Canada’s ‘Big Five’ see loan-loss provisions halve in Q4

Canadian lenders had reason for cheer at the end of a financial year marred by the Covid-19 pandemic, as the amount of income they had to set aside to cover loan losses fell 52% in the three months to end-October.

Provisions for credit losses (PCL) across the country’s ‘Big Five’ banks – BMO, RBC, Scotiabank, TD and CIBC – totalled C$3.2 billion ($2.5 billion) for the quarter, compared with C$6.6 billion during Q3 and C$10.1 billion in Q2.

While the figure marks a 13% increase on the Q4 2019