The rankings of top Canadian business schools sending graduates to investment banks has been a recurring debate. However, there seems to lack objective data analysis on the topic. A former Wall Street investment banker recently published decisive rankings purely based on Wall Street and Canadian bank recruitment numbers from 2014-2019. This offers clarity based on hard facts rather than subjective assessment criteria. In terms of sending graduates to Wall Street and Canadian investment banks, Ivey Business School and Queen’s Smith School of Business are the undisputed leaders, outpacing other schools by a large margin. The core reason lies in their established long-term relationships with Wall Street top banks, which opens up specially reserved spots for them during campus recruitment.
Ivey and Queen’s far exceed peers in investment bank recruitment
The data shows Ivey Business School has a clear advantage in total investment bank recruitment among Canadian schools, supplying 80% more graduates than 2nd place Queen’s. According to the author’s communication with Chinese Wall Street recruitment, Ivey is viewed as the only Canadian target school just behind the Ivy League ones. Similarly, Ivey and Queen’s completely dominate the Canadian bank recruitment, contributing 1.5-2x graduates to the Big Six banks than runner-ups. Despite a smaller cohort size, McGill also delivers strong investment bank placement results to show its prowess in nurturing elites.
Ivey number one choice for Wall Street; Queen’s and McGill also top targets
The investment bank school classifications based on the factual data and insider feedback are: Targets (global banks’ main targets) – Ivey, Queen’s, McGill; Semi-Targets (5-15 graduates each year enter Canadian Big Six banks) – Waterloo, UBC, U of T, Rotman. Waterloo’s engineering talents are highly sought after by Sales & Trading teams despite lacking a business school. The author is optimistic on Waterloo’s future target school prospects. For non-PMF program students at UBC Sauder, investment banking opportunities are near impossible. Yet UBC is viewed favorably by London banks on par with targets.
Ivey and Queen’s offer best shot at Wall Street for aspiring students
In conclusion, the hard truth based on multi-year bank recruitment data shows Ivey and Queen’s as the top choices for Wall Street ambitions, while target and semi-target schools also offer good options for Canadian banks. For non-target school students, breaking into investment banking proves extremely difficult. The insights aim to provide an objective data-based perspective in the ongoing debate over Canadian business school rankings, considering investment banking placement as the main criterion.
The factual bank recruitment data analysis shows Ivey Business School and Queen’s Smith School of Business as the top feeder schools to Wall Street and Canadian investment banks from 2014-2019 by a large margin, cementing their strength in finance.