Some of Canada's largest banks are planning expansion in 2010 but are treading uncharted waters carefully as U.S. economic recovery remains "tepid."

Executives from Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Montreal, National Bank of Canada and the Bank of Nova Scotia discussed unique growth opportunities for their businesses while at a Morgan Stanley banking conference in New York on Wednesday.

TD said it's interested in U.S. bank acquisitions but that it only has an appetite for those with assets under $10 billion.

The rebound in the U.S. economy will likely be long and hard and banks there still have issues to work out, Chief Executive Ed Clark said.

"When I look at the U.S. base case, I say that base case is pretty tepid in terms of what the economic outlook is, and it has no room for accidents," he said.

TD, which already has a strong presence in the U.S. northeast, has previously said it is most interested in expanding its geographic footprint down the east coast.

BMO said it plans use its strong balance sheet to build up Harris Bank, Chief Executive Bill Downe said.

Harris Bank is a Chicago-based subsidiary that provides financing, investing and cash management services.

"The competitive dynamic is shifting as a result of a number of regulator initiated consolidations, and as a result, we have an opportunity to increase Harris's size and momentum in the market," he said.

National Bank of Canada, Quebec's top lender, plans to expand its wealth management operations through partnerships and acquisitions, the bank's chief financial officer said.

"Our best opportunities are in wealth management, the extension of our retail banking presence in selected regions and our commercial lending growth in specified industry sectors," said Patricia Curadeau-Grou.

"Partnerships and acquisitions are part of our expansion strategy, particularly in wealth management," she said.

Curadeau-Grou said National Bank has adequate capital to fund growth.

An executive from Scotiabank said he sees wholesale growth opportunities in market niches such as energy and commodity trading and will continue with its strategy of add-on acquisitions to expand its business.

Scotiabank also sees growth potential in infrastructure, precious metals and other specialty areas.

"We see some opportunities with the chaos that we all see around the world right now and we will do it on a slow, disciplined manner," Chief Executive Rick Waugh said.

He said the bank is also making wealth management a key part of its strategy.

"We were always known as a lending bank and we didn't have the offset of wealth management, like some of our peers, so we have made that a high priority and I'm really pleased to say it's starting to show very significantly in the numbers."