Behind Every New Canadian is a Great Story
BMO Celebrates Canada Day By Inviting Newcomers to Share their Stories

TORONTO, June 30, 2009 – In the spirit of Canada Day, BMO Bank of Montreal invites New Canadians to share their ‘Journey to Canada’ stories of achievements and newfound opportunities.

“As Canada’s first bank, BMO has a long and proud history of serving the financial needs of multicultural communities,” said Heather Grand, Vice President, GTA Division, Multicultural Markets, BMO Bank of Montreal. “We understand that moving to a new country takes courage and the journey along the way can be marked with many ups and downs. We’re asking customers to share their experiences and celebrate what it means to be Canadian.”

To help encourage customers to share their ‘Journey to Canada’ stories, BMO is offering a chance to win one of three $1,000 cash prizes.

“Listening to Newcomers share their stories reminds us of how privileged we are to call Canada home,” added Grand. These are moving stories of perseverance -- of having a dream and making it come true”.

BMO customer Kim Zhang of Toronto wrote…

I had left behind all my family –my wife, young child and parents –to come to Canada as an exchange student. I lived in a basement room in downtown Toronto. I didn’t know a soul and I was terribly lonely. By the early 1990’s my wife and son were by my side and I founded a travel agency that specializes in helping North American investors explore the Chinese market. Today I oversee an enterprise that operates 11 offices across North America and China.

About the ‘Journey to Canada’ promotion:

The Journey to Canada promotion runs until August 31, 2009. Contestants submit their stories to www.bmo.com/mycanadastory. In 250 words or less, stories can be guided by the following sample questions:

• What made you decide to come to Canada and how is your new life unfolding?
• What do you love about Canada and what are your dreams for the future?

• To support New Canadian customers, BMO recently introduced a Welcome to Canada Banking Package that provides a wide range of financial products and services to meet the unique needs of customers new to Canada.
• BMO regularly supports multicultural community events including its recent sponsorship of the Mandarin Profile Entrepreneur Award Presentation.
• BMO’s workforce mirrors the diversity of the Canadian mosaic and wherever possible we try to provide services in the language of our customers’ choice. For example our staff at our main branch in Toronto speaks over 16 different languages. We have Chinese, Korean and Punjab glossaries and tools on our website and our customer communication material is available in multiple languages.
• BMO is the only Canadian bank with branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong and has spent more than 20 years assisting customers with advisory services and immigration banking services.

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