BMO Financial Group is donating more than $2 million to neighborhood programs throughout British Columbia in 2017, announced the bank June 19. These donations will mark BMO's 200th year in business.

Among the community organizations that will benefit from BMO’s donations are:

• The Vancouver Public Library to go towards renovation and development of the 8^th and 9^th floors;
• Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation to help with expansion of several spaces in the hospital;
• Penticton Regional Hospital towards construction of the new patient tower;
• Peace Arch Hospital towards the renovation and expansion of the ER unit; and
• Ronald McDonald House to support the construction of a new House. BMO's gift will be earmarked for the naming of one of the Family Rooms.

"We are so pleased to mark our bicentennial year with a number of community initiatives and donations in the province, that reinforce the bank's legacy of giving back," said Michael Bonner, Senior Vice President and Regional Head, B.C. & Yukon Division, BMO Bank of Montreal in a statement. "We're proud to be Canada's first bank, and to continue to have a positive impact on the customers and areas where we do business."

Bonner added that BMO plans to announce an additional $2 million in B.C. donations over the next few months to close out the bicentennial year.