Our philosophy of strong corporate citizenship is demonstrated in some 50 countries where we operate. In 2007, we contributed more than $8 million to causes that mirror our community giving focus in Canada, including health, education and social services.

Scotiabank’s community involvement is greatly strengthened by the volunteerism and fundraising efforts of our international employees, who support relevant causes in their communities, including urgent calls for aid during crises or natural disasters.

Here are a few examples of our international community spirit:

• In the aftermath of a devastating earthquake which cut off Peruvian coastal communities from food, water and adequate shelter, Scotiabank announced a US$150,000 donation to the Canadian Red Cross to help send urgently need supplies to thousands of homeless families.
• When Hurricane Dean ravaged Caribbean and Central American nations last August, Scotiabank provided a Cdn$530,000 donation to relief agencies in each affected country to provide emergency supplies to residents and help re-establish essential services.
• After the Tabasco region of southern Mexico was struck by severe flooding that inundated at least 70 per cent of the low-lying state, Scotiabank contributed Cdn$50,000 to international Red Cross relief efforts. Employees also contributed to a special fund to support affected co-workers in Mexico. Scotiabank branches in Canada also collected customer and public donations to the Red Cross Mexican Relief Fund.
• In 2007 Scotiabank de Costa Rica became a major sponsor of a program to deliver copies of newspapers to public high schools targeted by the Ministry of Public Education for English-language education. For example, Scotiabank provides 280 newspapers each week to San José’s Moravia high school and sends Bank employee volunteers to teach classes and chat with students.
• With the World Health Organization estimating that 39.5 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS, Scotiabank and its employees in the Caribbean are committed to addressing this growing health threat. The regionally-based, employee-led campaign began in 2005 as the result of a challenge issued by Scotiabank President & CEO Rick Waugh to confront the growing social and economic issue through prevention and educational initiatives. Since then, Scotiabank teams in at least eight Caribbean countries have created year-round initiatives to raise awareness, help finance agencies that support HIV/AIDS patients and reduce the stigmatism and discrimination against afflicted members of the community and workforce. Scotiabank partners with governments, unions. trade organizations and educational institutions to target the issue, including events to mark United Nations’ World AIDS Day on December 1st.