Canadian lender doubles down on advice-led banking in California and Arizona
BMO Financial Group deepened its push into the US West with plans to open more than 130 new financial centres in California and about 15 in Arizona over the next five years, a bricks‑and‑mortar bet aimed squarely at advice‑hungry retail, small business and wealth clients.
The move followed BMO’s October 2025 decision to sell 138 branches in smaller Midwestern and Plains markets. The bank aims to sharpen its focus on long‑term growth regions such as California, where it already operates more than 220 financial centres. It also plans to lift that footprint by more than 50%.
“Our commitment to our clients and communities is at the core of each decision we make,” Aron Levine, president of BMO US, said in the latest announcement.
“These financial centers provide our clients more opportunity to meet face to face with our teams to discuss their goals for their business and personal financial lives, build trusted relationships, and receive personalized guidance that helps them make real financial progress.”
“These new locations are designed as modern financial advice hubs, bringing together personal and business banking, commercial banking, and wealth management to support clients’ full financial lives,” BMO said.
The bank added that the expansion “represents a significant long term investment in local communities and is expected to support hundreds of jobs over the next five years.”
The first seven California openings in 2026 are slated for three in Greater Los Angeles, two in the Bay Area and two in San Diego, markets where affluent households, small businesses and cross‑border Canadians typically drove demand for complex mortgage, real estate and wealth solutions.
The buildout came on the heels of BMO’s 2023 acquisition of Bank of the West, described as a deal that added nearly 2 million customers, 500 retail branches, and commercial and wealth offices across the Midwest and Western United States.
Canadian lenders are increasingly favouring organic US expansion, branch optimisation and advice‑led models over further big-ticket takeovers, even as they continue to use tools such as synthetic risk transfers to manage capital tied to commercial and mortgage books.
BMO Financial Group reported first‑quarter net income of $2.489 billion for the period ended January 31, up from $2.138 billion a year earlier.
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