The arguments put forward to explain the Canadian exception in the context of the financial crisis of 2007-2009 are criticized here in order to draw a more nuanced picture of the phenomenon. The article concludes that the objective differences between the Canadian and US banking systems cannot plausibly explain their different experience of the crisis. The divergence in the two experiences is more likely to be the result of unpredictable factors that cannot be used as a basis for an optimal regulatory model.