News Releases

BMO Financial Group 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report Available

TORONTO, March 16, 2011 – BMO Financial Group's 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report and Public Accountability Statement is now available at www.bmo.com/corporateresponsibility.

The report provides information about BMO's commitment to responsible and ethical corporate behaviour, environmental sustainability and its wide-ranging support of the communities it serves.

“BMO's approach to responsibility balances multiple goals: delivering value to customers; creating opportunities for employees; increasing rewards for shareholders; enhancing the well-being of communities where we do business; and integrating respect for the environment into our growth strategies,” said Bill Downe, President and CEO, BMO Financial Group.

“Our business is banking and BMO's commitment to delivering great customer experiences is founded on a simple idea: helping our customers succeed. As we do, the ultimate measure of corporate responsibility, for BMO, is the ability to say with confidence that what we do leads directly to positive outcomes for not only for individual stakeholders but also society as a whole."

Some highlights from 2010:

BMO achieved carbon neutrality relative to its energy consumption and transportation emissions across the company, worldwide. We made this commitment two years ago and delivered on schedule. It's a milestone for our company.
BMO announced our largest single donation to date to a scientific enterprise: $4 million in funding to the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, which will enhance innovation in Canada and encourage other private-sector donors to fund chairs at the Perimeter Institute.
BMO contributed $54.3 million in donations, sponsorships and other support for charitable and not-for-profit organizations and programs in Canada and the United States.
As part of our commitment to the Community Reinvestment Act, Harris gave 54 community development loans, totalling more than $76 million.
BMO provided free banking services to nearly 1 million customers aged 60 and older.
BMO's Take Charge of Your Retirement Program provided our customers with tools and information they need to manage retirement.
BMO launched a new program called Virtual Advisor, which uses advanced communications technology to connect financial, investment and business advisors with remote branches located far from their offices, helping to ensure that all BMO customers have the same access to our expertise.
BMO offers several internship programs for diverse students, including scholarships and paid summer internships to Aboriginal students and post-secondary students with disabilities.
BMO received our third gold Progressive Aboriginal Relations Award from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, for driving community economic development.
34.5% of executives at BMO are women.
Visible minorities comprise 30.3% of BMO's work force.
BMO proudly supports more than 500 soccer teams for young players across Canada as part of our commitment to "the beautiful game.”

"Being a for-profit company should not mean we are simply here to maximize profit. Great companies care. In fact, to serve customers well, a company has to care about the same things its customers believe are important. We do," said Mr. Downe. “And perhaps, above all else, employees have to be proud of their company. We are.”

Recognized for Responsibility and Governance
BMO has been recognized for our corporate responsibility performance:

Dow Jones Sustainability North American Index
Jantzi Social Index
FTSE4Good Series Index
50 Most Socially Responsible Corporations in Canada 2010 (Jantzi/Maclean's)
Best 50 Corporate Citizens (Corporate Knights Magazine, 2003-2010)
BMO ranked fourth overall among 187 Canadian companies in the Globe and Mail ‘Report on Business Board Games 2010' for our corporate governance practices.

To read more about BMO's corporate citizenship activities, please visit www.bmo.com/corporateresponsibility.

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