CDS is owned by the major Canadian chartered banks and by the members of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the TSX Inc. CDS has its head office in Toronto and operates regional offices in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal.

In 1970, as Canada’s capital markets were flourishing and the financial sector's processing ability was nearing its capacity, CDS was formed. The company’s mandate was to leverage new technologies and automation to build a centralized depository service and create an electronic clearing and settlement system to handle the ever-increasing trading volumes on Canada’s exchanges and over-the-counter markets.

One of the world’s leading depositories grew from that mandate, and in addition to depository, clearing and settlement services, we now provide value-added regulatory and information products and services to Canada’s capital market participants.