News Releases

BMO Financial Group will hold its 188th Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Calgary, Alberta, on Thursday, March 2, 2006.  The meeting will take place in Exhibition Hall E, North Building, at the Calgary Telus Convention Centre, 136 Eighth Avenue, S.E., at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Standard Time (11:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time).  Chairman David Galloway, President and CEO Tony Comper, and Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, Karen Maidment, will address assembled shareholders.

The annual meeting will coincide with the release of BMO Financial Group's first quarter results for the period of November 1, 2005 to January 31, 2006.  NOTE: Subject to the timing of the Board of Directors' approval, it is anticipated that BMO's first quarter results will be released to the media between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. MST (10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST).

Investors, media and other interested parties can access the annual meeting, media briefing and first quarter investor community conference call as follows:

• Annual Meeting
  Time: 9:30 a.m. MST  (11:30 a.m. EST)
  Via telephone, listen-only mode, 1 (866) 902-2211 toll free or (416) 695-5261 locally
  Via internet, www.bmo.com/investorrelations

NOTE: Still and TV cameras will NOT have direct access to the Annual Meeting Hall (Exhibition Hall E).  Rather, a live pool feed of the proceedings will be available to media in the Media Briefing Room.

• Media Briefing follows immediately after the Annual Meeting
  Via telephone, listen-only mode, 1 (866) 902-2211 toll free or (416) 695-5261 locally
  Via internet, www.bmo.com/investorrelations
• First Quarter Investor Community Conference Call
  Time: 1:30 p.m. MST (3:30 p.m. EST)
  Via telephone, listen-only mode, 1 (888) 789-0089 toll free or (416) 695-9753 locally
  Via internet, www.bmo.com/investorrelations
  
  • Presentation material referenced during the conference call will be available at the aforementioned website.
    
  • Conference Call Rebroadcast
    
    • A rebroadcast of the investor community presentations will be available until midnight, Wednesday, March 15, 2006, by calling 1 (888) 742-2491 or (416) 695-5292 and entering passcode 6788 #.
    • The webcast will be available on the BMO Investor Relations website until Tuesday, May 23, 2006.

On January 27, 2006, Bank of Montreal's Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders, its Proxy Circular and its 2005 Annual Report were mailed to shareholders.  These documents are available online at www.bmo.com/investorrelations.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified North American financial services organization. With total assets of $298 billion as at October 31, 2005, and more than 34,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions. BMO Financial Group serves clients across Canada through its Canadian retail arm, BMO Bank of Montreal, and through BMO Nesbitt Burns, one of Canada's leading full-service investment firms. In the United States, BMO serves clients through Chicago-based Harris, an integrated financial services organization that provides more than one million personal, business, corporate and institutional clients with banking, lending, investing, financial planning, trust administration, portfolio management, family office and wealth transfer services.

BMO in Alberta

Bank of Montreal held its first annual meeting outside of Montreal in 1983, in Calgary, which also marked the first time a major bank held its annual meeting in Western Canada.

In Alberta, BMO has invested more than $18 million in recent years to expand its branch network to 110 locations.  In addition, BMO's investment arm, BMO Nesbitt Burns, operates 20 offices in the province, with the firm's Energy Group is based in Calgary and BMO Harris Private Banking has two offices in Alberta.

Overall, BMO Financial Group employs more than 2,300 people in Alberta who provide personal, commercial and corporate customers with broad expertise in agriculture, oil and gas, corporate banking, international finance and wealth management.   As an active supporter of community initiatives in Alberta, BMO has donated to support the construction of the new Alberta Children's Hospital, and, through a variety of scholarship programs, is a champion of post-secondary education.  BMO is also proud of the 100-year legacy that it has built with the Calgary Stampede and is a founding sponsor of Spruce Meadows.

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