BMO Bank of Montreal and EDC Launch Financing Program for Small to Mid-Sized Exporters
Improves small businesses’ ability to compete globally by increasing pool of available capital for Canadian exporters

TORONTO, ON, October 12, 2007 – BMO Bank of Montreal, in partnership with Export Development Canada (EDC), announced today the launch of a new program that provides more financing to small and medium-sized exporters across Canada.

The Export Guarantee Program (EGP) is designed to help smaller exporters compete for larger contracts, with EDC guaranteeing up to 75 per cent of a loan made by BMO Bank of Montreal. The program supports exporters by helping to fund the upfront costs associated with export contracts.

“For many of our small business customers, competing on the international stage can be a costly endeavour,” said Gail Cocker, Senior Vice-President, Commercial Banking, BMO Bank of Montreal. “This program gives our customers a competitive edge by freeing up a larger portion of their working capital for general day-to-day operations.”

“EDC’s Export Guarantee Program will help increase the pool of available working capital for Canadian exporters, helping the businesses to expand their global sales,” said Kevin O’Brien, EDC Senior Vice-President, Financing Products Group. “By absorbing a large portion of the risk from BMO, this program will impact Canadian exports in a meaningful way by offering a wide range of commercial solutions to a greater number of exporters.

“BMO joins a growing list of EDC partners with master agreements like the EGP in place, including other financial institutions, provincial agencies and credit unions.”

About BMO Financial Group
Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified North American financial services organization. With total assets of $359 billion as at July 31, 2007, and more than 35,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions. BMO Financial Group serves clients across Canada through its Canadian retail arm, BMO Bank of Montreal, and through its wealth management firms BMO Nesbitt Burns, BMO InvestorLine and BMO Harris Private Banking. BMO Capital Markets, our North American investment and corporate banking division, provides a full suite of financial products and services to our North American and international clients. BMO also serves personal and commercial clients in the United States through Chicago-based Harris, an integrated financial services organization that provides more than one million personal and business clients with banking, lending, investing, financial planning, trust administration, portfolio management, family office and wealth transfer services.

About Export Development Canada
EDC is Canada’s export credit agency, offering innovative commercial solutions to help Canadian exporters and investors expand their international business. EDC’s knowledge and partnerships are used by 6,400 Canadian companies and their global customers in up to 200 markets worldwide each year. EDC is financially self-sustaining and is a recognized leader in financial reporting and economic analysis, and has been named one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for seven consecutive years.

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Media Contacts:

BMO Financial Group

Shivani Ahluwalia, shivani.ahluwalia@bmo.com, (416) 867-3996
Ronald Monet, Montreal, ronald.monet@bmo.com, (514) 877-1873
Laurie Grant, Vancouver, laurie.grant@bmo.com, (604) 665-7596

Export Development Canada

Glen Nichols, Ottawa, glnichols@edc.ca, (613) 598-2876