WCM Return to Bay Street Program Continues to Relaunch Women’s Finance Careers

WCM (Women in Capital Markets) is pleased to announce that applications are now open for the 2022 cohort of Return to Bay Street (RTBS). The returnship program brings women with prior work experience in finance back to the industry after taking a period of leave. Now in its twelfth year, this unique program has on-ramped 92 women into mid and senior-level roles at leading financial institutions.

“Given the challenges the pandemic has brought upon working parents and women, the need for returnship programs like RTBS is critical,” says Lara Zink, WCM’s President and CEO. “WCM is proud to collaborate with a committed group of sponsors to deliver the RTBS program and to proactively increase the representation of women at the mid and senior levels.”

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Successful candidates receive a paid work contract at an RTBS partner institution, an education grant, mentorship, and a one-year WCM Membership. RTBS also provides new Canadian women with the opportunity and support to secure Canadian work experience, connect with senior leaders, and navigate and adapt to the Canadian working culture.

This year, the program includes opportunities in broader areas of finance including Wealth Management, Technology, Operations, and Compliance and Regulatory departments. WCM and its RTBS partners — BMO Capital Markets, BMO Wealth Management, CIBC, Mackenzie Investments, Manulife, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, RBC Capital Markets, Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets, TD Securities, and TD Wealth —look forward to continuing the tradition of proactively accelerating women’s representation in Canada’s finance industry.

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“WCM’s RTBS Program is renowned for its success in relaunching the careers of highly qualified and experienced women on Bay Street, achieving record levels in the number of applicants and recipients to the program,” said Mary Ann Mendes, Managing Director, BMO Capital Markets and Co-Chair of the RTBS Working Group. “It is an honour and privilege for me to be Co-Chair, inspiring women through my own personal experience, having rejoined the industry as a WCM RTBS Award Recipient in 2012. As the program reaches its 12th year, WCM and its sponsors remain committed to hiring high-calibre professional women through this initiative, expanding the outreach to broaden equity, diversity and inclusion in the industry.”

“As we’ve witnessed over these last two years, the global pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women and no industry has been spared,” remarks Greg DeBienne, Managing Director TD Securities and Co-Chair of the RTBS Working Group. “As we experience a fierce fight for talent, the WCM RTBS program plays a pivotal role in retaining professional women in the capital markets industry by providing a pathway back to their successful careers following an absence. The banking and finance industry benefits from the increased diversity of thought and experience these high-calibre women bring, and I am thrilled to be involved.”

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