BMO Donates $600,000 to Thompson Rivers University to Renovate Old Main Building

KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 17, 2013) - BMO Financial Group today announced a donation of $600,000 to Thompson Rivers University to assist with the ongoing extensive renovations of the Old Main building.

The largest monetary gift BMO has made in British Columbia outside of the Lower Mainland will go towards major improvements to Old Main. This building hosts the new TRU Faculty of Law and many of TRU's Student Services, to be renamed BMO Student Street, including the Registrar, Student Awards & Financial Aid, Counseling, Academic Advising, Health Services, and Cooperative Education.

"At BMO we believe that corporate responsibility is a journey best travelled in partnership," said Joanne Gassman, Senior Vice President, B.C. and Yukon BMO Bank of Montreal. "Today's donation announcement to Thompson Rivers University will continue to strengthen and grow our partnership and build on our mutual understanding that the economic, social and environmental choices we all make will positively impact the lives of potentially thousands of students."

"We are proud to recognize BMO's leadership investment and this significant contribution to our university," said Alan Shaver, TRU President and Vice-Chancellor. "Old Main is one area of our campus which touches each of our students; many will now begin their TRU journey on BMO Student Street."

"BMO has a lengthy tradition of support for higher education and life long learning in the communities where we work, and our gift to TRU carries on this tradition within the Kamloops region," said Sean Armstrong, Vice President, B.C. Interior, North & Yukon, BMO Bank of Montreal. "We at BMO share TRU's commitment to advanced learning as a means of investing in our collective future."

BMO Student Street is part of the exciting revitalization of the Old Main building, which includes 40,000 square feet of new learning space and an entire new floor that will accommodate TRU's Faculty of Law. The new space is an important expression of TRU's vision for the future and is part of a campus-wide program of expansion and bold new buildings to meet the changing needs of its students and community.

The new addition to Old Main is expected to open by September 2013.

About BMO Financial Group in the Community

BMO has been serving customers in British Columbia for 125 years; the first Bank of Montreal branch in the province opened in Vancouver in 1887, two years after bank vice-president Lord Strathcona drove in the Last Spike of the CPR. Its 3,000 employees are dedicated to making BMO the bank that defines great customer experience, serving British Columbians through 118 branches located across the province and from several BMO Nesbitt Burns and BMO Harris Private Banking offices.