BANKS AMONG CANADA’S MOST VALUABLE BRANDS

Canada’s banks are its most valuable corporate brands, with Royal Bank at the very top, according to an annual list from business consultancy Brand Finance and Report on Business Magazine. The Top 100 Canadian Brands ranking put Royal Bank’s brand value at just over $11 billion US, up from $10.28 billion last year. TD Bank, last year’s first-place finisher, came in at $10.85 billion US. Rounding out the top five were Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal and Bell. The biggest gainers this year were Desjardins, Manulife Financial Corp. and convenience chain Circle K, the U.S. fuel and convenience store chain owned by Alimentation CoucheTard, all of which made brandvalue gains of 40 per cent.