.
Except for some contraction in the western provinces due to drought, the decade following the war was one of expansion and increasing profitability due to resource development and industrial expansion. Both banks weathered the storm of Great Depression in the 1930s without great difficulty, despite a decline in earnings. Like all Canadian banks, they endured criticism of its credit policies and resisted the introduction of a central bank to control the money supply and advise on fiscal policy. Ultimately the Bank of Canada was established and the banks relinquished their right to issue their own currency.
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