Best IB Groups in Canada?

The US economy is far more developed than Canada, which translates to a far more robust capital markets and allows certain banks to carve a niche/distinction for themselves. In Canada, you have the following:

Big 5/6 banks(RBC,BMO,TD,Scotia,CIBC, NBF)- As previously mentioned, aside from a few select groups, there is little distinguishing one bank from another from a "prestige" standpoint. All of the aforementioned banks experience their ebbs and flows year to year on a deal basis, and often times you'll see most if not all on large equity offerings. Their core business is still retail banking/lending and will continue to be, with the capital markets arm serving as an extension since they understand the Canadian landscape and have anchored relationships from their lending practices.

To provide some color on other groups, RBC is by far the leader in DCM, while TD was the only Canadian bank in the M&A leaguetables for 2017. You're going to notice that corporate clients will offer the mandate to the bank that they have the best relationship with, as there isn't really a "de facto investment bank" like GS in the US.

From a prestige/exit opportunity perspective, Onex will typically look at RBC and maybe TD/BMO. The Canadian PE scene is heavily concentrated on the mid-market space(by virtue of our economy), and you can exit into MM PE from any of the big 6. You'll get looks from the pension funds as well.

Large Independents(Canaccord, GMP, Cormark) - Bat with the big guys on certain deals, but focus a lot more on transaction volume as they rarely lead any of the bigger deals. They've been in the spotlight this past year as they had the first mover advantage in the Cannabis/Blockchain space, and have crushed it recently due to this. Due to less stringent regulations, these firms made out like bandits during good times(commodities boom, the cannabis/crypto craze), however get hit the hardest during periods of downturn as they don't have other business segments to serve as a buffer. Exits similar to Big 5.

Bulge(GS, MS, Barc, CS, Wells, BAML, JPM, Citi)- Its difficult to paint these firms with a broad brush because each approach the Canadian capital markets differently. One commonality is that for any deals involving a US corporate(inbound or outbound), you will definitely see a non-domestic bank on the deal(often multiple, especially on the $1B+ deals). Any large debt/equity offering will likely involve these firms as well, since the Canadian Capital markets can't absorb the whole block, so the company needs to tap US institutional investors as well. For example, there were no canadian banks on the Hydro One/Avista deal last year.

MS, Barc, BAML and CS are incredibly established and will often run deals from beginning to end, while others may use the office as an anchor to the Canadian Capital Markets. In Calgary, most of the BBs are prominent players. Exit opps include MF and MM PE in the US and pretty much your pick of the lot in Canada, however the geography can hinder your recruiting efforts if you plan on US buy-side.

EBs(Evercore, Roth, Laz, GHL) - Very lean operations in Canada, not too informed regarding how they fare relative to other banks from a deal flow perspective but the brand name definitely carries its weight for buy-side recruiting.

Big 4(KPMG, Deloitte, PwC, E&Y) - Its typically thought that these firms don't do "real banking", but most actually have a corporate finance practice in Canada where they run deals from beginning to end. These deals are typically in the LMM - MM and are private transactions, so you don't hear about them much. By far the most deal volume as LMM - MM are the backbone of the Canadian economy. However, these groups pay a significant haircut to the groups mentioned above. Have seen big 4 corporate finance exit to various MM PE shops here, but if prestige/exit opps matter to you, lateralling to one of the banks mentioned above will carry significant mileage for buy-side recruiting.

I know I didn't answer your question all that well, but that's because its a rather homogeneous pool of players in Canada, making it difficult to stand out. If you set your eyes on the exit opps, the global brand names will probably be best. If you care about work-life balance with decent pay, the Big 4 and most Big 5/6 groups will provide that. If you enjoy being at the forefront of the emerging industries and love risk taking, independents is where its at. Feel free to reply/PM if you have any specific questions.