News Releases

BMO Financial Group today celebrated the success of its thirteen-year-old Task Force initiatives which helped to identify and eliminate the barriers to the advancement of women, visible minorities, persons with disabilities and aboriginal employees, and began the process of setting its diversity strategy for the next 10 years.

"BMO's people strategies focus on the importance of talented, engaged and high performing employees," noted Rose Patten, Senior Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Head Office of Strategic Management at the celebration event held in Toronto. "Developing an equitable and supportive workplace, which reflects the diversity of the communities in which BMO does business, are objectives that are explicitly aligned with strategic initiatives from the top and, which, are carefully measured and connected to performance."

"In 1990, CEO Tony Comper, then President of BMO, took an industry leadership role in breaking the 'glass ceiling' with his decision to sponsor the Task Force on the Advancement of Women," said Ms. Patten. The Task Force's role was to recognize, analyze and develop concrete strategies to reduce the systemic barriers faced by women in BMO's workforce. The success of this initiative set the model for the subsequent creation of the Task Forces on Aboriginal Employment (1992), Employment of People with Disabilities (1992), and the Advancement of Visible Minorities (1995).

The Task Force findings helped generate fact-based diversity and workplace goals and resulted in a culture change at BMO. The reports also led directly to the development of numerous tools and programs designed to recognize, monitor, and eliminate barriers to advancement within the corporation. These initiatives included the creation of BMO's Adaptive Technology Services Group, the Accommodation Fund, an internal online job posting system and a Diversity Index within the company's Annual Employee Survey.

However Ms. Patten noted that the journey toward creating a diverse and barrier free environment is not yet complete. "BMO's philosophy has always been to uncover the facts and set ambitious goals. To this end, we are now embarking on a new task force to move us above and beyond our current leadership position and set our diversity strategy for the next 10 years."

BMO Financial Groups Task Force Reports can be accessed on the internet at www.bmo.com/community.

- 30 -