mining legal and business resources on canadian banking

Given the distinct nature of the Canadian banking system, it is important for novice researchers to know which business and legal resources to consult in order to quickly find information that is particular to Canadian banking. However, there are very few articles or monographs in the library literature that describe how to find information sources exclusively on this subject from a Canadian perspective. Most available publications tend to specialize in sources for the US banking and Federal Reserve System with little attention to Canada. The paper begins with a brief introduction to Canadian banking. From there, the authors demonstrate where researchers can find primary sources such as legislation, regulations and case law. In addition, this article identifies and discusses the different types of information found on the websites of associations and government agencies such as the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, which supervises and regulates various areas of Canada’s financial system. Also discussed are secondary sources such as industry research and reports that are available from reliable websites and subscription-based resources. This paper also explores the best business and legal databases for researchers. Based on results from searching in periodical directories and indexes, the paper additionally provides a description of the most pertinent academic, trade and general publications relevant to the Canadian banking system and where their contents are indexed.