Canadian Non-Target — 0/50 Emails Replied — What Are My Options?
Hi all,
I’m a Canadian student at a non-target university, currently recruiting for Summer 2027 investment banking roles. I recently became interested in IB and have been doing everything I can to break in, but I’ve hit some real roadblocks and could really use some guidance.
I’m currently interning in Audit & Assurance at a Big 4 (Summer 2025), and I’ve previously interned at a small regional bank in their corporate banking division, as well as an even smaller bank where I worked across both investment banking and asset management. All of these experiences were based in Asia.
Unfortunately, I don’t have anything lined up for Summer 2026 yet. I’m aggressively applying to boutiques, even unpaid roles, and cold emailing daily. But so far, I’ve sent over 50 personalized cold emails (all with my resume attached) and haven’t received a single response — not even a rejection. It’s becoming clear to me that networking in Canada just doesn’t work unless you’re from Ivey or Queen’s. The gatekeeping is real, and it’s discouraging to see how closed off the industry is for anyone outside the traditional pipelines.
I’ve started wondering if the U.S. might offer better opportunities, especially since the scale of recruiting is so much larger there and the process seems more open to non-traditional backgrounds. Have any non-target Canadians successfully broken into U.S. IB? Do American banks even consider Canadian students from schools they’ve never heard of, especially those without anything lined up for the summer before graduation?
I’m also trying to understand if sponsorship is a realistic possibility. I’ve heard about the TN Visa, but I’m unsure whether it applies to Summer Analyst roles or only full-time positions. Would love insight from anyone who’s gone this route or knows people who have. Alternatively, is the UK more open to candidates like me?
I’m fully committed to breaking into IB and willing to work anywhere. I just want to know what realistic options are still on the table because right now, it’s starting to feel like the doors are closing before I’ve even had a chance to knock.
Any advice would be deeply appreciated.
Thanks
Maybe it’s your resume that’s needs work or the type of emails you are sending out? (frequency, time of day, quality….etc)
To say it is being gate-kept by Ivy and Queens is more of a past thing. I’ve seen many semi-targets (UBC, UofT, UW, UCalgary) and even non-targets (McMaster, York) at BB/Big 5 banks this Summer.
Not saying it’s your fault or these factors don’t play into it but as much as it sucks, there are a lot of factors that go into networking on Bay Street. For example, during my networking, I emailed three people at different levels in the same office not realizing that there were only less than 30 people in that office and they all discussed my email and never gave me a coffee (cause it looked so similar). My upper year mentor taught me a lot of stuff about it and checked my resume $ emails before I sent them out.
Get your resume reviewed by someone in banking, fix your emails to keep short and give a range of times you can meet, don’t email people from the same bank at the same time and keep trying because it’s a quantity game. Cut yourself some slack as it’s the Summer and many people are generally busy rn. (On vacations, personal time)
Also, SA2026 recruiting is over so no point in trying for that. Best bet would be SA2027 (you mentioning that you want SA2026 in your emails will make you come across as someone who hasn’t researched enough about the processes). They also won’t waste their time but just to give you a coffee to tell you that.
Go work for a Big 4 client facing job or a search fund and extend your graduation to recruit for SA2027
Appreciate the detailed reply. You’re definitely right that a lot of this comes down to execution.
I actually had my resume reviewed by someone who broke into IB from a Canadian non-target about five years ago. They’re not in the industry anymore, but they had gone through the process and gave some good feedback.
For outreach, I’ve been sending emails between 12–2pm Tuesday to Thursday, following up a week later. I reach out to one person per firm per week, and if there’s no response after 7–10 days, I move on to the next contact. The emails are personalized and ask for advice, not for internships - I never mention roles in the messages. That said, I do acknowledge they could probably be a bit shorter, but trimming them while keeping personalization has been tough.
All ~50 emails so far have gone to boutique firms. Given that I don’t have anything lined up for Summer 2026, how badly will that hurt me when recruiting for Summer 2027? Is it a red flag, or something I can make up with part-time work or search fund exposure during the year?
Oh dawg LMAOOOO boutiques are a whole different ball game.
1) Boutiques are mixture of gatekept versus Canadian boutiques being so small that there isn’t a point in taking coffee chat emails. They generally hire from certain clubs from Ivey/Queens or are generally recommended someone from their previous interns.
2) WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU LIMITING YOURSELF (In David Goggin’s voice)? GO NETWORK WITH THE BIG 5/MM/BB. You will have so much more success there and you will actually learn something along the way. Fuck your imposter syndrome or “not good enough” stuff.
3) No, nobody is judging you for not having a SA2026 in August of 2025. Not every industry is insane like IB (insanely good if my VP is reading this) and they don’t recruit until later this year. You may get asked and you can say “I’m in the process for XYZ in a client facing role.”
Don’t limit yourself by reaching out to Boutiques. You’ll get more success with the bigger banks as networking is more structured in places like those.
Also, I’m speaking from personal experience, I was in a random client facing role at a pretty lowest tier Big 4 which wasn’t in finance and I was able to recruit for the bigger banks for the year after. You just need to know how to frame your story
I can’t speak from personal experience, but some friends of mine who were on visas found recruiting to be especially difficult. Needing sponsorship automatically narrows the list of banks you can realistically target, since only a limited number are willing to sponsor. And for those that do, you’re competing not only with other candidates in the same situation, but also with those who don’t require sponsorship.
The best advice I can offer is to identify which banks are open to sponsoring and focus your efforts there. Don’t waste time networking with firms that, regardless of your qualifications, won’t be able to move forward with you.
Echoing what the comment above me said: even if you personalized your email and attached your resume, they both could've been bad quality and hurt your response rate. Comb through past threads for good examples.
Also - I think it's important to remember that 50 emails is nothing. I go to a Canadian target (Ivey/Queens) and have sent 100+ emails in a day before with 0 responses. I've also had days where I sent 10 and got 6 responses. Just be consistent, keep trying, and don't forget to send follow-ups.
Thanks for the reply. I combed through countless WSO threads before i formulated a cold email template. Here is how it goes:
Subject: X University student interested in X Firm
Hi,
Hope this email finds you well. I'm an intern in Audit & Assurance at Big4 and studying Economics & Computer Science at x University.
I'm currently looking to transition into investment banking and noticed you made a similar transition recently, having also started your career in accounting.
I'd greatly appreciate the opportunity to hear more about how you made the transition from accounting to investment banking, your time at x, and any advice you might have for me.
Would you be open to a brief call sometime soon? I'd be happy to find a time that works best for you.
In case it's helpful to provide more context on my background, I have also attached my resume. Thank you for your time.
Best regards,
Prospective Monkey
I realize it's on the longer side for cold emails but I'm having trouble striking a balance between keeping them personalized and keeping them short.
I don't know what you qualify as a target/non-target, but I know plenty of people at McGill who landed BB/ Big 5/ EB internships in both Canada and the US. Honestly I dont see why you wouldnt try recruiting in the US if you have a good resume and grades. Keep your head up mate.
Cold emails is outdated advice. Application processes are highly regulated, no MD will respond to a cold email. Networking becomes a possibility when you are more senior, and establish yourself in the market. Most large banks have an official application process, and that is the only point of entry. Even if you personally know someone, you still have to apply via the official channels...
You're just another email in 100s for most bankers. You should watch an MD or Director's inbox, they leave most internal emails unopened if it isn't obviously important.
Is that to say there are no more real entry points for non-targets anymore? Close to zero chance of getting an interview from a cold application...
It's got nothing to do with targets or non-targets. It's about them maintaining a fair process. Otherwise, MDs' inboxes will be full of emails from targets and non-targets who all want to get into IB. It's difficult for targets too.
pick up the phone
Repeating some other comments here but some notes:
When you mean boutiques, are you talking about noname regional boutiques or boutique banks we've all heard of
The no name, not the Canaccords
When would recruitment start for SA26 at boutiques then? Given Big5 and Globals wrapped up in April, I assumed boutiques would only be a few months behind.
I understand they have unstructured processes and hire on a basis of need so I'm trying to stay visible.
Yeah very unstructured and often times don't really think about hiring interns unless one can convince them otherwise (for the no names). Good to stay visible but what I found was from December onwards.
Recruiting in Canada is a lot more standardized than US now. There are still pockets where networking works but the importance of networking has definitely come down. The real strat is to take a few terms off and grind off-cycles. Toronto is becoming more and more like London in this sense.
Can you elaborate more on that please?
Agree. Supply/demand is too out of wack for networking to be effective.
Where would you say these pockets exist? Given how cutthroat BBs and Big5 are, would it be advisable to try and network with Stifel, Cannacord and the sorts?
Edit: Would you say networking carries any weight in off-cycle recruitment or is it just more doable because the competition isn't as fierce?
Given how difficult recruiting is, would it be worth networking with other than the top firms in all of Canada?
Obviously lol
Hey man - cdn non target in a similar situation here
Are you recruiting from a 5 year platform like Laz or UW?
Neither of those but delayed graduation to make it 5.5 years
TBH I just read the title of your post so idk if you mentioned using LinkedIn but network on LinkedIn almost exclusively. Emails get bounced by banks (sometimes) and LinkedIn is much more personal. Hop on LinkedIn and connect with people, send them a message that implies you’re interested in the internship and would like to talk to them about their experience
No, I have not been doing any reach outs over Linkedin. A lot of people on this forum seem to discourage it as it might come off as lazy and that bankers prefer the "old school" way lol. open to testing it however
Oh dude you gotta get rid of that thought altogether! I was a non target as well and tried emails, didn't work then hopped on linkedin and it was genuinely shocking how easy it was to get a call with someone. When you message them try to find something that you two share in common with each other that is on their profile, then fire the message away. I made a post/comment like a year ago (look on my profile) outlining my networking strategy; it's pretty legit and yeah linkedin works great. Start networking with analysts and associates tho. MD's will likely not respond to you (they didn't for me) but analysts respond with yes like 30-50% of the time. Works great
I read your comment, great advice that I will be acting on for sure. I'm in a similar boat given that I haven't heard of anyone from my University breaking into IB.
Did you ditch emails altogether and focus all your efforts on LinkedIn or was it a mix of both? I find most people don't accept my requests to connect on LinkedIn although my profile is in pretty good shape. I also can't afford too many inmails. Maybe it's a Canada thing but hardly anyone accepts your request to connect on Linkedin, even alumni. Perhaps I need to test it for the States.
In recruiting from a non-target, did you find that there were specific cities you targeted that seemed more open to taking on someone with a non-target background? I see you landed your role in the Midwest.
I still feel at a disadvantage though, given that I will need sponsorship to work in the US as a Canadian and that I have a low GPA ~ 3.1 (although going into my 3rd year now and confident I can boost it).
Yes I sent like 100 emails then decided it wasn’t working (as none of them even yielded a reply) and did exclusively LinkedIn man. 300 LinkedIn requests and messages, to get ~50 calls, for three interviews, and one offer. That’s how the math pens out.
I’d recommend going into the United States for recruiting too (do you seriously wanna live in Toronto of Vancouver??) plus I’ve heard that IB up north doesn’t pay nearly what it pays down here.
For targeting areas; kind of? I had nearly zero luck with nyc (but this is partially because I’d rather get shot than live in New York for more than a week) and also probably because my school had zero people who knew about it from the east coast. I think targeting middle market firms is time better spent than figuring out which city to focus on. Bulge bracket is probably out of the question and you need to be okay with that (still check out RBC) but dude hit up all of the middle market banks, hit up the boutiques, there’s like 3,000 of these banks that exist, each has one analyst, that’s a great starting number to target
Dude just tell us what school you go to and what you want to target, I promise no one will be able to find out who your identity is, nor cares to try and figure it out
By telling what school you go to, everyone will be able to help you out better
One of Queens/Western/Laurier (econ)
With a 3.1 GPA from any of those incredibly easy programs talking to you is an objective waste of time for any name brand firm analyst / associate
At this point, I think your next step is Left Lanes Associates
3.1 GPA with some failed courses from an easy school is basically dead in the water. You should prioritize other opportunities instead. Dead serious. Why would anybody roll the dice on you in this job market? It’s not that great of a job anyway, just chalk it up to life and move on. Audit is a fine job
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