Canadian banks are a joke. I used to sign my cheques before I deposited them. Once a banker told me I didn't have to do it, then I never signed them again. Also once I deposited a cheque at the teller, and she entered the wrong amount, the difference was $0.06. When I told her, she said it was too much trouble to correct it and told me I was a troublemaker and insisted not to make the correction. She tried to shame me for making her work for $0.06.
Your comments are biased. I had worked in HSBC both in HK and Canada, and also in one of the local Big Five. Any banks may have similar incidents and bad apples. HSBC Canada had strict lending and operating guidelines, and at the time, it might exercise flexibility based on Know Your Customers philosophy where the case might warrant. What you mentioned might happen in any banks here and elsewhere. Restricted by relatively low capital, the Bank in Canada exercised conservative credit decisions to avoid loan loss, keeping its operation profitable in the competitive business environment.