The idea to form Canada's first trust company came from Sir William Mortimer Clark (1836–1915), a Scottish-born lawyer.

[1] The bill received royal assent on 2 March, thus bringing into existence Canada's first trust company.

[4] In 1881, John Woodburn Langmuir (1835–1915), Ontario's inspector for prisons and asylums, and Sir James Edgar (1841–1899), Speaker of the House of Commons, obtained the charter for Toronto General Trusts from Clark.

[5] At the year ending 31 March 1883, Toronto General held $66,667.87 in assets, and paid a seven per cent dividend to its shareholders.

In Winnipeg, Toronto General Trusts took offices in a building constructed by the Bank of Hamilton that had never been occupied.

Upon the purchase, Toronto General set up its Ottawa offices in the Scottish Ontario Chambers.

The Globe reported that "the shareholders of the Toronto General Trusts Corporation had a glimpse of the magnificence of the almost completed commercial palace at Bay and Melinda streets, which will be the future home of the company when they attended the annual meeting yesterday.

Although it is 30 years ago that the Toronto General Trusts Corporation was organized, five of the original nineteen directors were present at the meeting.

[10] During World War I, five Toronto General employees were killed overseas: L. S. Shields, C. I. Langmuir, E. R. Jarvis, H. J. Watson, and W. C. McGregor.

The suspension of construction during the war caused the company to shift its investments from mortgages to bonds and debentures.

The Montreal branch was located on the fourth floor of 210 St James Street in the heart of the city's financial district.

That same year, the Winnipeg branch moved to 283 Portage Avenue, and work began on a new building in Calgary.

Concurrently, the Toronto head office was expanded along Melinda Street, and an additional floor was added.

April 1929, the company opened a savings department and by the end of the first year had 2,300 accounts worth a total of $2 million.

By the middle of the 20th century, Canada's large trust companies were controlled by the major banks via interlocking directorates.

[12] One of Toronto General's largest holdings was the estate of Melville Ross Gooderham, which held a majority of the shares of Manulife.

[13] On 5 January 1961, the Toronto-Dominion Bank, whose agent was Wood Gundy and Company Limited, offered to purchase all outstanding shares of Toronto General Trusts at $72 per, which was 44 per cent above the trading value.

On 21 April of that year, Toronto General and the Canada Permanent Trust Company applied to merge.