Scotiabank 2017 CSR report now online

TORONTO, March 28, 2018 /CNW/ - Scotiabank today released its 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, "Building the Economy of Everyone", which details the progress made over the past 12 months on the Bank's CSR strategy: Better Future, Better Off.

"Our report highlights the role that Scotiabank continues to play in supporting strong communities, a healthy environment and economic growth," said Brian Porter, Scotiabank's President and CEO in the Report. "The priorities set out in this report were developed to reflect our commitment to making a real and lasting difference in communities across our footprint."

Scotiabank's 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility Report highlights progress on priorities that reflect our core purpose and the way Scotiabank is working to create value for society. In particular, the Report shows that:

• As a critical part of the economic and social fabric of the communities in which we operate, Scotiabank continues to be a leader in employee volunteer hours and community donations across our global footprint.
• Scotiabank is committed to addressing our environmental footprint. Scotiabank is also addressing its climate change risk through support of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.
• Scotiabank has increased access to finance for the unbanked and underbanked, increasing micro-lending loans in Latin America by 8.9 % year over year. The Bank also increased access to banking for Aboriginal communities, with the number of customers growing 7% year on year. Total loans for Canadian small businesses increased 9.2% year on year.

The Report highlights initiatives in support of Scotiabank's CSR priorities, for example:

• Scotiabank has set an internal carbon price at $15/tonne to generate a pool of funding to reinvest in energy efficiency measures such as HVAC installation and solar panels.
• Scotiabank financed $4.7 billion in the renewable energy industry, totaling more than $12 billion over the last three years.
• We continued to increase our women in senior leadership roles (VP+) globally. In 2017, the percentage of women at VP+ roles was 39% in Canada and 20% internationally.

"Scotiabank has a long legacy of supporting the communities where we live and work," said Meigan Terry, Senior Vice President, Global Communications at Scotiabank. "We work to ensure that our Corporate Social Responsibility priorities are aligned with our pledge to help young people reach their infinite potential. And, we are steadfast in our commitment to being good corporate citizens, conscious of our economic, environmental and social impact in the countries in which we operate around the world."

For more examples of the impact Scotiabank is making to help its customers become better off and to read the full report, it is now available online at www.scotiabank.com/CSR.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank believes that every customer has the right to become better off. When customers succeed, businesses, communities, and entire societies benefit as well. Through our CSR strategy, Better Future, Better Off, we seek to create economic, social and environmental value that benefits every customer. Through our five commitments to Customers, Employees, Communities, the Environment, and strong Corporate Governance practices, we aim to create a better future for both society and Scotiabank. For more information on our priorities and the impact we have made, please visit www.scotiabank.com/csr.

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 24 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 89,000 employees and assets of over $923 billion (as at January 31, 2018), 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 @Scotiabank.

SOURCE Scotiabank