BMO donates $10M to charity
Money will be used to create opportunities through GTA United Way
The Bank of Montreal is committing $10 million to help economic development in Toronto neighbourhoods, hoping to bridge the collection of islands segregated by income that now make up the GTA.
The bank is partnering with the United Way Greater Toronto in the initiative. The $10-million donation is the largest corporate commitment ever for the United Way Greater Toronto.
The two organizations on Thursday convened a table of business leaders that includes representatives from across the private sector and John Honderich, chair of the Torstar board, to look for solutions to this inequality.
While Toronto used to be known as the city of neighbourhoods, growing income inequality means some people are “stubbornly stuck” in “islands” without economic opportunities, said Daniele Zanotti, president and CEO of the United Way Greater Toronto.
“With middle-income neighbourhoods disappearing, increasingly, postal code determines success,” he said.
The $10 million will be used to “to not only transform individuals and lives, but to transform entire neighbourhoods at scale, with inclusive economic development,” Zanotti added.
The exact neighbourhoods and programs are still to be de- termined, and the bank’s leadership table, which will be chaired by Zanotti and Bank of Montreal CEO Darryl White, will be part of that process.
The first meeting of the leadership table will be in October and the money will be spent over five years.
The partnership will look to examples from other cities where redevelopment projects have been designed to create long-term jobs for residents, such as the London Crossrail project in the U.K.
Another example is in the American city of Cleveland, where local hospitals are using their dollars to support employee-owned businesses that provide things like laundry services.
They’re looking to bring “siloed” planning, economic development, and social infrastructure together said Zanotti, to create “sustainable economic development in neighbourhoods, not one-offs but long term.”
“We’re going to see if we can co-create some really tangible solutions,” added the Bank of Montreal’s White.
“It’s time for action.”