News Releases

TORONTO and NEW YORK, September 23, 2010 – BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (TSX, NYSE: BMO), will donate CAD$1.5 million (US$1.45 million) to nine charities across North America through the firm’s 6^th Annual Equity Through Education charitable program.

The money raised represents one day’s worth of institutional equity trading commissions earned by BMO Capital Markets in the U.S. and Canada. The proceeds will go to select charities that are dedicated to the education of bright and deserving individuals who might not otherwise have a chance to pursue their academic goals.

“Once again our clients have stepped up to the plate when the need has never been greater,” said Mike Miller, Head of Equity Products, BMO Capital Markets. “Year after year, the terrific support of our clients for BMO’s Equity Through Education program has made an enormous difference in the lives of thousands, and will continue to do so. I want to thank them for their commitment in investing in education, which will undoubtedly help shape a healthier and more resilient society.”

“Through the generosity of our partner, BMO Capital Markets, investors have a unique opportunity to realize an incredible social return,” said David Hughes, President and CEO of Pathways to Education Canada, and one of the charities that Equity Through Education supports.  “Every dollar received by Pathways will generate a twenty-five dollar return to society by helping youth in low-income communities stay in school and develop their full potential”.

Since it launched in 2005, BMO’s Equity Through Education program has raised a total of CAD$9.6 million (US$8.85 million), assisting more than 2,000 individuals who have directly benefited through scholarships, bursaries and other educational initiatives.

BMO Capital Markets also directly supports Equity Through Education by offering paid summer internships at the bank. These internships provide students with the chance to learn new skills and potentially become employees, enhancing their futures.

The charities that BMO Capital Markets will support this year via Equity Through Education are:

• Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation (CMSF)
• Financial Women’s Association of New York Educational Fund
• Foundation for the Advancement of Aboriginal Youth (FAAY)
• The Jackie Robinson Foundation
• Lime Connect
• National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation
• Pathways to Education Canada
• The YAI Network
• Youth in Motion’s Top 20 Under 20 Program

To learn more about Equity Through Education, visit http://www.bmocm.com/equitythrougheducation.

About BMO’s Charitable Giving

Equity Through Education® is a charitable initiative launched by BMO Capital Markets in 2005 to help people realize their educational ambitions by giving them the means to pursue those goals.

For more than 190 years, BMO Financial Group has believed in reinvesting in the communities it serves. In 2009, BMO Financial Group contributed $55 million in donations, sponsorships and events in Canada and the United States to groups, organizations and programs that help build and sustain resilient, vital and healthy communities.

About BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets is a leading, full-service North American financial services provider offering equity and debt underwriting, corporate lending and project financing, merger and acquisitions advisory services, merchant banking, securitization, treasury management, market risk management, debt and equity research and institutional sales and trading.  BMO Capital Markets has over 2,000 employees operating in 26 locations around the world, including 14 in North America.

BMO Capital Markets is a member of BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO), one of the largest diversified financial services providers in North America with US$386 billion total assets and 38,000 employees as at July 31, 2010.

Website:  http://www.bmocm.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/bmocm

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