A Special Feature from CBC Radio One 99.1 FM

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Canada's banking system is the safest in the world - that according to no less an authority than the World Economic Forum. Suddenly, the good, grey, conservative culture of Canadian banks looks like the hottest thing in financing. Britain, which once ranked in the top five, slipped to 44th place, and the United States fell to 40, just behind Germany.

In our series, Bank Town, we explore the history behind Canadian banks' stellar reputation and ask what the implications are for Toronto as a banking headquarters.

"Canadian bankers are very much back in style," says Richard Jones, a veteran of insolvency and restructuring law at the Toronto firm, Aylesworth LLP. "The thinner those pinstripes, the whiter the shirts, that's suddenly in style."

Time for a Change?

But Canadian banks are also suffering loan losses and are seeing share prices drop. Jones says that means Canadian bankers are being ultra-conservative about their lending practices.

Our Stories

Our series asks how that caution is affecting Toronto businesses and entrepreneurs struggling to get financing for routine business transactions.

Kash Sood, Ranka Enterprises
Listen to the interview (Runs 7:05)

Garment manufacturer Kash Sood, head of Ranka Enterprises, with a head office in Toronto and a factory in Shanghai, puts it bluntly: "I have people - contractors - walk in almost every second day telling me, "my bank has cut me off, I need some cash, can you pay me this invoice, take five per cent off. And I need those guys as much as they need me." (More about Kash Sood)

But there are also advantages for Toronto as a banking headquarters. On Bank Town, former finance minister Janet Ecker, now president of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance, reminds us that thousands of jobs depend on the financial sector - from well-paid jobs at banks, law firms, consulting and insurance companies to the printing companies, taxi cabs and couriers which support the industry. We find out about a campaign to exploit Toronto's role as one of the top three financial clusters in North America in order to become more competitive globally.

Richard B. Jones, Aylesworth LLP
Listen to the interview (Runs 7:17)

Bank Town also looks at the business schools that supply Toronto's financial sector with an enormous talent pool, from Rotman's School of Management and the Schulich School of Business at York - to the growing business programs at Ryerson, George Brown and Seneca College.

Above all, Bank Town explores the very human side of economics. As Jones says, the economy is like "the most complex circulatory system you can imagine - with money flowing through it, from $1.50 for a cup of coffee, to millions, billions of dollars. And banks play a vital role in that."

Your Stories

We'd like to hear your stories about the role banks play in your life. Do you believe that the reputation of Canadian banks is going to help Toronto weather the current economic climate? How confident are you about the future of the economy?

If you need cheering up, imagine that you're a banker with deep pockets and decide which of these three local companies you'd invest in.

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