Top Corporate Banking Groups across Big 5 in Canada?

Hi All, 

I wanted to get some opinion on views for the Big 5 Toronto Corporate Banking groups (BMO/CIBC/TD/Scotia/RBC)

I would really appreciate peoples' thoughts on how the different corporate banking groups rank amongst eachother in Canada in terms of deal flow, learning, WLB, and culture and how big the differences are between them. 

I'm specifically most interested in BMO / CIBC Corporate Banking Groups. 

SBs for good answers!

5 Comments
 

Having some CB experience I would gun for CIBC rather than BMO due to the higher starting analyst base (85k versus 75k). Not sure about the other banks but Scotia also has a solid CB division, and I think RBC is a little leaner in terms of CB hiring etc. In terms of groups anything other than metals and mining would be good, think about the industry revenue and cash profile and ability to service debt and you will see why M&M isn't that active amongst CB groups compared to infrastructure for example, and that should help you decide activity levels amongst the other groups as well. Personally I would go for more of a broad group like DIG to get experience on diff clients and have more transferability if you want to later down the road.

 
Most Helpful

giftemail

Having some CB experience I would gun for CIBC rather than BMO due to the higher starting analyst base (85k versus 75k). Not sure about the other banks but Scotia also has a solid CB division, and I think RBC is a little leaner in terms of CB hiring etc. In terms of groups anything other than metals and mining would be good, think about the industry revenue and cash profile and ability to service debt and you will see why M&M isn't that active amongst CB groups compared to infrastructure for example, and that should help you decide activity levels amongst the other groups as well. Personally I would go for more of a broad group like DIG to get experience on diff clients and have more transferability if you want to later down the road.

Thanks so much for the detailed answer. Can you speak a little to the culture at the groups you mentioned? Which is better for junior development/WLB between DIG at CIBC CB vs. non-MM BMO CB?

Also do you know how time from A2A is between the two? Also, are league tables a bad measure to compare the two groups in question (CIBC looks like it comes way below BMO in every category)?

 

Culture is very group and bank dependant, no real answer for that but overall hours arent too bad and are standard across groups as mentioned in other posts on WSO.

A2A is similar to IB structure. And league tables can paint diff stories depending on how they are structured, at the end of the day as a junior they shouldn't be that larger if a factor as long as you are comparing big 5

 

Nihil voluptas explicabo corrupti eos quas aut sed itaque. Nihil et atque quo et eum. Cupiditate velit porro autem. Laborum suscipit est iure qui.

Repellendus totam nemo ad magni exercitationem sit dicta similique. Et odit iure placeat reprehenderit laboriosam itaque reprehenderit corrupti. Eum eius facere id qui. Aut aut consequuntur est quidem maxime vero. Magnam rerum in et voluptatem.

Voluptates est veritatis officia magni quaerat. Sunt aut qui deleniti similique.

Esse magni temporibus voluptatem molestiae repellendus. Eligendi autem natus vel rerum rerum quia quam. Voluptatem ad aut ipsum voluptatum.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan No 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
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...”