Big Six bank eyes Calgary for Western Canada wealth plans

“We’re expanding the financial planning business and Calgary has the highest population of post-secondary educated people,” Mak told the Herald. “We think there’s huge opportunities for diversifying in Calgary … it’s more efficient, gives us business continuity.”

With twenty-four associates already hired, the Calgary wealth hub joins two others in Toronto and Montreal. Mak says TD currently employs 1,000 financial planners coast to coast.

Ensuring language diversity is another goal for the location, she added, as the bank seeks to shore up its advisor force with Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking financial planning associates to reflect its client base.

Patrick Mattern, vice-president of business development with Calgary Economic Development, heralded the move as a sign of confidence in the city’s economy. “Establishing a TD wealth hub in Calgary is more validation of the momentum we are seeing in our financial ecosystem,” Mattern told the Herald in an email.

Mak said TD’s expansion of its financial planning services is a reaction to fiscal uncertainties unleashed by the pandemic and other pressures.