🍁 Net Interest Margin Calculated by WOWA Data Labs
NIM measures a bank's net interest income relative to its average interest-earning assets. As of Q4 2025, the weighted average NIM of Canada's Big Five banks is 1.69%.
Note: Quarterly net interest income is annualized (×4) using average earning assets. Figures may differ slightly from banks' reported results, as they are independently calculated by WOWA Data Labs.
🔹NIM ≠ Everything
While NIM is a major factor in bank profitability, other key elements include:
- Operating costs: Leaner banks with lower non-interest expenses (e.g., salaries, operations) can increase profits even with a low NIM.
- Non-interest income: Fees, trading, and wealth management revenue boost earnings.
- Credit risks: Higher risks can bring higher rewards (higher NIM), but also may increase defaults, PCLs and ACLs.
🔹Key Insights:
- 1️⃣ Pre-pandemic weighted avg. NIM was ~1.8% (2015-2019) but declined to ~1.55% post-COVID, reflecting intensified competition for deposit and loan rates. It has been climbing up since Q2 2024, reaching 1.69% in Q4 2025.
- 2️⃣ U.S. giants like JPMorgan, Bank of America & Citi reported higher NIMs (2.08% to 2.61%) due to riskier loan mixes (e.g., more business loans), though with higher default risk.
🔹NIM - Q4 2025:
- TD: 1.83%
- BMO: 1.69%
- RBC: 1.63%
- Scotiabank: 1.63%
- CIBC: 1.61%
Write-offs as % of Gross Loans + Acceptance
- Scotiabank: 0.13%
- TD: 0.10%
- BMO: 0.10%
- RBC: 0.10%
- CIBC: 0.07%
Net Interest Margin — Big 5 Banks (Q4 2023 – Q4 2025)
| Quarter ▲ | CIBC | BMO | Scotiabank | TD | RBC | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 2023 | 1.45% | 1.68% | 1.44% | 1.75% | 1.52% | 1.58% |
| Q1 2024 | 1.44% | 1.58% | 1.45% | 1.73% | 1.42% | 1.53% |
| Q2 2024 | 1.43% | 1.48% | 1.44% | 1.70% | 1.47% | 1.52% |
| Q3 2024 | 1.50% | 1.52% | 1.48% | 1.71% | 1.59% | 1.58% |
| Q4 2024 | 1.51% | 1.71% | 1.50% | 1.73% | 1.69% | 1.65% |
| Q1 2025 | 1.51% | 1.64% | 1.54% | 1.67% | 1.61% | 1.60% |
| Q2 2025 | 1.50% | 1.56% | 1.56% | 1.72% | 1.60% | 1.60% |
| Q3 2025 | 1.60% | 1.71% | 1.65% | 1.84% | 1.62% | 1.64% |
| Q4 2025 | 1.61% | 1.69% | 1.63% | 1.83% | 1.63% | 1.69% |
Note: Quarterly net interest income is annualized (×4) using average earning assets. Figures may differ slightly from banks' reported results, as they are independently calculated by WOWA Data Labs.
Sources: Banks' Quarterly Financial Reports, WOWA Data Labs
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