Paying Bankers More Is Cost of Canadian Lenders’ U.S. Expansion

Bank of Montreal’s push into the U.S. has proven fruitful for its employees -- and challenging for a company seeking to get its expenses under control.

Among Canada’s six largest banks, pay has grown fastest at Bank of Montreal since last decade’s financial crisis. Compensation per employee at the Toronto-based firm is up 18.6% since fiscal 2007 when adjusted for nominal wage growth, according to company filings and calculations by Bloomberg. That’s made Chief Executive Officer Darryl White’s mission to improve efficiencies more difficult.

Canada’s biggest banks are more profitable than ever, with years of low interest rates ...