By providing meaningful solutions and applying a lot of hard work, we have earned the trust and respect of discerning First Nations groups and our valued relationships have grown organically and significantly.
Today, we work with several Treaty X Chiefs and Council Members. We enjoy meeting with them in their communities, getting to know them intimately and addressing their needs with our specialized approach. We learn from our clients every day and recognize that we always have more to learn.
With respect for Indigenous communities’ trust fund structures, astute business practices and exponential success and growth, we provide solutions to their unique needs, such as:
We can also offer Indigenous individuals and families integrated wealth management services across our network of BMO Private Wealth specialists, Private Bankers, and Commercial Bankers:
In short, we can manage personal and corporate assets in addition to financing your infrastructure all under one roof.
Following our purpose to Boldly Grow the Good in business and in life, BMO Financial Group has a proud and long history of engagement with, and commitment to, Indigenous communities across Canada as customers, colleagues, communities, and drivers of a strong economy. We support Indigenous peoples with the spirit of inclusion, partnership and collaboration.
BMO Financial Group is committed to advancing the economic self-sufficiency of Indigenous communities across Canada. This goes beyond building roads and schools – we hire Indigenous employees and support their career growth at BMO, and we break down employment barriers through our recruitment initiatives, partnerships with Indigenous educators and participation in programs with Indigenous peoples. In 2022, BMO increased our procurement of goods and services from Indigenous partners, surpassing our commitment to spend $10 million annually with Indigenous-owned entities by 2023.
In 2020, BMO was proud to be recognized with Gold Level standing in the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB). This honour salutes our approach to the Indigenous market and understanding of the business case for a diverse and equitable workforce and supportive workplace.
This is the first time that a bank has achieved this level for the sixth consecutive time. This CCAB recognition signals that we are good business partners, a great place to work and committed to prosperity within Indigenous communities.
BMO is a leading provider of financial services to Indigenous communities in Canada. We work with more than 270 communities across the country, supporting self-sufficiency, economic development and prosperity. BMO has more than $200 million in authorized loans for housing in Indigenous communities, including its On-Reserve Home Loan Program. In 1992, we established our Indigenous Banking Unit (IBU), which has now been devoted to providing communities, individuals and entities with employment opportunities and better access to financial products and services across Canada for 30 years. BMO has supported housing, education, health care, entertainment, fishing, real estate development, and infrastructure and revenue-producing projects to build communities together with our Indigenous clients.
BMO's commitment to mobilize $300 billion in sustainable financing by 2025 includes lending to Indigenous businesses and communities in the structuring of our Sustainable Bond program.
Through our 13 full-service branches, one business office on-reserve and 20 automated banking machines (ABMs), we provide Indigenous communities across Canada with improved access to financial products and services. Our team of bankers are well known and deeply embedded in the communities they serve and provide expertise, counsel, and partnership. Our commitment to Indigenous relationships underpins the IBU’s plans for the future. Clio Straram, the Head of the IBU, has bold ambitions for expanding its business. The IBU has clearly demonstrated its commitment to Indigenous communities through housing programs and infrastructure development, and it is now planning to deepen relationships with governments and households that underpin those initiatives. It is also working to strengthen its engagement with Indigenous small businesses, which are the backbone of true economic empowerment – and to support Indigenous peoples and communities as they build greater autonomy and self-sufficiency on the way to lasting Truth and Reconciliation.
Founded in June 2016, the Indigenous Employee Resource Group at BMO consists of Indigenous employees and their advocates. It brings together a community within the bank to learn from their differences and to celebrate Indigenous peoples, all of which helps to grow the bank’s business. The Sharing Circle now includes 920 employees from all across Canada who advocate for Indigenous communities.
In January 2020, we established the BMO Indigenous Advisory Council, a group of First Nations, Métis and Inuit leaders from from across the country who provide feedback and guidance to help BMO on the creation of new policies and practices that respond to the 92nd Call to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Each meeting builds on our three pillars of BMO’s commitment to reconciliation and progress for Indigenous peoples: education, employment and economic empowerment. These leaders bring invaluable expertise to the table and support our long-term commitment to diversity and inclusion.
BMO, together with First Nations University of Canada and 4 Seasons of Reconciliation, marked National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2022, by devoting $300,000 to launch an interactive eLearning initiative, Nisitohtamowin ᓂᓯᑐᐦᑕᒧᐃᐧᐣ (pronounced: nis-toh-tum-win, which means Understanding Indigenous Perspectives in Canada). It will be free to the public for the next three years. Nisitohtamowin introduces participants to Indigenous viewpoints and the fundamentals of Indigenous history: the diversity of peoples, treaties and nation-to-nation agreements, residential schools, the Indian Act and the ongoing struggle for economic and social justice. We hope this course will inspire a journey to deeper understanding, advance reconciliation and eliminate barriers to inclusion for all.
BMO is a proud sponsor of lndspire and the Foundation for the Advancement of Aboriginal
Youth program that encourages the next generation of Indigenous leaders. In recent years, BMO has donated over $16 million to support Indigenous communities, with roughly half of those donations going towards education, scholarships and internships.
We look forward to scheduling a private discussion of your needs and the opportunity to demonstrate the broad spectrum of specialized services and resources we can provide to our Indigenous partners.
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