This Alberta bank has been on an acquisition spree in Canada — and it's not finished

Underneath the crystal lights of a downtown Calgary boardroom, Chris Turchansky sports dress socks a shade of ATB Financial blue as he lays out his strategy for the storied Alberta bank.

Backed by double‑digit revenue growth, ATB’s new chief executive says the bank is looking outside its home province for investment opportunities.

“Alberta is critically important to us. It’s home. It will always be home,” Turchansky said. “We see growth opportunities outside (Alberta) to not only diversify, but also to help create and open up new markets for us, which is really important.”

His ascension comes just months after ATB made its first-ever investment in a new cryptocurrency, which is set to launch sometime this year. A recent acquisition spree also brought financial institutions based in Toronto and Winnipeg under ATB’s wing.

Born in rural Alberta, Turchansky has taken the helm of a Crown corporation that has amassed over $100 billion in total assets, much smaller than Canada’s Big Six banks, whose assets get into the trillions.

Still, one banking expert points out that ATB’s portfolio is nothing to scoff at — especially if you look at the firm’s assets under management.

Cristián Bravo, a professor at Western University and the Canada research chair in banking, says the smallest of the Big Six, National Bank, has an investment arm worth over $100 billion.

“They will be pretty much identical to ATB,” Bravo said. “However, when you take a look at (National Bank’s) total assets, those are 600 billion. You see — major difference — but the rest is lending.”

ATB has not set out to compete directly with the Big Six, according to Turchansky.

“We will never be able to, nor is it the right strategy to try and ‘out big-bank’ one of the big banks,” Turchansky said. “What we do feel, though, is we have an opportunity to leverage our size and scale . . . and the agility that provides: the ability to adapt to changing market conditions and to create customized solutions.”

ATB still Alberta-centric, but expanding

Originally called Alberta Treasury Branches, ATB was founded as the province’s response to Eastern Canadian banks pulling capital out of the West during The Great Depression. The first branch opened in 1938 at Rocky Mountain House, west of Red Deer.

“The government knew the importance of having a bank to support Albertans and Alberta businesses,” Turchansky said of the bank’s origins.

But in recent years, ATB has made multiple high-profile acquisitions outside of its home base, including its takeovers of Toronto-based investment firm Cormark Securities Inc. last year and Winnipeg-based portfolio manager BCV Asset Management Inc. in 2024.

The BCV deal brought another $5.8 billion in assets under ATB’s roof, while Cormark will allow the Alberta bank to enhance services in sectors it doesn’t have a strong presence in, according to Turchansky.

“BCV, it’s slightly different,” he said. “It provided a way to expand our wealth management nationally . . . They also brought other capabilities in terms of a uniqueness to how they manage money.”

All the while, ATB has maintained course on its Alberta-centric mission. In the past five years alone, its book of energy investments has grown by over $5.2 billion, supporting a sector that’s been “critical” to the bank, Turchansky said.

“We also look at the agriculture sector here in the province,” he said. “We look at that industry, (which) continues to evolve and expand. How do we show up, whether that’s in agri-foods or different aspects of agriculture — so critically important.”

Alberta’s growing tech sector is also something ATB has its sights on for investment.

Born and raised in Devon, southwest of Edmonton, Turchansky has spent nearly three decades honing his financial services chops, first through several years at Royal Bank of Canada and later at ATB, where he started within the bank’s investment services arm in 2005.

He’s risen through the ranks, taking the mantle of chief executive after former head Curtis Stange announced his retirement late last year, following 16 years with the organization.

Turchansky lives in Edmonton with his wife and two kids, but drove out to ATB’s Calgary office the night before his first media interview — narrowly avoiding what was perhaps Alberta’s worst snowstorm of the season so far in mid-December.

‘Tremendous opportunity’: ATB invests in Alberta-based crypto company

Meanwhile, last September, ATB made its first-ever investment in a stablecoin, a type of cryptocurrency that’s anchored to real Canadian dollars.

ATB invested in the Alberta-based crypto company, Tetra Digital Group, alongside a host of other financial services firms, including National Bank, Wealthsimple Financial Corp. and Shopify Inc.

“A few years back, we understood that the crypto market itself was starting to emerge and to grow, and we saw a tremendous opportunity,” Turchansky said.

Tetra has become the first fully regulated purveyor of a virtual Canadian dollar, in the form of the CAD Digital stablecoin. It conducted a series of test transactions in December and is expected to launch early this year.

“I think what you’re going to see is stablecoin will continue to grow,” Turchansky said. “You’re starting to hear more and more companies talk about the importance of stablecoin; you’re seeing regulators talk about it.”

But crypto critics warn these digital payments still come with risks. Research published by the Bank of Canada flagged possible stability concerns, including the risk that customers suddenly lose confidence in the token and withdraw their money en masse, potentially threatening its very existence.

Turchansky said ATB’s investment in Tetra is about staying at the centre of potentially industry-changing innovations in the financial services sector.

Even though the new digital currency is set to launch early in 2026, it’s not something they’re looking at as a short-term game, according to Turchansky.

“Sometimes it will take longer before it takes off, sometimes that adoption curve is really short,” he said. “For us, it’s really about how do we secure these partnerships — that have been really important — and get an understanding of where the industry is going.”

Speaking of partnerships, he wouldn’t disclose when ATB might pursue more acquisitions inside Alberta or beyond, but he’s thinking big.

“How do we take a great offering (of banking services) that’s really resonated here in the province and expand outside of the province?” Turchansky said. “(It) allows us to diversify our revenue; it allows us to diversify some of the risk, which is critically important.”

swilhelm@postmedia.com