News Releases

You don't have to buy a new pair of shoes to balance the family budget

- BMO counted more than 30 million pennies for Canadians last year

- BMO recommends Canadians take advantage of BMO's free coin counters to make their pennies count

- More than three-quarters of Canadians don't take tax implications into consideration with every investment decision

- Strategies to reduce capital gains taxes include: catching up on unused RRSP room; deferring the gains to next year; using capital losses to offset gains; and donating appreciated securities to a charity

- While history has favoured variable, current conditions have heavily tilted the scales in favour of fixed rates

- Locking-in-combined with a shorter, 25-year amortization period-significantly strengthens household financial stability

- BMO recommends Canadian homebuyers choose a shorter amortization to begin building equity in their home faster

- Half of Business Owners say Social Media has the Potential to Increase Their Business Profitability

- Canadian Business Owners say on Average 28 per cent of Their Marketing Efforts are Focused - Online, While one-in-five Lack Social Media Savvy

- Business Owners 'like' Facebook first; LinkedIn and Twitter are Their Second and Third Choices

- Assets under management have grown more than 30 per cent in first two months of 2012

- BMO ETFs led Canadian ETF industry in growth in 2011; ranked #1 in customer loyalty

- BMO ETFs growth being driven by fixed income, strategic non-indexed and yield-oriented equity ETF offerings

- BMO ETF Report: new product offerings, innovation and price competition will drive industry growth in 2012

- BMO's five-year fixed rate provides a shield against rising rates for a longer period of time

- BMO's shorter 25-year amortization reduces the mortgage balance faster

- 2.99 per cent rate minimizes the cost of homeownership over time

- BMO invites new and existing customers to enjoy the benefits of this offer

- Get pre-approved at BMO by March 28 and take three months to find the right home within your budget

- Introduces new 10-year fixed low-rate mortgage with 25 year amortization at 3.99 per cent

- Lowers rate on 5-year low-rate mortgage with 25 year amortization to 2.99 per cent

Releases Inaugural Report "Single in Retirement"

January through March is typically the busiest period for out-of-country travel

- Trips out of country increased 5.9 per cent last year

- Spending by Canadians abroad grew 11.24 per cent

- Top U.S. Destinations include New York, Florida, Washington

- Domestic travel expected to increase modest 1.8 per cent in 2012

- BMO offers tips on foreign exchange and payment options for travellers

Access to capital, developing a business plan, and finding customers top challenges

- Food and hospitality, retail/services, and arts/entertainment & recreation most favoured sectors

- 52 per cent of Canadians believe access to capital to be the primary challenge to starting their own business

- 86 per cent of potential entrepreneurs say sharing knowledge with other business owners will be important to their success

- Midnight, February 29th is the deadline for contributing to an RRSP

- BMO offers multiple options for Canadians looking to contribute

- BMO media spokespeople available to provide last-minute RRSP advice

Tony Robson and David Haughton hosting BMO Capital Markets' 21st Global Metals & Mining Conference this week

- Outlook for copper factors in strong demand from China

- Gold consumption in India and China has been a key driver of the market

- Major outflows in burgeoning ETF industry carry potential risk to impact silver prices

- Calming Eurozone Situation Inspiring Market Confidence

- US Stocks Poised for Double-Digit Returns

- Commodities Should Help Drive Canadian Equities

Writing a story on retirement or investing? Need some background, a quote, a different perspective?

Call the BMO RRSP Media Hotline at 1-866-298-8385 or e-mail Rachael McKay at rachael.mckay@bmo.com

Report combines expertise from BMO's Economists with on-the-ground anecdotal information from BMO's Commercial Bankers

- Sixty per cent of Canadian investors have target dates in mind to reach their financial goals

- However, only half feel their investments are aligned to support their key life events such as marriage, the purchase of a home and retirement

- BMO LifeStage Class Mutual Funds and Corporate Bond Target Maturity Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) help address this by reducing the risk as a key life event approaches

Report combines expertise from BMO's Economists with on-the-ground anecdotal information from BMO's Commercial Bankers

BMO offers tips and advice on next steps for pre-approved house hunters

Canadian couples not discussing key retirement planning details

- More than half of Canadian couples have not discussed their desired retirement lifestyle, when or where to retire or the amount of money they'll need

- Almost one-third do not have detailed insight into how much their partner has saved for retirement

- For Canadian couples retirement planning is more stressful than Valentine's Day

- The majority worried about more market turmoil in the year ahead; unsure of where to invest in the meantime

- Seven in ten Canadians believe fixed income investments play important role in protecting against market volatility

- Safe investment options, such as GICs and bonds, provide protection amid uncertain market conditions

- BMO accounted for almost half of all Canadian ETF growth in 2011

- BMO ETFs also ranked #1 in customer loyalty

- Success attributed to products that responded to investor needs during volatile times

- Key drivers included income focused and low volatility ETFs

- Online investing can provide greater flexibility, convenience and control

- More than one-third of Canadians either currently trade online or are considering doing so

- Brokerages such as BMO InvestorLine offer access to a wide variety of resources and investments, including ETFs, Mutual Funds, GICs and Bonds

- BMO InvestorLine awarded Top bank-owned online broker from The Globe and Mail in 2008, 2009 and 2011

"Open For Business" with $10 billion in additional credit

- Dairy industry annually contributes $15.2 billion in economic benefits and employs 215,000 Canadians

- Each year the average Canadian drinks 95 litres of milk

- Agricultural sector employs one in eight jobs directly and accounts for approximately eight per cent of Canada's total Gross Domestic Product

- New BMO branch represents a $2.8 million investment into the community

- BMO boosts credit to Canadian businesses by $10 billion

- Branch offers customers extended banking hours, including Saturdays and Sundays

- Grand Opening celebration features, giveaways and a raffle for a chance to win one of two Apple iPads