TORONTO, March 28, 2019 /CNW/ - Scotiabank's 2018 Sustainable Business Report, is now available online and includes the Bank's new strategy on Sustainable Business focusing on four core priorities where the Bank can help make the biggest impact: Trust, Climate Change, Economic Inclusion and Young People.

"We are very proud to launch the Bank's new Sustainable Business Strategy," says Scotiabank's President and CEO Brian Porter. "Our Strategy is focused on the four areas – Trust, Economic Inclusion, Young People and Climate Change – where we believe we can make a significant and positive impact across our footprint. We are confident that our refocused Strategy will benefit our customers, communities and society, over the longer-term."

Highlights found in the 2018 report include:

Trust - Building and enhancing trust by acting with integrity in everything that we do.

• Scotiabank was the only Canadian Bank to be recognized on the 2018 global Top 25 World's Best Workplaces list.
• Recognized as the global 'Industry Mover' by RobecoSAM for Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America inclusion in 2018, and highest year-over-year point gain across our industry.

Economic Inclusion - Enabling economic inclusion for our customers and employees.

• Recognized by Thomson Reuters 2018 Diversity & Inclusion Index and the 2019 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index for our work on Diversity & Inclusion
• We launched the Scotiabank Women Initiative to advance women-led businesses in Canada through access to capital, education and membership.

Climate Change - Supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy.

• Provided more than $8.5 billion in financing in 2018 to the renewable energy sector, an increase from $4.7 billion in 2017.
• Scotiabank has started to implement the recommendations from the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and a full report on our work can be found in the 2018 Annual Report and 2018 Sustainable Business Report.

Young People - Supporting young people in the community with resources to shape their future.

• In 2018, Scotiabank contributed more than $80 million to help our communities around the world, through donations, sponsorships and other forms of assistance, with a focus on supporting organizations that are committed to helping young people reach their infinite potential.

Scotiabank utilized the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards framework, fulfilling the requirements of a Core report. Scotiabank also published a 2018 Public Accountability Statement as required by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. In 2018 Scotiabank evolved its Corporate Social Responsibility strategy to Sustainable Business. The 2018 Sustainable Business Report highlights the important work the Bank is doing in the areas of Trust, Climate Change, Economic Inclusion and in support of Young People.

To view Scotiabank's full 2018 Sustainable Business report, please visit: www.scotiabank.com/sustainability.

About Scotiabank

Financial services support economic progress, allow people to pursue ambitions and create more widespread future opportunities. Scotiabank will deliver on this through our focus on Sustainable Business. By paying careful attention to the areas where we feel we can have the biggest impact, we create economic, social and environmental value for our customers, employees, communities and our planet, while also delivering returns for our shareholders. Scotiabank's Sustainable Business strategy highlights four areas where the Bank can make the biggest difference: Trust, Climate Change, Economic Inclusion and Young People. To read more about our Sustainable Business strategy visit www.scotiabank.com/sustainability.

Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in the Americas. We are dedicated to helping our more than 25 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 98,000 employees and assets of over $1 trillion (as at January 31, 2019), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

SOURCE Scotiabank