Canadian banking news — Laurentian Bank Closes Quebec Branches for good on Friday, November 6, shutting all 55 locations at 4 p.m. and switching off debit cards, ATMs, the mobile app and online banking in the same moment, ending 180 years of retail banking in Quebec.
By Maplestime Business Desk | Montreal, Quebec | November 7, 2026
Sources: Montreal Gazette | National Bank | Last updated: November 7, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Laurentian Bank Closes Quebec Branches permanently — all 55 locations shut at 4 p.m. on Friday, November 6, 2026, after 180 years in business.
- Debit cards, ATMs, the mobile app and LBCDirect online banking stopped working at the same time, leaving customers without routine transactions over the weekend.
- The split sale announced December 2, 2025 closed November 1: Fairstone Bank acquired Laurentian in a deal valued at about $1.9 billion, while National Bank took over its personal and small-business banking portfolios.
- National Bank debit cards and ATMs become available to transferred customers on Monday, November 9. Laurentian Visa credit cards keep working throughout.
- Laurentian continues as a specialized commercial bank under its existing name, headquartered in Montreal. None of the 55 branches will reopen as National Bank locations.
A 180-Year Run Ends at 4 P.M.
Laurentian Bank began in 1846 as the Montreal City and District Savings Bank. For 180 years it was the bank on the corner for generations of Quebecers, a homegrown institution that outlasted recessions, mergers and the slow consolidation of Canadian banking into a handful of national giants.
That run ended at 4 p.m. on Friday, November 6. All 55 branches closed their doors for the last time, and at the same moment Laurentian debit cards, ATMs, the mobile app and LBCDirect online banking stopped working. Customers who needed cash or a routine transaction over the weekend were simply out of luck until Monday.
The timing was no accident. The closure is the final step in the split sale announced on December 2, 2025, a deal that closed on November 1 and carved the old bank in two.
The $1.9-Billion Split Sale
Fairstone Bank acquired Laurentian in a deal valued at about $1.9 billion, or $40.50 per share in cash. National Bank, meanwhile, took over Laurentian’s personal and small-business banking portfolios, and it is National Bank that transferred customers are moving to.
What remains of Laurentian is a smaller, specialized commercial bank, keeping its existing name and its Montreal headquarters. The retail bank that Quebecers knew is gone. None of the 55 branches will reopen as National Bank locations.
Related: Best Mortgage Refinancing Strategies Canadians Need In 2025
Laurentian Bank Closes Quebec Branches — What Customers Need to Know
For transferred customers, the practical picture is this: National Bank debit cards and ATMs become available on Monday, November 9. Laurentian Visa credit cards keep working throughout the transition, so cardholders are not cut off entirely. Full migration of retail and small-business products is expected by late 2026.
That still leaves a weekend gap, and a longer adjustment, for people who banked at Laurentian for decades. Branches were where many of them did their banking in person, with staff they knew by name. Those relationships do not transfer with an account number.
“It Hurts”: One Customer’s Last Visit
Claudette Blanchard, a Laurentian customer for 31 years, visited her Plateau-Mont-Royal branch for the last time on Friday. “It causes me enormous pain. They were more than employees. There was a wonderful atmosphere and they looked after our interests,” she said.
“But after 31 years of good service, it’s difficult. It hurts.”
Her words will sound familiar to anyone who has watched a local institution disappear into a national one. The deal made sense on paper. The loss is felt in person.
What Happens Next
Monday, November 9 is the first real test. Transferred customers get their National Bank debit cards and ATMs, and the migration of retail and small-business products continues toward completion by late 2026. Laurentian, as a specialized commercial bank, carries on under its old name from Montreal.
But the branch network is finished. Laurentian Bank Closes Quebec Branches for good, and no National Bank sign will replace the ones coming down. A bank founded before Confederation, built branch by branch across Quebec, is now a name on a commercial banking licence. That is the story of Canadian banking in one weekend: bigger, more distant, and one familiar door fewer on the street.
Maplestime will provide updates from the Laurentian Bank branch closures as announcements are made.
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Do you think Quebec is better off with its hometown bank gone, or did 180 years of loyalty deserve a better ending than a locked door on a Friday afternoon? Tell us in the comments. And share this with every Canadian who still banks where their grandparents did.
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