Globalive-backed lender eyes fintechs spurned by Canada’s Big Six as total assets top $1 billion
Wealth One Bank of Canada has completed a $50-million capital raise and set its sights on a further $150 million, positioning the Globalive Corp.-backed institution as the preferred banking partner for the fintech sector Canada’s Big Six have largely overlooked.
The round closed Aug. 31, led by Globalive, the Toronto-based investment firm whose chairman, Anthony Lacavera, spearheaded the consortium that acquired the federally chartered Schedule I bank in July 2025.
Most existing investors, including Dominion Lending Centres Inc. co-founders Chris Kayat and Gary Mauris, Beedie Capital, and wealth-management firm Optimize Financial Group, increased their stakes. Six additional investors participated, pending regulatory approvals.
Betting on the fintech banking gap
The strategy targets a persistent structural gap in Canada’s financial services market.
Fintech companies can deliver consumer financial products more efficiently than traditional banks, but they lack the federal licences required to accept deposits. That regulatory constraint forces them into partnerships with chartered institutions, and Wealth One believes it can fill that role in ways the incumbents won’t.
“They are just chronically underserved by the major banks,” Lacavera said. “They just don’t get the same level of service. So that’s where we can really step up.”
John Webster, Wealth One’s chief executive officer and a former Bank of Nova Scotia executive, is pursuing those fintech partnerships across both Canada and the United States.
“We want to be the bank of the fintechs,” he said.
The development has practical relevance for Canadian mortgage brokers tracking the lender landscape. As Tanya Woods of Questrade Financial Group told Canadian Mortgage Professional earlier in 2026, “The fact that Canadians might be able to see their entire financial picture on a single dashboard one day is very exciting because they will have a much greater sense of what they can afford and where the opportunities in their financial picture are.”
That appetite for integrated financial data is channelling fintech demand toward licensed banking partners, a shift captured in an analysis of how the open-banking era is reshaping broker competitive strategy.
Growth from a contested starting point
The bank’s expansion since the July 2025 acquisition has been measurable. Total assets climbed from roughly $570 million at the time of the deal to approximately $1.1 billion by September, according to investor materials.
Residential lending grew 69% year over year through June.
Webster expects profitability by mid-2027. Lacavera is seeking a further $150 million from investors in Europe and the United States, with a roadshow currently underway in London.
“We have really big ambitions to get it to $10-billion in assets and then list the bank in Canada,” he said.
One complication remains. Ottawa forced out three original Wealth One shareholders in 2023 over alleged ties to the Chinese government, and Webster acknowledged the residual burden on the new ownership team.
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