Planned closure of TD call centre raises questions about corporate subsidies in New Brunswick [video]

Toronto-Dominion Bank won’t say how many workers will be affected by the planned closure of a call centre that it established in Dieppe just six years ago with millions of dollars in government subsidies supposedly intended for job creation.

A spokesperson for the Bay Street giant says it isn’t disclosing those numbers because the bank is “actively working to redeploy colleagues” within the multinational finance company.

But earlier this year, TD announced plans to eliminate about two per cent of its workforce, raising questions about how many positions will be left for laid-off employees — and how many will even have the option to remain in New Brunswick.

A spokesperson for TD, the second-largest Canadian bank by assets, says it’s “committed to the province” and that various other banking operations will continue in the Dieppe facility after the call centre closes in the spring.

But the story throws into question financial assistance schemes that governments use to lure massively profitable companies like TD into the province. Even so, Opportunities NB continues to provide additional subsidies to the bank worth millions.

TD ‘not disclosing’ job numbers

When news broke about the planned closure, CTV reported that TD was “unable to provide a number of job losses because the bank is actively working with its colleagues to find them opportunities within the company.” The Telegraph-Journal noted similar assurances from TD.

But in its second quarterly earnings report in May, the bank announced plans for an “approximate two per cent workforce reduction,” part of a restructuring program meant to save $100 million this fiscal year.

The workforce reductions follow a major scandal in the United States, where the bank pled guilty to multiple charges last year, including conspiracy to commit to money laundering. The U.S. Department of Justice and other regulators ordered the bank to pay a total of US $3.09 billion in fines.

It’s unclear whether those penalties are directly related to the current job-slashing efforts — and the planned closure of the Dieppe call centre — or whether it’s just another example of banks rationalizing their operations to maximize profits.

TD Bank Group says it employs more than 95,000 people worldwide, meaning the bank intends to shed close to 2,000 jobs. Does the Dieppe call centre closure represent part of TD’s overall workforce reduction efforts?

Natasha Ferrari, a spokesperson for the bank, didn’t respond directly to that question. In an email statement, she said: “We regularly assess our operations to ensure they are optimized and connected to the evolving needs of our clients and business and can confirm we will be closing the day-to-day call centre at 43 Champlain Street.”

She said TD employs a total of 2,000 people across New Brunswick but wouldn’t say how many of them work at the ill-fated call centre. “We are not disclosing as we are actively working to redeploy colleagues.”

‘Up to 575 jobs’

In 2017, the provincial government announced that TD would open a “new business services centre” expected to create “up to 575 full-time jobs over a six-year period.”

The Liberal government of the day led by then-premier Brian Gallant announced that TD would be eligible for $9 million in financial assistance, including a “forgivable loan” from Opportunities NB worth up to $6.8 million for capital spending.

The deal also included $2.1 million from the Department of Post-Secondary Education for wage subsidies meant to support permanent, full-time jobs and another $150,000 through a federal-provincial grant program for training.

Under the terms of the $6.8 million forgivable loan, TD was expected to receive $2 million after signing a lease, $2.4 million once employees began taking calls, and a final $2.4 million once 200 full-time employees were working at the facility.

It’s unclear when the call centre was expected to reach “575 jobs.”

The NB Media Co-op requested an interview with Luke Randall, Minister responsible for ONB. In response, the Crown corporation provided a statement attributed to the Minister.

It said, in part, that TD did not achieve “full forgiveness” for the $6.8 million loan and “and has since repaid $1.2 million to meet the terms of the agreement.”

The statement didn’t specify how many jobs were ultimately created with the other $5.6 million, but the Minister defended the corporate subsidy scheme.

“Over six years, the investment in the Call Centre created $67.8 million in total payroll for the province and contributed an estimated $153.5 million to New Brunswick’s GDP,” the statement said, without providing details about how those figures were calculated.

“Without partnerships like these, many of these high-value roles and the associated economic activity would likely have occurred in other jurisdictions.”

One expired job posting from earlier this year advertised a salary of between $43,900 and $58,600 for a full-time “contact centre representative” for TD in Dieppe. That falls below the average income in New Brunswick, which reached $59,000 by 2023, according to Statistics Canada.

Subsidies up, investment down

Federal business subsidies grew from $14 billion in 2015 to $33 billion in 2024, according to Laurent Carbonneau, author of At the Trough: The Rise and Rise of Canada’s Corporate Welfare Bums.

And while profit margins increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, overall investment has stalled, according to Silas Xuereb, an economist and policy analyst with the non-profit Canadians for Tax Fairness.

He noted that subsidies from the Government of New Brunswick amount to a “drop in the bucket” for companies like TD. Indeed, the bank had more than $2.1 trillion in assets by the end of April.

He suggested government could make better use of money earmarked for subsidies by creating public sector jobs in areas such as climate retrofitting.

Corporations tend to “pit different jurisdictions against each other,” resulting in a “race to the bottom on tax policy,” he added.

“We need, I think, municipalities and provinces to work together and to set standards and to say, none of us are going to go below X corporate tax rate. None of us are going to give these giant subsidies away.”

Province continues to subsidize TD

TD has received millions in additional financial assistance from the Government of New Brunswick in recent years — and some of those subsidies are ongoing.

In 2018, Opportunities NB announced that it would give TD an additional $8.8 million forgivable loan to establish a “new finance operations centre,” also located at the Dieppe facility, expected to create “up to 440 highly skilled finance jobs.”

TD has now “achieved full forgiveness” for that loan, according to ONB.

And last year, the Conservative government of then-premier Blaine Higgs quietly issued an order-in-council giving TD a payroll subsidy worth $2.7 million over four years.

That money will subsidize an undisclosed number of jobs at TD’s finance operations centre. “The company will have until the end of 2027 to fulfill the terms of that agreement,” according to ONB.

TD’s profits reached $3.34 billion in the third quarter this year alone.

Meanwhile, Canada’s “big six” banks — BMO, CIBC, National Bank, RBC, Scotiabank and TD — collectively reported more than $51 billion in profits in 2024, according to Democracy Watch.

The story shows the capitalist state “performing its ordinary function,” namely to assist businesses in accumulating capital, said Thom Workman, a retired UNB political science professor.

He said workers and their families have paid the price for increased corporate power in neoliberal capitalism. “We have constantly seen families bear the brunt.”

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, via the Local Journalism Initiative.

Updated at 3:40 p.m. on Nov. 4, 2025.