In a financial climate that remains uneasy, with many countries still teetering on the edge of an economic abyss, Canadian banks continue to be solid, reliable performers. The country's 'big six' lenders have all achieved good results recently – from the largest lender in the country, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), which posted a net income for the first quarter of 2011 and showed year-on-year increases of 23%, to the smaller National Bank of Canada, which achieved a record net income of C$312m ($324m) in the first quarter of 2011, a 45% increase on its 2010 results.
The other big six banks are Scotiabank, Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank, Bank of Montreal and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which in 2010 suffered losses from its structured credit business, but still posted a first-quarter net income of C$799m, 22.5% up on the previous year.
