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Canada Trust Company
FormerlyGeneral Trust Company of Canada (1894–1899)
IndustryFinancial services
Founded23 July 1894 (1894-07-23)
FateAcquired by Toronto-Dominion Bank in 2000
Headquarters
Toronto, Ontario

The Canada Trust Company is a Canadian trust company that has existed since 1894. The company was founded in Calgary, Alberta as the as the General Trust Corporation of Canada. In 1899 it was acquired by the Huron and Erie Savings and Loan Society, which moved the company to London, Ontario, and changed its name to the Canada Trust Company. Huron and Erie changed its name in 1976 to Canada Trustco.

The company's operations were acquired by the Toronto-Dominion Bank in 2000, and merged into Toronto-Dominion's existing retail banking operations, forming the current TD Canada Trust division.

History[edit]

Canada Trust's articles of incorporation received royal assent on 23 July 1894.[1] The founding shareholders were James Alexander Lougheed, Harry Symons, William Roper Hull, John Lineham, Alfred B. Few, George Kidd Leeson, Henry W. C. Meyer, Harry William Nanton, and Edmund Cave. Lougheed served as its first president. Historian Philip Smith wrote that, "having procured their charter, those early westerners do not seem to have done much with it, since references to it through the years in the Huron & Erie's records describe it as 'largely inactive.' "[2]

In 1899, seven officers of the Huron and Erie Savings and Loan Society of London, Ontario paid a combined $115,000 to acquire the General Trust Corporation of Canada. After the purchase, the group transferred their shares to Huron and Erie, moved General Trust's offices to London, and renamed the business the Canada Trust Company.[3] Canada Trust opened for business in 1901 with Verschoyle Cronyn as its new president, and George Somerville as its managing director.

The Huron and Erie–Canada Trust headquarters in London, Ontario is visible in this 1960 photo. Today, the building houses a branch of the successor bank, TD Canada Trust, with the first transit number assigned to TD: 0001.[4][5]

The parent company changed its name to the Huron and Erie Mortgage Corporation in 1915, then began branding itself as Huron and Erie–Canada Trust;[when?] the branding was changed to Canada Trust–Huron and Erie in 1962 to reflect the company's national reach. In 1976, Huron and Erie changed its name to Canada Trustco Mortgage Company and continued to operate Canada Trust as a subsidiary.

Canada Trust was a trust company that offered the same services as a bank. It was one of Canada's largest non-bank financial institutions, with $38 billion in deposits and $176 billion in assets. It had 11,000 employees and 3.5 million customers and operated a network of 413 branches across Canada; and almost 1,000 automated banking machines. Its banking machines were, at one point in the late 1980s to early 1990s, called "Johnnycash" machines. They were even promoted with lifesize cutouts of Johnny Cash asking the question, "Why walk the line?", a reference to one of his hit songs.

In the United States, CT Financial operated through First Federal Savings and Loan Association. First Federal was founded in 1896, and operated through 82 branches throughout New York State. CT Financial also operated other divisions including Truscan Realty Limited (d/b/a Canada Trust Realty), CT Insurance Limited, and Canada Trust Bank N.V.

During the 1980s and 1990s, CT Financial was controlled by Imasco, a conglomerate which at that time also owned Imperial Tobacco Canada and Shoppers Drug Mart. Imasco was publicly traded, although it was controlled by British American Tobacco (BAT) through the latter's ownership of 41.5% of Imasco's shares. During the late 1990s, some synergy[buzzword] between the companies manifested in the form of Canada Trust ATMs appearing in or adjacent to Shoppers Drug Mart locations.

In 2000, BAT moved to take Imasco private and intended to sell its non-tobacco assets as part of the process, including Canada Trust. CIBC had long indicated its interest in Canada Trust, but ultimately BAT accepted an $8 billion offer from the Toronto-Dominion Bank.[6] Following the completion of this deal on February 1, 2000, Canada Trust's retail banking operations were integrated into TD's similar operations, now collectively known as TD Canada Trust.

TD merged its existing subsidiary TD Trust Company with the acquired Canada Trustco Mortgage Company, naming the resulting new subsidiary entity the Canada Trust Company. This new subsidiary now primarily provides traditional trust company services, and also services Canada Trust accounts opened prior to the merger with TD (other existing TD Canada Trust-branded accounts are actually issued by TD Bank itself).[7][8]

Leadership[edit]

President[edit]

  1. James Alexander Lougheed, 1899–1900
  2. Verschoyle Cronyn, 1900–1907
  3. Thomas Graves Meredith, 1907–1926
  4. Maj. Hume Blake Cronyn, 1926–1933
  5. Thomas Graves Meredith, 1933–1943
  6. Morley Aylsworth, 1943–1958
  7. John Allyn Taylor, 1958–1973
  8. Arthur Hammond Mingay, 1973–1978
  9. Mervyn Lloyd Lahn, 1978–1987
  10. John H. Speake, 1987–

Chairman of the Board[edit]

  1. James Alexander Lougheed, 1899–1900
  2. Thomas Graves Meredith, 1926–1943
  3. Col. Elton Ibbotson Leonard, 1943–1958
  4. Verschoyle Philip Cronyn, 1958–1968
  5. John Allyn Taylor, 1968–1978
  6. Arthur Hammond Mingay, 1978–1985
  7. John A. C. Hilliker, 1986
  8. Mervyn Lloyd Lahn, 1987–

References[edit]

  1. ^ An Act to incorporate The General Trust Corporation of Canada, SC Victoria 57-58 (1894), c. 115.
  2. ^ Philip Smith, The Trust-Builders: The Remarkable Rise of Canada Trust, (Macmillan of Canada, 1989), 52.
  3. ^ An Act respecting the General Trust Corporation of Canada, and to change its name to the Canada Trust Company, SC Victoria 62-63 (1899), c. 111.
  4. ^ "Then and now: A look at TD branch transit 0001". stories.td.com. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  5. ^ "Financial Institutions Branch Directory - Banks - Numeric List" (PDF). Payments Canada. p. 176. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-26. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  6. ^ Noble, Kimberley; Hunter, Jennifer; Hawaleshka, Danylo; Geddes, John (16 August 1999). "TD Bids for Canada Trust". Maclean's. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
  7. ^ "About Our Accounts and Related Service" (PDF). TD Canada Trust. 2011-11-21. Retrieved 2012-10-05.
  8. ^ "RULE D4: Institution Number and Clearing Agency/Representative Arrangements" (PDF). Canadian Payments Association. 2011-07-25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2012-10-05.
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