The Bank of Toronto was founded in 1855 by a group of grain millers and merchants who needed a financial institution that understood agricultural commodity financing in a way that the Bank of Montreal — distant and oriented toward trade finance rather than grain credit — did not provide. The Dominion Bank received its charter in 1869 and opened in 1871 as a more broadly focused commercial bank. The 1955 merger that created the Toronto-Dominion Bank combined two institutions that had operated independently for a century, creating the second-largest bank in Canada with a combined history stretching to the pre-Confederation era.
The postwar Canadian banking environment rewarded conservatism and domestic market depth — the chartered bank oligopoly that Canada's banking regulation created meant that aggressive competition for deposits or loans was unnecessary and that growth came from the expanding Canadian economy rather than from market share competition among the major banks. TD built its branch network across Ontario and then nationally through this period, acquiring regional institutions and expanding its retail presence without taking the credit risks that periodically damaged more aggressive competitors.
The 1992 acquisition of Central Guaranty Trust, one of the largest trust company failures in Canadian history, added assets and distribution at distressed prices — a pattern TD would return to with the Commerce Bancorp acquisition in 2007 that built the American retail banking presence that eventually became the source of the AML problems. Commerce Bank's "America's most convenient bank" brand — featuring 7-days-a-week branches and extended evening hours — was the product that TD bought and the reputation it built its American franchise on.
The Canada Trust acquisition in 2000 was TD's most significant domestic transaction, adding the largest trust company in Canada and the green TD brand identity that remains the most recognized consumer banking brand in Canada. The Cowen Inc. Acquisition in 2023 added U.S. Capital markets capabilities, representing the final significant acquisition before the AML crisis forced a full strategic pause on American expansion.