Breaking into US vs Canada IB
Curious what people think about this. I go to school in Canada and it often feels like breaking into investment banking here is extremely tight simply because the market is so small. There are only a handful of banks (Big 5 + a few boutiques) and each office is relatively small. For summer analyst recruiting, some groups seem to take only a few students per year, sometimes even fewer.
On the other hand, the U.S. obviously has many more banks, larger offices, and significantly more seats across BBs, EBs, and MMs. But at the same time the competition pool is so much larger as well (Ivy League, target schools, etc.).
So I’m curious how people who have gone through recruiting in both markets think about it. Is Canada actually harder just because of the limited number of seats, or does the U.S. end up being tougher due to the higher competition from target schools? Would be interesting to hear perspectives from people who recruited in Toronto vs. New York, or who tried both paths.
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Getting into a big 5 in Canada is like factors more difficult than getting into a US BB. Now factor in the substantially lower pay (esp after analyst/associate) and it's a pretty tough proposition
Also factor in the increased hiring of women at B5 and its even more multiples harder
50% quota in hiring and promotions for women at Big 5. Besides, they are always sheltered from layoffs as long as they do bare minimum. Performative MDs and Beckies dominate Big 5.
Ran recruitment on both sides of the border. In Canada, the ratio of target undergrad per IB seat is much larger than the U.S.. Everyone went to the same schools and it is hard to differentiate from candidates other than nepo and DEIs. Each big 5 have approximately 10-20 seats each summer, and more than half are nepo + DEI.
Same observation. In case some dimwit wasn’t aware, Big 5 consider women (mostly), black / indigenous men, and LGBTQ as DEI. Asian / Brown / Arab men are not considered DEI.
Also the 10-20 seats include global markets, corporate banking etc, there's only like 4-6 IB roles per firm
Where are you getting 5-6 per firm some groups hire that many interns alone
So ~50 IB summer seats across Bay Street in total when you include the Big 5, U.S. bulge brackets, elite boutiques, and the reputable boutiques
Assuming about half are effectively gone through nepo / dei, that leaves maybe ~25 truly open seats.
Meanwhile, the main target and semi-target schools (Ivey, Queen’s, Waterloo, Laurier, Rotman, Schulich, McGill) produce around 5K business students a year, and even if only 20–30% go after finance, that’s still ~1,000–1,500 candidates.
So structurally, the odds are just terrible
For context, Goldman NY office alone hires roughly 50–60 IB summer analysts in a single year, basically the size of the entire Bay Street market.
Meanwhile JPM reportedly hires around ~115 IB summer analysts in NYC, and EBs like EVR/LAZ/MOE each take roughly 35–50, meaning New York ends up with ~550–600 IB summer seats overall, and that’s not even including the middle markets / non BB/EB…
Point is, if you get the chance to study at an American school, even if it’s a low semi target, definitely take it
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