TORONTO, ONTARIO and CHICAGO, ILLINOIS–(Marketwired – June 8, 2016) –

Editor’s Note: There are three photos associated with this press release.

This week, thousands of BMO employees are volunteering in hundreds of local charities and organizations across Canada and the U.S. as part of BMO Volunteer Day. This is when, every year, BMO employees share their time, energy and ideas with organizations and individuals who need support.

BMO provides nearly 5,000 opportunities for BMO employees to participate in charitable work and projects during business hours, including those that support disaster relief, homeless shelters, children and youth organizations, elder care, community housing and health care facilities, family resource centres, parks and recreational facilities, food banks, and the Red Cross.

Launched in 2001, BMO Volunteer Day is one of the many ways BMO employees lend a hand and express their commitment to improving the social well-being of individuals in the communities where they live and work.

“One day can make a tremendous difference in the lives of people in the communities we serve,” said Joanna Rotenberg, Head, Personal Wealth Management, BMO Financial Group. “Volunteering is a deeply embedded part of our culture. It represents the very best of our company, and demonstrates how we genuinely care and are here to help.”

Ms. Rotenberg spent Volunteer Day with First Book Canada, joining fellow BMO employees as they read to Grade 1 and 2 students at an elementary school in the Greater Toronto Area.

BMO Volunteer Day Projects Include:

• In Chicago, 40 BMO volunteers worked to refurbish Herzl School of Excellence in the North Lawndale neighborhood in activities ranging from indoor and outdoor painting to light construction and landscaping.
• In Milwaukee, BMO Harris employees focused on helping to feed the hungry through partnerships with Hunger Task Force and Feeding America. Employees sorted, labeled and packaged food for distribution to the needy.
• BMO staff in eight major cities across Canada volunteered at First Book events that saw them read to Grades 1 & 2 students. The so-called “reading parties” also featured presentations from local Canadian authors and illustrators.
• For those unable to leave their desks, BMO staff volunteered remotely via telephone to provide career counselling and advice to youth on subjects ranging from interviewing to networking to looking for a job.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services provider based in North America. With total assets of $681 billion as of April 30, 2016, and over 45,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of retail 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, Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

BMO Donations

For more than 195 years, BMO Financial Group has believed in community reinvestment and corporate and social responsibility in the communities it serves. In 2015, BMO contributed more than $56.8 million in community donations to charitable, not-for-profit and community based institutions and organizations that help build and sustain resilient, vital and healthy communities.

To view the photos associated with this press release, please visit the following links:

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20160607-1058153_1.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20160607-1058153_2.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20160607-1058153_3.jpg

Emily Penate, Chicago
(312) 461-7956
[email protected]

Internet: www.bmo.com
Twitter: @BMOmedia