TORONTO, May 16, 2022 /CNW/ - The Scotiabank Women Initiative® (SWI) today announced it has increased its commitment to deploy capital to women-owned and women-led businesses in Canada to $10 Billion by 2025. Building on its initial $3 Billion deployment, which was fulfilled ahead of schedule last year, the program has further enhanced its contribution which today is over $4 Billion in capital deployment. 

"We've seen incredible success and growth in The Scotiabank Women initiative in its first three-years, with over $4 billion in capital deployed to date and thousands of women engaged across Canada," says Dan Rees, Scotiabank's Group Head of Canadian Banking. "In response to the pandemic, we surpassed our original commitment early, as we helped women entrepreneurs transition to a virtual environment during unprecedented economic challenges. With a renewed $10 Billion commitment, we are furthering the Bank's mission to advance women-led businesses, which are essential components to the recovery of the Canadian economy."

Read more about the success and growth of the Scotiabank Women Initiative here.

The Scotiabank Women Initiative has accomplished many key milestones since inception, including:

• Engaged +13,000 women-led entrepreneurs across the country through Un-Mentorship Boot Camps™ and Mentorship sessions that help women increase their business savvy by networking and exploring business challenges.
• Collaborated with +15 organizations including StrikeUP, The Forum, Réseau des Femmes d'affaires du Québec and MNP.
• Integrated The Scotiabank Women Initiative into several of its key business lines including Global Banking and Markets (GBM), Global Wealth Management (GWM) and International Banking (IB)
• Delivered tailored programs designed specifically for women-led businesses in Jamaica and Costa Rica.
• Inaugurated Women in Auto Accelerator, a first-of-its-kind mentoring and networking accelerator program to help women build their careers in the Quebec automotive industry.
• Initiated The Scotiabank Women Initiative® Mentor Program, Powered by The Forum, which pairs early-stage and established women entrepreneurs with business leaders and experienced entrepreneurs for one-to-one mentorship.
• Launched The Scotiabank Women Initiative Digital Hub in collaboration with Shopify, Google Canada, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Facebook and HubSpot to deliver key resources to help women entrepreneurs adapt to uncertain economic times.

As part of its increased commitment, The Scotiabank Women Initiative will continue to help women in more ways to pursue their best professional and financial futures by providing unbiased access to capital and tailored solutions, bespoke specialized education, holistic advisory services, and mentorship.

For more information on The Scotiabank Women Initiative, visit www.scotiabankwomeninitiative.com.

The Scotiabank Women Initiative is a signature program designed to increase economic opportunity for our clients who identify as women or non-binary to be successful, now and in the future. This globally expanding, unique offering helps thousands of women pursue their best professional and financial futures by providing unbiased access to capital and tailored solutions, bespoke specialized education, holistic advisory services and mentorship. Whether supporting women to take their careers and businesses further, collaborating with inclusion-focused leaders and companies, providing women-owned and women-led businesses with equitable access to funding or helping women take charge of their finances, The Scotiabank Women Initiative breaks down barriers to empower women to succeed on their own terms. For more information, visit scotiabankwomeninitiative.com.

Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our purpose: "for every future", we help our customers, their families and their communities achieve success 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 approximately 90,000 employees and assets of approximately $1.2 trillion (as at January 31, 2022), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/personal.html and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

SOURCE Scotiabank