Upper Canada expansion

The bank’s expansion temporarily slowed in 1824, when its offices in Upper Canada were closed following legislation outlawing branches of banks whose head offices were outside Upper Canada. The bank worked around the legislation in 1838 by purchasing Toronto-based Bank of the People. It wasn’t until 1842 that banks could freely establish branches in both halves of the newly united Province of Canada. As a result of that change, the bank opened offices in Cobourg, Belleville, Brockville and Ottawa, paralleling the growth of Canada’s transportation networks and the development of its natural resources, notably timber.