If a Canadian bank fails, how much do you get back?

“Money in the bank” is a phrase that conveys security. But what happens when the bank fails? That’s a question that was brought home last week when U.S. authorities shut down California-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) after a bank run left the US$200 billion lender without enough funds to cover its obligations. So what would happen to your money if a Canadian bank suffered the same fate? The Financial Post’s Naimul Karim looked into it.

The short answer is probably. In Canada, bank deposits are guaranteed by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), a federal Crown corporation established in 1967. The CDIC currently safeguards about $1 trillion in eligible deposits at more than 80 member institutions, but there’s a catch: the amount depositors can get back is capped at $100,000 per category of deposit, per financial institution.