Many chartered banks were initially organised by a small group of shareholders to serve a local region. Economic pressures over the years lead to bank mergers--or else, face failure--subsequently creating larger entities that can better weather the crises. Sometimes these mergers take Canadian banks to far-away places; in 1910, the Royal Bank of Canada absorbed the Union Bank of Halifax, and continued operating their Caribbean branches, issuing bank notes payable in islands such as Barbados and Jamaica.
Today, The Royal Bank survives as the largest Canadian chartered bank. This 1913 Royal Bank $10 banknote was issued in Montreal and features HMS Bellerophon, a Royal Navy dreadnought battleship that saw action in WWI.