[2] In 1871, the Dominion Bank was launched by entrepreneurs and professionals under the leadership of James Austin with the opening of its first branch on King Street in Toronto, Ontario.

With the maturing of the Canadian economy and the opening of northern Ontario and the West in 1880s and 1890s, the banks became more aggressive in loans to resource industries, utilities, and manufacturing.

In the first decade of the twentieth century, the bank rapidly expanded their branch networks in central Canada and across the west.

To mark its rise as a significant national institution, the Dominion Bank moved to a landmark head office at King and Yonge Street in 1879.

The Dominion (Toronto-Dominion) Bank building in Calgary, Alberta, built in 1911, is on the Registry of Historical Places of Canada.