TORONTO, March 30, 2017 /CNW/ - As part of Scotiabank's continued commitment to the development and support of Canadian talent and the advancement of the science of artificial intelligence (AI), the Bank announced today it is making a $5 million donation to the Vector Institute, a new independent research facility focused on AI.

"As a founding member of the Vector Institute, we're pleased to work with our growing network of partners in the public and private sectors," said Brian Porter, President and CEO of Scotiabank. "These efforts are helping to strengthen Ontario's economy by advancing our AI ecosystem – supporting leading talent, research and development, and commercialization opportunities."

Vector is located in Toronto and will specialize in the fields of deep learning and machine learning and will bring together institutions, incubators, accelerators, start-ups, scale-ups and established companies to advance AI research and drive the adoption and commercialization of AI technologies across Canada.

Scotiabank's donation to Vector builds on the Bank's other recent commitments to foster the growth and development of AI in Canada, including:

• The Bank's $1 million donation to NextAI to build an artificial intelligence ecosystem in Canada
• Support of the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) at the Rotman School of Management and CDL West at the UBC Sauder School of Business, both which help entrepreneurs transition from science-based innovations to high-growth companies

"Through our previous donations and our support of the Vector Institute, we are investing not only in Canadian AI talent and the advancement of the AI sector, but also in the current and future needs of our customers," said Michael Zerbs, Chief Technology Officer, Scotiabank. "AI is an important tool for Scotiabank. It is helping us to better understand customer sentiment, behaviour and needs, allowing us to better manage risk, identify abnormal account activity, and provide our customers with the best strategies for improving their portfolios."

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 23 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 88,000 employees and assets of $887 billion (as at January 31, 2017), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

SOURCE Scotiabank