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![\"RUTH](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4231344_web1_260512-National-Bank-.jpg\")
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RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS <\/p>\n
National Bank president and CEO Laurent Ferreira was in Winnipeg this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a great part of the acquisition, because it brings products that we did not have at National Bank,\u201d Ferreira said. \u201cIt also brings an opportunity for us to increase the equipment finance business across the country, particularly in Quebec, where our market share in that particular segment was very, very small.\u201d<\/p>\n
National Bank now has four locations in Winnipeg and one in Brandon, including the national leasing office, and 400 local employees, up from around 100 just two years before. However, it\u2019s the second-smallest presence it has in any Canadian province (larger only than in Saskatchewan). In comparison, it has around 2,800 employees split between Alberta and British Columbia.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019re going to grow, and we\u2019re asking our clients to help us grow,\u201d Ferreira said.<\/p>\n
Ferreira also pitched the National Bank as a potential partner in plans to expand the Port of Churchill.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to be a financial institution that is going to be behind the financing need of the expansion of the port \u2026 that means to be a financial institution at the table, without conditions, to support the expansion of what could be a strategic asset for our country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
National Bank growing into the local market could be an opportunity for Manitobans, said University of Manitoba associate professor and head of the Asper School of Business marketing department Sandeep Arora.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they have hit that sweet spot where it\u2019s easier for them to gain trust of people because they\u2019ve been around for so many years, but given that they don\u2019t have a huge physical presence here in Western Canada and especially Manitoba, it lets them be more nimble,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t have the overheads that TD and CIBC and other top five big banks face, so they can be more innovative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arora pointed to National Bank being the first major bank in Canada to offer zero-commission trading as an example.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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More competition in Manitoba and more opportunities for businesses in the province to access capital is an inherently good thing, said Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Loren Remillard.<\/p>\n
But even a financial institution with a near 50-year history like National Bank may need some time to fully integrate into the province.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany (Manitobans) have decades-long relationships with chartered banks or credit unions and others. That\u2019s a challenging thing for a new entrant into the market to deal with, but it\u2019s not insurmountable,\u201d Remillard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt starts by establishing credibility, reliability that breeds trust, and that becomes the basis for a relationship. It\u2019s going to take time, but Manitoba is a good market for them to expand into, and we\u2019ll always welcome the provision of more financial services.\u201d<\/p>\n
malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Malak Abas Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg\u2019s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Reporter
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