National Bank of Canada TSE: NA sees commercial banking as a major growth lever following its acquisition of Canadian Western Bank, with management pointing to integration progress, expanding product capabilities and opportunities in business succession planning across Canada.
Judith Ménard, Head of Commercial and Private Banking, said the bank’s approach to integrating Canadian Western Bank, or CWB, involved moving quickly to National Bank’s processes, platforms and branding. That decision enabled faster client conversions, she said, while the past six months have focused on data conversion and onboarding employees and clients to the bank’s cash-management platform.
“Employees were a big, big part of it,” Ménard said. “The connectivity with client, of course, was the employee, so we really wanted to get it right.”
Integration and commercial growth
Ménard said the bank is seeing the expected revenue benefits from the CWB transaction through fee income and product expansion. She said CWB employees have gained a broader “toolbox” to offer clients, including access to a larger balance sheet and additional products.
The bank has previously outlined targets of approximately CAD 300 million in expense synergies and CAD 200 million to CAD 250 million in revenue synergies. Ménard said the commercial-banking pipeline was robust as of September and that the bank was seeing early signs of loan-book growth after lending was relatively flat in the prior quarter.
She also identified deposits and cash management as growth areas. National Bank has been investing in its cash-management platform and has transferred or onboarded 99% of clients onto the new platform, according to Ménard. On the CWB side, she said the bank has completed substantial onboarding work for clients that had been awaiting cash-management capabilities.
Commercial deposit growth in the latest quarter was driven largely by government deposits related to tax payments, Ménard said. However, the bank is also growing its diversified commercial deposit base, including operational deposits linked to client businesses.
On commercial lending, Ménard said growth has been broad-based across specialty businesses, mid-market clients and larger corporations in National Bank’s legacy portfolio. She described the bank’s lending and credit-risk capabilities as strengths and said its teams are bringing a wider range of banking services to commercial clients.
National Bank plans to separately report its retail and commercial banking businesses beginning next quarter, she said. While she did not provide new return-on-equity figures, Ménard said commercial banking has been managed efficiently and is positioned to gain market share through organic growth across Canada.
Private banking and business succession
Ménard described Private Banking 1859 as a key differentiator for the bank’s commercial strategy. The unit has a net promoter score of 78, she said, and works alongside commercial bankers to serve entrepreneur clients without requiring them to navigate different parts of the organization separately.
The strategy is particularly relevant as business owners prepare for succession or sale transactions. Ménard cited an estimate that CAD 1.3 trillion of wealth could be transferred in coming years and said 60% of entrepreneurs are expected to want to sell or acquire a company, with most focused on selling.
She said National Bank has added 2,500 common clients across commercial banking and Private Banking 1859 in recent years. CWB did not have a private bank before the acquisition, making the offering an additional service for its clients, she added.
National Bank has also built teams to support business transfers. These include a private-company mergers-and-acquisitions group within capital markets, focused on helping entrepreneurs buy or sell companies, and a business-transfer team that provides lending and advisory assistance for smaller transactions. Ménard said the bank recently hired a new Western Canadian team with M&A expertise for larger transactions.
Risk, tariffs and artificial intelligence
On capital deployment, Ménard said National Bank remains conservative but intends to pursue organic growth, particularly in commercial banking. She said that strategy remains unchanged following the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions’ reduction of the domestic stability buffer by 50 basis points.
Ménard said Canadian entrepreneurs are managing uncertainty from tariffs as well as other pressures, including immigration-related issues. While clients have developed contingency plans, diversified customer bases and adjusted supply chains, she said there is “a sense of tiredness” among some business owners facing another potential period of adjustment.
She said less than 1% of National Bank’s portfolio is heavily affected by the latest round of tariffs. Manufacturing in Quebec is an area the bank is monitoring more closely, given National Bank’s significant presence in the province.
The bank has built performing provisions for 17 quarters in preparation for a potential recession, Ménard said. She noted some credit “lumpiness” in both the National Bank and CWB portfolios but did not identify a single industry as a broad source of concern.
Ménard also said artificial intelligence is being deployed across the bank rather than treated as a standalone strategy. Relationship managers and credit underwriters are using AI to support meeting preparation, industry analysis and credit documentation, while back-office applications include know-your-customer, anti-money-laundering and call-center functions. The bank has not quantified the productivity impact, she said.
Looking ahead, Ménard said National Bank aims to become the “destination of choice” for Canadian entrepreneurs through proximity to clients, speed of service and an ability to bring the full bank’s capabilities to commercial relationships.
About National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA)
With $618 billion in assets as at April 30, 2026, National Bank of Canada (the 'Bank') is one of Canada's six systemically important banks. The Bank has more than 35,000 employees in knowledge-intensive positions and operates through three business segments in Canada: Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth Management and Financial Markets. A fourth segment, U.S. Specialty Finance and International, complements the growth of its domestic operations. Its securities are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange TSX: NA.
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