Scotiabank Recognized as a Best Workplace in Canada for Second Year, Wins Pride Category

MONTREAL, April 12 /CNW/ - Celebrating its second year of recognition, Scotiabank has again been named as one of the top 100 best places to work in Canada by the Great Place to Work® Institute. While Scotiabank achieved high marks in all elements of the Institute's Work Trust Index, it earned top marks in the study's Pride category.  In particular, employee pride in the Bank's support of communities stood out. In Quebec, 91 per cent of Scotiabank employees stated they felt good about the ways the bank contributed to their community. Across Canada Scotiabank achieved a 91 per cent community pride rating from its employees as compared to a benchmark rating of 84 per cent for other best large workplaces participating in the survey.

"Scotiabank's strength can be attributed to its team of talented and dedicated employees. We cannot thank them enough for their contributions and we are honoured that they have rated their employee experience so positively," said Diane Giard, Scotiabank Senior Vice President, Quebec & Eastern Ontario Region.  "We are very pleased that they cite Scotiabank's contribution to communities across Quebec & Eastern Ontario as being a significant source of pride.  Serving the communities in which we live and work has been an important part of Scotiabank's culture from its earliest days of operations."

Selection for the Best Workplaces list is based primarily on responses to a proprietary Institute employee survey about the level of trust and quality of relationships in the respective organization. In addition to the Pride dimension, the other categories of the Institute's Work Trust Index include: Credibility; Respect; Fairness; and Camaraderie.

"We are very proud of Scotiabank and its employees' long standing commitment to community service, which is an important part of the way we do business," said Sylvia Chrominska, Group Head, Global Human Resources and Communications, Scotiabank. "Our recent launch of the global 'Bright Future' program - uniting the Bank's charitable, social, community and employee volunteer activities - expands further our commitment to communities around the world where our 70,000 employees live and work."

In 2010, Scotiabank employees invested more than 324,000 hours volunteering and fundraising in their communities. By applying through the Bank's formal community programs they generated C$7.5 million in additional funding for the organizations they supported.

Each year, the Great Place to Work® Institute produces its Best Workplace rankings in 40 countries around the world. In recent years Scotiabank has also received the Best Workplace designation in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America (including Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama and Costa Rica) and Peru.

Scotiabank Employee Pride in Community Involvement

Note: Great Place to Work® Benchmark for Best Large Workplaces 2011 - 84%

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is committed to supporting the communities in which we live and work, both in Canada and abroad, through our global philanthropic program, 'Bright Future'.  Recognized as a leader internationally and among Canadian corporations for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, Scotiabank has provided on average approximately $44 million annually to community causes around the world over each of the last five years. Visit us at www.scotiabank.com.

Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and Canada's most international bank. With more than 70,000 employees, Scotiabank Group and its affiliates serve some 18.6 million customers in more than 50 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a broad range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With assets above $541 billion (as at January 31, 2011), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com