Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation - History

History

The Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation was created 4 March 1967 (under Schedule III, Part 1 of the Financial Administration Act and Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act). It is similar to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the United States. Since 1967, 43 financial institutions have failed in Canada and all 43 were members of CDIC. There have been no failures since 1996.

The roots of the CDIC can be traced back to the 19th century, such as the Upper Canada’s financial problems of 1866, the North American panic of 1872 and the 1923 failure of Toronto’s Home Bank, symbolized today by Casa Loma. Historically in Canada regional risk has always been spread nationally within each large bank, unlike the uneven geography of US unit banking, layered with savings & loans of regional or national size, who in turn disperse their risk through investors. The Canadian banking system is regulated in part by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions who can, in an extreme case, close a financial institution. Alongside Canada’s mortgage rules, the risk of bank failures similar to the US are slim, but not impossible.

The original amount of insurance per eligible deposit account was $20,000. This was raised to $60,000 in 1983. The present $100,000 in coverage was changed in 2005 from per eligible deposit account to per depositor.