Canada Trust

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.[1][2]

Canada Trust began in 1894 as the General Trust Corporation of Canada. In 1899, it changed its name to the Canada Trust Company. In 1901, the London, Ontario company Huron and Erie Savings and Loan Society, which had been founded in 1864, purchased Canada Trust and began operating it as a subsidiary. 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; 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 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.[3] 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).[4][5]