BMO donates $1 million to the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation

BMO is donating $1 million to the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation to enable the creation of the Chinatown Storytelling Centre, the first permanent space of its kind in Canada. The 4,000 sq. ft. centre will be an immersive space to present stories of early Chinese immigrants whose resilience reshaped not only their own lives but played a critical role in the building of Canada. As part of BMO’s founding sponsorship of the Chinatown Storytelling Centre, the main exhibit space will be named BMO Hall.

The Storytelling Centre’s physical location has a special tie to BMO. In 2017, the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation purchased a former BMO branch, located on Pender Street in Vancouver.

BMO’s long history within Vancouver’s Chinatown

BMO is proud to have marked several firsts with the Chinese community, most notably as the first national financial institution in Canada to serve the Vancouver Chinatown community. A respected member of the Chinatown community, Tommy Mah, was appointed the first Bank Manager of Asian descent in Canada. His story is told as part of the BMO feature exhibit to coincide with the opening of the Chinatown Storytelling Centre this fall. Check out part of the story in the video below.

This donation is aligned to our Purpose and commitment to Zero Barriers to Inclusion – which we’ve been doing from the beginning with our strong support and connection to the Asian community both in Vancouver and across our footprint.

Learn more about BMO’s Community Giving.