An extraordinary week | Looking ahead

Last week was extraordinary. The arrival of COVID-19 to North America and Europe, and the ongoing global energy price war, has impacted billions of people and rocked financial markets. There can be no doubt that we are living through a very serious period; days, weeks and months destined to make 2020 a defining year in history. 

While the short-term economic outlook is very different than it was a week ago, I have tremendous confidence in our future. Here’s why:

•  The banking systems of North America are among the strongest and best regulated in the world. Whether you bank with BMO or one of our competitors you can count on your bank as a source of economic strength, stability and confidence
• Through the first 203 years we’ve been in business, BMO’s customers have persevered and emerged stronger from many periods of significant change; and we’ve been there every step of the way to serve them. The same guiding principles that delivered us through those events inspire our response today: we keep the safety of our customers and employees paramount, and we stay relentlessly focused on helping our customers
• BMO and our team of 45,000 employees has your back. We’re going to tackle this health crisis and economic challenge together 

For our employees: You are the engine that drives BMO forward. As providers of a service essential to supporting our economy, the focus you’re bringing to serving our customers while balancing taking the right precautions to protect yourselves, your friends and your families, is inspirational. Leaders across our company are working hard to protect you and our customers. We are closely following the lead of our public health authorities here and here and adapting rapidly to their guidance.

For our customers: We’re here to help. We will work with you to provide flexible solutions on a case-by-case basis to help you manage your personal finances and businesses through this challenging time. If you regularly visit a BMO branch, during this period, please consider taking advantage of the full range of ways we can serve you, whether that’s through our ATMs, digital app, website or speaking with one of our bankers over the phone. You can find out more about the many ways you can connect with us here. To protect you and our employees we are quickly enabling as many of our colleagues as possible to work from home, while ensuring that you continue to have access to essential banking services.

For our government leaders: Please keep communicating, clearly and often. We all want to hear from you and we’re standing ready for your guidance. We’ve seen some good fiscal and monetary policy announcements from Canadian and American leaders that will make our economies meaningfully more resilient and positioned to recover. We’ve been working closely with government officials and I can tell you they’re intensely focused on leading us through this period, that the work is far from done, and I am confident they’re on it with the urgency required. Let’s get behind them and help them do their job.

For our friends and neighbours: it’s times like these when we all recognize that our citizenship means much more than a nationality listed on a passport. When we come together as citizens to take on common challenges we can be unbelievably strong. While it is too soon to say ‘this too shall pass’ I know that with every one of us pulling in the same direction we can accomplish big things. 

On behalf of Team BMO, we’re ready to take on this fight with you.

#proudtoworkatBMO