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TORONTO, June 12, 2019 /CNW/ - BMO today announced a full suite of banking and wealth management services designed specifically to support healthcare professionals – from when they are starting out in postgraduate school, to mid-career, to when they retire. 

The Canadian healthcare industry is seeing a rise in healthcare professionals, with the number of physicians and dentists both increasing yearly¹. The majority of these professionals are self-employed and operating practices as small business owners. However, they face unique challenges as they enter the workforce at a later age while also carrying a significant amount of personal debt. Once practicing, they also have to adapt to an ever-changing regulatory and healthcare business landscape.  The new program is supported by a team of BMO professionals with both healthcare and finance backgrounds, who have industry experience and a deep understanding of the personal and financial needs of practitioners.

BMO's healthcare banking program will support:

• Getting started: Enhanced credit limits and more relaxed payments on medical or dental student lines of credit, no-fee banking options, and best-in-market credit cards
• Growing a practice: Tailored financing options will be available for healthcare professionals to tap into extra funds when they need them without jeopardizing cash flow and loan options, to assist with the purchase of items for their growing practice
• Driving innovation in healthcare: Advice and funding for healthcare technology start-ups to help professionals engage in the innovation economy and introduce and scale up innovations in the healthcare system
• Wealth management advice and planning: Customized wealth planning built for practice owners to help with investment management, succession planning, and retirement

"Healthcare professionals face their own unique challenges as business owners, and there is an opportunity to support them better," said Andrew Irvine, Head, Customer Solutions, Canadian Personal & Business Banking, BMO Bank of Montreal. "We've been supporting businesses in Canada for over 200 years, and we are leveraging a bank wide approach to help professionals in healthcare succeed and grow – anywhere from building a practice to helping them drive innovation in the sector."

"We see an opportunity to provide the growing number of healthcare practitioners in Canada with tailored client experiences through all life stages," said Andrew Auerbach, BMO Private Wealth Canada and Asia. "By looking after the wealth-building needs of our clients within the medical and dental segments, we ensure these professionals are free to focus on what's important – their patients and their practices."

Supporting Healthcare Students
For students pursuing medicine or dentistry, those studies carry a significant financial cost. According to a brief by the Canadian Medical Association, a third of medical residents expect their debt to be over $100,000 and 19 per cent expect their debt to exceed $160,000 before entering practice.

To help alleviate their financial burdens, healthcare students will now be eligible for:

• Enhanced credit limits: Up to $325,000 for medical students and up to $300,000 for dental students. Access up to $85,000 in first year with continued access during residency/specialty studies
• Low Interest rate: Competitive interest rate while in school to help lower the overall financial cost
• Comfortable payments: Interest-only monthly payments while in school and for two years upon graduation from school or residency/specialty studies

This announcement reaffirms BMO's commitment to healthcare professionals. The bank recently announced a collaboration with Toronto healthcare start-up MediSeen to support health and wellness professionals engaged in the gig economy. For female professionals in the healthcare industry, BMO is hosting a series of events across the country –bringing in industry experts to discuss best practices for practice success.

BMO's healthcare banking program will soon be available to all healthcare professionals including veterinarians, pharmacists, and optometrists. To learn more about this program, visit: www.bmo.com/healthcare

About BMO Financial Group 
Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly diversified financial services provider - the 8th largest bank, by assets, in North America. With total assets of $830 billion as of April 30, 2019, and a team of diverse and highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

SOURCE BMO Financial Group