TIMELINE
1976: Banca Commerciale Italiana (BCI) representative office opened in Toronto.
1981: Banca Commerciale Italiana of Canada, a BCI subsidiary, founded.
1991: Istituto Bancario San Paolo (IBSP) representative office opened in Toronto.

In the latter half of the twentieth century it become increasingly important for banks to establish a presence in Canada, due to the growing numbers of Italian and other immigrant communities there and the country's positive economic development and strategic position in the Americas.
The banks entered the country in accordance with its banking laws, which allowed foreign banking institutions to be present there only through subsidiaries or representative offices, prohibiting the opening of branches. In 1976 Banca Commerciale Italiana (BCI) set up a representative office in Toronto, which by the 1970s and ‘80s - following the growing separatist movement in Quebec that had spurred most of the Canada's establishment to relocate there from Montreal - had become the country's most important city. Istituto Bancario San Paolo (IBSP) opened its own representative office there in 1991.
In 1981 BCI decided to bolster its Canadian presence by establishing a subsidiary, Banca Commerciale Italiana of Canada, alongside its representative office. Created through the transformation of a pre-existing financial company, BCI Finance Ltd., the bank was renamed Intesa Bank Canada after the Intesa Group came into being; it was acquired by HSBC in 2004.