Three banks—and one surprise—on the list of Canada’s 10 best brands

Every two years, consulting firm Interbrand puts out a “Best Canadian Brands” list and the 2012 list of winners has a lot of old standbys (i.e. media companies, banks and Tim Hortons). Much-vaunted financial institutions like Toronto Dominion Bank (which took the top spot), Royal Bank of Canada (number three) and Scotiabank (number five) are all back, while cult yoga pants purveyor Lululemon Athletica broke the top 10 for the first time, its $3.25-billion brand value making it the fastest-growing brand in the country. Finally, hats off to Research in Motion’s BlackBerry brand, which managed to hold on to the number four spot—though the fine print acknowledges Interbrand arrived at that number in late 2011, and a lot has happened since then.

Here’s the top 10:

1. Toronto Dominion Bank Brand value: $9.69-billion 2010 placement: 2

2. Thomson Reuters Brand value: $9.55-billion 2010 placement: 1

3. Royal Bank of Canada Brand value: $7.93-billion 2010 placement: 3

4. BlackBerry Brand value: $6.45-billion 2010 placement: 4

5. Scotiabank Brand value: $3.97-billion 2010 placement: 9

6. Tim Hortons Brand value: $3.44-billion 2010 placement: 6

7. Lululemon Athletica Brand value: $3.25-billion 2010 placement: 17

8. Shoppers Drug Mart Brand value: $3.18-billion 2010 placement: 5

9. Bell Brand value: $3.06-billion 2010 placement: 7

10. Rogers Communications Brand value: $3-billion 2010 placement: 8