The Canadian government has been partners in turning the Canadian banks into major global players for decades. The banks are protected from foreign ownership unlike just about every other Canadian business sector. Decades ago they made it possible for the Canadian Trust company sector to be publicly traded and within 10 years every significant Trust cashed out to the big Canadian banks. There has never been a larger cavern between the lending and saving rates. If they were allowed, they would have negative saving rates, it may yet happen.
Surely like me, some of you have had to beat your bank off with a stick from pushing line of credit and other credit traps on you. There was a time I was getting called and mailed to start a line of credit weekly. They'd mail me blank cheques with my name and address attached to my credit card that I had to escalate just to stop.
The 2nd last time I went into the bank I've used since I was 10 for something they insisted they had to see me in person for, the rep with an office and name plate bald face lied that he couldn't do a funds transfer to another institution. Not only that, after I called him on it because I knew I could, he doubled down with a "I'll talk to my boss", called me back and said he couldn't do it. I had to waste several more hours just forcing "my bank" to do their job completing a routine RRSP funds transfer.
What other Canadian business has its debt (our deposits in the banks) underwritten by the federal government?