Is US IBD Recruiting from Canadian schools dieing?

As most Canadians know already, with changes to the TN visa, several US IB firms have stopped or reduced their hiring from Canadian schools. I go to a target Canadian school (if that even exists anymore, think Ivey/Queens) and I've noticed that less and less firms are doing OCR at all and are reducing their hires if the US firms do come.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is this going to be an ongoing trend where US firms may cease/dramatically reduce hires from Canadian schools, and is there any way to get around this if so?

If you're a Canadian trying to recruit for US firms, what has your experience been like?

My recruiting experience so far has been pretty tough so far with US firms and just wanted to hear others' thoughts and opinions on this.

Region
10 Comments
 

Generally speaking - it's a lot harder, this is inarguable. Consider: the amount of quality candidates from Canada eligible/competitive for US entry is a constant #. Right? There's no reason to believe that it isn't at leasta similar amount of people YoY. But since the TN bubble (or at least, the speculation that Canadians are "dangerous", when realistically...nothing has really changed, can't think of 1 person in the last 2 years I know of that has run into issues for an EB at least; maybe for a more brand-name recognizable firm like GS, you'll have more problems, at least 1/2 the spots allocated to Canadians are gone. JPM has stopped Canadian hiring completely for example. RB-fucking-C has stopped taking Canadians. The Royal Bank of CANADA. Greenhill doesn't take Canadians, PWP doesn't, Rothschild doesn't. List goes on.

Of course, you'll have your Evercore-Ivey connections still etc, but that's more a function of tradition/a senior partner being an alumnus rather than being a top 0.1%blue chip candidate from Canada.

Tl;DR: If you're a non-target/semi-target, it's looking pretty dire. If your fucking dream is to make it into NY FT right off the bat, my suggestion would be to work at #1 RBC #2 BMO (RBC is by far the most respected name in US of the Big 5) for SA in Toronto in 2020, get a return offer, then leverage the hell out of it & do FT recruit accelerated for the 0-5 spots/BB, 0-3 spots/EB (all-in-all definitely sub-35 spots total across NYC) where you're also competing with top-tier candidates who are trying to lateral themselves from either a different US location (think Chicago, Houston) or a lower-tier bank into a higher-tier bank (ex. DB into GS).

If you're target, then you'll still have access to the same pipeline given tradition. And OCR = quota; however, exposure to Canada is viewed as an uncertainty, so there are less spots than there USED to be RESERVED; therefore it is also harder for targets

 

Amet distinctio dolorem blanditiis et non sint. Quibusdam eius tempore mollitia qui. Ea dolor at explicabo. Dolor est adipisci consequatur excepturi modi vel illum. Quos mollitia exercitationem libero autem ratione illo ad consequuntur.

Autem quidem rerum tempora ducimus. Dolor rem dignissimos quod dolor sunt ut sit. Porro quis numquam quidem sint id est. Eveniet non cum et occaecati et. Iusto facere reprehenderit aut voluptatem consectetur.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”