The Great Canadian Banking Shift

More than one in five Canadians opened a financial product outside their primary bank in the past year. What does that mean for loyalty, retention and the battle for primacy?

Posted on: Tuesday Sep 8th 2026

Article by: Heidi Wilson

When Retention Isn’t the Same as Loyalty

In the spring of 2026, we asked over 42,000 Canadians a simple question: Have you opened a new bank account or financial product in the past 12 months?

Almost half – 46% – said yes. Canadians told us they opened at least one chequing or savings account, mortgage, loan, credit card, insurance policy, or investment product. At first glance, that might suggest a busy retail banking market, but the more revealing story lies beneath that headline.

Among those surveyed, 24% stayed with their primary financial institution, while the remaining 22% opened an account with a different provider. In other words, 22%, or more than one in five Canadians are switchers and added a financial product outside their primary bank.

stayed with their primary financial institution.

opened an account or product with a different FI.

In a mature banking market like Canada’s, that level of movement is notable. It signals behaviour that goes beyond passive comparison shopping or casual rate browsing. Many are reconsidering where, and with whom, each part of their financial life belongs.

Why chequing accounts are driving bank switching in Canada

The 2026 Environics Switching Study provides additional context. With over 20 years of tracking, this year’s study reported the highest incidence of Canadians opening a new chequing account. That matters because chequing is often the gateway to a new financial relationship.

The Switching Study

When a customer moves a chequing account the incumbent may be losing more than a transactional product. Payroll deposits flow through them, bill payments are anchored to them, and other products such as credit cards, loans, and investments often follow. In 2026, 52% of chequing switchers also changed their primary FI. And 53% were hard switchers who closed, planned to close, or reduced their use of the former account.

A new chequing account at a competitor can often represent the beginning of a primary relationship, not the end of a single-product decision. For incumbents, this is less an isolated instance of product churn than a potential shift in the structure of the customer relationship.

Canadians are curating relationships across multiple providers

The desire to hold every financial product at one institution has not disappeared, but consumers are increasingly comfortable assembling their financial lives across multiple providers. This behaviour is evident in the prevalence of soft switching, or, opening an account with a competitor without closing the original account.

In 2026, 42% of switchers were both soft and secondary switchers: they added a product elsewhere but did not change their primary institution.

From an incumbent’s perspective, it’s still possible to retain these customers. Their original accounts remain open, but be aware – their loyalty, share of wallet, and future product potential may already be eroding. The pattern is particularly pronounced in investments and lending. Soft switchers represent:

of online investment switchers.

of advised investment switchers.

of loan switchers

Customers in these categories appear to be diversifying assets, comparing advice, shopping for better rates, or testing a new provider without immediately ending an established relationship.

For incumbent FIs soft switching is an early-warning signal. For acquiring FIs it is an opportunity. Today’s partial balance or secondary account can become tomorrow’s direct deposit, investment transfer, or primary relationship.

Value is bigger than price

The broader economic environment helps explain this shift. Canadians consistently tell us they feel the pressure of a sluggish economy, whether in grocery aisles, housing costs, and a sluggish economy. In response, many households are reassessing financial decisions with a sharper lens and paying closer attention to the value they receive from each provider.

While competitive pricing, rates, or fees remain the leading unaided reasons for choosing a new FI, product or account benefits follow. Promotions, rewards, or incentives are mentioned at a lighter frequency.

But price alone does not explain switching.

When consumers were asked directly about the attributes that mattered, the highest-ranked factors included information security, transparency, low fees and ease of account management. The relative importance of these attributes varies considerably by line of business and type of institution. The larger point, however, is consistent… the winning proposition is more than a low rate or waived fee. It is an experience that feels secure, transparent, easy, and meaningfully better than the one being replaced.

Digital switching Is lowering the barriers

Canadians are also changing how they manage the switching process. Increasingly, customers can complete much of it online, reducing the administrative friction that once discouraged them from moving.

Digital onboarding has improved, account-transfer processes are becoming clearer, and competing offers are easier to compare. Switching financial institutions is no longer as cumbersome as it once was.

For years, inertia acted as a quiet moat around incumbent relationships. Customers often stayed because leaving felt inconvenient. As that friction diminishes, inertia weakens and gaps in value become harder to ignore.

This raises the stakes on both sides of the relationship. Acquirers have more opportunities to win a foothold, while incumbents have less time to identify and address early signs of disengagement.

A market in motion

All of these developments point to a banking market that is increasingly in motion. Primary relationships are increasingly more fluid, gateway accounts are more contestable, and economic pressure is reshaping how Canadians define value.

Canadian consumers are already comfortable maintaining multiple financial relationships. The competitive question is no longer whether a customer will use more than one provider. It is which institution will earn – and keep – the primary position.

Financial institutions that succeed in this environment will do more than offer competitive rates. They will communicate those rates clearly, tailor their messaging to different needs and life stages, and recognize that newcomers, young professionals, and near retirees do not respond to the same cues.

They will also treat gateway accounts as strategic footholds, rather than isolated products. More importantly, they will recognize that retention, loyalty and primacy are different measures.

When more than one in five Canadians opens a financial product outside their primary institution, clarity and relevance are no longer optional. The financial institutions best positioned for what comes next will be those that communicate value clearly, deliver it consistently, and recognize relationship erosion before an open account becomes a closed one.

Methodological notes for Canadian Financial Switching Study (CFSS):

Fieldwork ran March 19, 2026 to June 1, 2026. A general population screener was completed by 42,693 Canadian residents with invitations distributed to reflect the Canadian population by age, gender, and region. The screener identified respondents who switched a financial product in the past 12 months and served as the weighting benchmark for the final survey. In total, 5,812 qualifying switchers completed the final survey, and results were weighted by age, gender, and region to reflect the profile of qualifying switchers identified in the screener.