Imperial Bank of Canada

Imperial Bank of Canada

            Founded in 1873 by Henry Stark Howland, previously Vice-President of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, the Imperial Bank of Canada was headquartered on Wellington Street in Toronto, where it opened its first location in 1875 and began emitting notes. Within the same year, it bought out the Niagara bank, thus acquiring numerous locations across southern Ontario. Following this acquisition growth continued at a slowed pace. In 1886 the Imperial Bank opened a branch in Calgary and three years later, the Bank’s first branch in Edmonton became the northernmost bank in Canada. Growth Continued into the 20^th century with the acquisition of such institutions as the Weyburn Security Bank in 1931 and Barclay’s Bank in 1956. Five years later in 1961 the Imperial Bank received approval to amalgamate with the Canadian Bank of Commerce, forming the CIBC a conglomerate with over 1200 branches and 4 billion in capital. The final batch of Imperial Bank notes was issued in 1939, consisting of 5 and 10-dollar bills.