Date Published:
June 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Eastern Townships Bank

Eastern Townships Bank, a bank chartered in 1855, and organized in 1859, with headquarters in Sherbrooke. It was essentially a local bank, and no branch was opened except in the Eastern Townships until 1895, when abranch was established in St. Hyacinthe. In 1898, however, a policy of expansion was adopted, and a branch was opened at Grand Forks, British Columbia, to be followed by others in western Canada. In 1911, however, the Canadian Bank of Commerce, which was eager to extend its business in the province of Quebec, offered to buy the Eastern Townships Bank on terms of parity; and the directors accepted this offer, thinking it better to do so than to embark on a competitive warfare with other banks in the western field. See V. Ross, A history of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, with an account of the other banks which now form part of its organization, vol. i (Toronto, 1920).

Source  : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada , 1948, 411p., pp. 257-258.