News Releases

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - June 21, 2011) - BMO Bank of Montreal employees will present a donation of $20,000 to the Canadian Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund at its Calgary Main Office branch on June 23^rd. The funds will be used to help battle the Northern Alberta fires.

According to Alberta Sustainable Resource Development there have been 626 fires reported so far in 2011, covering over 764,000 hectares. According to the Provincial Wildfire Situation Report, the majority of the fires are now under control; however two fires are still burning in the Fort McMurray area - by far the largest area to be devastated in the province.

The BMO Disaster Relief Fund was set up in 2003 by the National Board of Directors of the BMO Employee Charitable Foundation to assist Canadian registered charitable organizations that provide assistance and support during major natural disasters.

"On behalf of the employees in Alberta, I'm proud to see this $20,000 donation provided to assist in any way possible with the wildfire situation in our northern forests," said Mike Suzuki, Vice President, South Alberta District, BMO Bank of Montreal.

In May, BMO announced a financial relief program to assist customers affected by the wildfires in Slave Lake. "We wanted to stand by our customers that were affected by damage caused by the severe fires," said Suzuki. "The majority of residents in Slave Lake faced losses and we hope our relief program would help alleviate some of the difficulties."

The Canadian Red Cross is currently soliciting for online donations to the Northern Alberta forest fires and other natural disasters in Canada. http://www.redcross.ca/email_ads/care2crc20110620/care2crc1.html