MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - April 27, 2015) - BMO Financial Group, which will celebrate its 200th anniversary on November 3, 2017, today announced its association with the Montréal en Histoires project as its presenting sponsor. The partnership includes BMO sponsorship of the Montréal en Histoires mobile app, the Jouez avec l'histoire educational component and the Cité Mémoire work, which will be presented in Old Montreal beginning on May 17, 2016.
"We are proud of our Montreal roots and to be associated with this innovative, creative, technology-driven project that will enable us to relive Montreal's history and together celebrate its 375th anniversary and BMO's 200th anniversary," said L. Jacques Ménard, President of BMO Financial Group, Quebec, at the launch of the Montréal en Histoires project at Montreal's Phi Centre. "Our partnership with Montreal en Histoires once again demonstrates that at BMO 'We're here to help.'"
Mr. Ménard noted the project's various platforms, which are built around three main pillars:
- A media work, Cité Mémoire, which will consist of multi-surface projections in Montreal's historic district and feature some 20 tableaux related either to a period in Montreal's history or to a particular theme. The work will debut in May 2016
- A techno-historical pedestrian circuit for discovering the historic district through a mobile app that incorporates cutting-edge technology, in particular geolocation. Beginning in June 2015, users will be able to experience Montréal en Histoires and access some 50 places of interest and 12 augmented reality sites in Old Montreal
- Jouez avec l'histoire, a series of educational activities aimed at the young and not so young. The activities feature dedicated English- and French-language platforms for primary and secondary school students and teachers that offer six learning and evaluation situations relating to Montreal's history.
"The exceptional and innovative nature of this project was apparent to me at my very first meeting with Martin Laviolette, the idea man behind Montréal en Histoires, and with the great artists Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon, who conceived of the Cité Mémoire work in collaboration with author Michel-Marc Bouchard," Mr. Ménard said. "It was equally apparent when I met some of the artisans who have helped advance the project and bring its various phases to life."
To mark BMO's 200th anniversary, Montréal en Histoires will produce a three-minute augmented-reality capsule connecting BMO's history with that of Montreal. In addition, a Cité Mémoire tableau chronicling the history of business and finance in Montreal will be projected on the east wall of the BMO building located at 129 Saint Jacques Street at Place d'Armes.
Montréal en Histoires will also carry out various international promotional activities to spotlight the Cité Mémoire work and, in so doing, project Montreal and its history onto the world stage.
"This exciting project is an example of Montreal's creative genius, which is contributing to the city's renaissance and to the celebration of our rich history," added Mr. Menard, leader of the "I see mtl" project which grew out of the February 2014 BMO-BCG report on revitalizing Montréal.
About BMO's History in Montreal
Canada's first bank, Bank of Montreal opened its doors on November 3, 1817, in rented offices on Saint Paul Street in Montreal. It soon moved to a building on the corner of Saint François Xavier and Saint James streets, the current location of the institution's Place d'Armes complex. From that moment on, the bank played an active role in many projects that spurred the growth of Montreal, Quebec and Canada, including the construction of the Lachine Canal, of Canada's first railway (the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad), of the first telegraph service and of the Canadian Pacific transcontinental railway. It was also the creator of the first Canadian currency, which it issued from its founding until the creation of the Bank of Canada in 1935.
About BMO Financial Group
Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services organization based in North America. The bank offers a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers. BMO Financial Group had total assets of approximately $672 billion as of January 31, 2015, and more than 46,000 employees.
