LETHBRIDGE, AB - April 08, 2016 /CNW/ - Representatives from Scotiabank joined His Worship, Mayor Chris Spearman for a ceremonial ground-breaking at the site of the planned Scotiabank Regional Banking Centre in downtown Lethbridge today at the corner of 1^st Avenue and 3^rd Street.

The new Regional Banking Centre will provide customers with access to Scotiabank's retail banking on the main floor, Scotiabank's Commercial Banking services and Scotia Wealth Management on the second floor, all in a one convenient location in downtown Lethbridge.

"We have served the Lethbridge community since 1912," said Dennis Opinko, District Vice President, Alberta South District. "Our new Regional Banking Centres are designed to provide our customers with all the banking services that they need -- from advice-based services to self-serve amenities, as well as Scotiabank's Commercial and Scotia Wealth Management services all under one roof. We look forward to serving a wider array of our customers' banking needs from this new, modern facility conveniently located in the downtown core."

"The announcement of Scotiabank's Regional Banking Centre development in the City of Lethbridge is great news for our community. The investment highlights Scotiabank's focus on servicing the needs of the residents of Lethbridge through an enhanced customer banking experience," said His Worship, Mayor Chris Spearman, Mayor of Lethbridge.

The Scotiabank Lethbridge Main Branch at 702 3^rd Avenue South and the ScotiaMcLeod Inc. office at 319 4 Street South and customer accounts will transition to the new Scotiabank Regional Banking Centre. In addition to housing more of Scotiabank's financial services in one location, this new facility is equipped with ample parking and a drive-thru ABM for greater customer convenience.

Scotiabank expects to open the doors of its new Regional Banking Centre the spring of 2017.

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 89,000 employees and assets of $920 billion (as at January 31, 2016), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using CNW. For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.