Ontario Bank was an early bank operating in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. It began operations in 1857 and was last listed as a member of the

Canadian Bankers Association The Canadian Bankers Association (CBA; french: Association des banquiers canadiens) is a trade association and lobby group representing Canadian banks. Its over 60 members include Canada's Big Five banks, smaller domestic banks, and Canadian sub ...

in 1901. The bank was founded in

Bowmanville Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Ontario, Clarington, Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately east of Toronto, and east of Oshawa along ...

, Ontario by John Simpson, a local resident and a former bank manager for the town's

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...

branch. Simpson later became one of Canada's first senators. Simpson opened the bank's first branch in Bowmanville in 1857. In 1861 the impressive Toronto branch was built and by 1868 a limestone and brick head office building had been built in Bowmanville. In 1875, the head office was moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. The bank and its 30 branches across the province were absorbed into the

in the fall of 1906, after its general manager Charles McGill was found to have been speculating in the U.S. stock markets with bank funds and sustained an estimated $1.25 million in losses from ill-timed short sales. McGill was convicted of filing false tax returns and sentenced to a five-year prison term early in 1907.

References

* Mayers, Adam.
The Ontario Bank's 1906 Collapse
'.

The Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

. 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2008-07-02. * Charles Peers Davidson "A Compilation Of The Statutes Passed Since Confederation Relating To Banks And Banking, Government And Other Savings Banks, Promissory Notes And Bills," BiblioLife , January 10, 2010 *Anyan, Kevin and Taws, Charles. "Ontario Bank: Bowmanville's Own Bank". ''Bowmanville: 150 Years 150 Stories'', Bowmanville Sesquicentennial Committee, 2008. Defunct banks of Canada Bank of Montreal Banks established in 1857 Banks disestablished in 1906 1857 establishments in Ontario 1906 disestablishments in Ontario 1906 mergers and acquisitions {{Canada-corp-stub