The BEST Banks for Culture & WLB in Canada
Putting dealflow and prestige aside, what banks punch above their weight when it comes to work life balance and culture? IB is gonna be a grind anywhere. I get that. But some banks / groups are better than others when it comes to caring about health and not just sacrificing everything for the job.
So, in your experience which banks in Canada, mainly in TO, are most enjoyable to work at? Appreciate the help!
TD for WLB. Rbc and bmo grinds the most i believe.
Disagree with RBC grinding the most. TD has great culture but their TMT groups definitely grinds. Definitely agree on BMO
Have you heard of rbc calgary?
One of my close friends from HS works at TD in Toronto, he had lots of positive feedback about his experience there regarding culture, people and hours
BMO, specifically Metals & Mining
RBC and TD have good culture and deal flow
BMO has shit culture and good deal flow
CIBC - don’t really know anyone here though heard they pay bit more than the above
Scotia - shit deals and weak talent
NBF - been poaching a lot of talent over the last few years and getting their foot in on more deals, heard culture is strict but not too bad
Idk about good deal flow at TD but agree with most. Something I’d add is national has overhired like crazy as of late and wouldn’t be surprised if they start laying off more than they already have
I recall they used to be top of league tables with RBC but admittedly haven’t checked in recent years so not sure where they stand
Heard National is real sweaty
Yeah, had friends intern there and apparently M&A and Power get grinded really hard, total sweatshop
How about the BBs and EBs in Toronto?
Have heard that Citi is a lifestyle shop and hours aren’t as bad as Big 5
So WLB and culture is quite subjective by group, and can vary greatly even within a same bank. That said, I've put together my unofficial ranking having worked at 2 of the 5 Canadians, with friends who were at others, and now on the buyside so interact with banks who are our advisors:
1) TD - best culture hands down in Canada. Every group (excluding M&A), you'll likely be working less hours than if you were at any other bank
2) CIBC - DIG guys are pretty fratty and bro'ish, good lads who like to not take themselves that seriously. DIG / M&A seems to be the most grindy with some other groups being fairly chill too.
3) RBC - most groups are pretty good culture wise I hear; although usual suspects such as M&A and heard their Consumer and other DIG-like groups can be grindy too. Would also caveat I know of the most nepotism hires at RBC which is not a great sign (i.e., your peer who is dating some group head is gonna have a more chill time than you are with no connections)
4) BMO - not good culture, people (used to, at least in recent times) got yelled at and sworn at, some nice seniors but overall most don't care; there's a reason where if you look at the data, they are usually the bank with the highest turnover rate
5) Barclays Toronto - from what I've heard, arguably one of the most, if not the sweatiest bank in the country. Good buddy of mine used to average a real 85-90+ a week. Culture is ok though
Other Toronto banks not rated I don't have enough data on
Scotia - I don't know enough about and anecdotal, but everyone I know that worked there never says anything good about that place
NBF - heard M&A group is kind of sweaty, mining is not too bad
CS - heard it was sweaty with lots of mining but not sure if the office imploded or not
Lazard - pretty chill it seems, but office also imploded
Evercore / JPM / UBS - no idea, last I heard those offices were a 5 man shop each so not sure what they do
Morgan Stanley - sweaty, similar to most grindy groups at other banks
GS - extremely sweaty, actually I'd put it up there as next to Barclays Toronto in terms of top hours
BAML - also sweaty
I'm probably missing some banks here and happy to debate some of these anecdotes / ratings which have my own biases too. But hopefully this is a good starting point
BAML is chill, MS is not crazy sweaty, GS is incredibly sweaty, UBS is practically non-existent
Anyone have any insights into UBS Canada these days? What does their Canadian presence look like post-merger with CS?
Curious about MS TO, what are the hours like there and do they care about WLB like TD does?
EVR grown headcount to ~14ish including seniors. Super super super sweaty anecdotally
EVR Toronto is definitely not 14 people. They are closer to 8-9 people (1 SMD, 2 MDs, 3 associates, 2-3 analysts). Head of the office also came from RBC Calgary...
TD, then RBC (obviously group dependent). TD does seem to be the sweet spot between dealfow / WLB / culture though.
Def not BMO. Groups will grind harder than similar groups at other banks and culture is ok at best depending on group. RBC doesn't grind as hard as you think they do but some groups like Mining are absolute sweatshops.
Can second the above - at a bank like RBC you could have some absolute chill groups, then extremely grindy groups like Mining. Mostly group dependant, not bank dependant.
Thoughts on RBC mining generally?
For MMs Canaccord and Raymond James have some very chill/nice people. Can't comment on hours, though.
Agree with this - some good guys at both those shops
TD is a great bank and has good culture across its numerous groups
Curious what groups do you think are the best at TD for culture? Any ones to watch out for?
I heard M&A is quite good.
TD RE group is class
Everyone wants to work at big banks. Take a step back, check out the boutiques who don’t grind as hard (better WLB), and you get to participate in the full deal process (none of that “no modeling until second year” bullshit). On top of that, you actually get some leniency on participating in deals, meaning you can actually put your money into these IPOs and follow-ons, or building your own companies with investors. Boutiques are under rated, your work is much more appreciated and moving up is a lot easier.
you’re getting reamed on pay though. Don’t know many Canadian boutiques that pay in line with Globals/big 6 + CG/agentis
Big 6 lol, congrats on National
half the 'boutiques' in Canada are boiler rooms masquerading as advisors but yeah, Canaccord etc can crush it in good years.
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