News Release Archive
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/TOURISM--CALL CENTRE TRAINING AT NS COLLEGE
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Scotiabank will invest $8.1 million to establish its new call
centre in Halifax and spend an additional $7 million per year in
operating costs.
The centre will employ 150 people in its first year of
operations, with the potential to expand as the workload demands.
Scotiabank made the announcement today at a news conference in
Halifax.
At the same time, the province announced it will invest $1
million to establish new training programs for the financial
teleservice industry. It will also spend $1.3 million for
recruitment and customized training of Nova Scotians who will
work at the new Scotiabank centre.
"Our partnership with Scotiabank will create an exciting new
facility and strengthen our entire financial services industry,"
said Premier John Savage. "This new training program will give
Nova Scotia a great competitive advantage."
"This initiative is an outstanding example of public and private
sector co-operation," said Jack Keith, senior vice-president,
Atlantic region, Scotiabank. "The province's commitment to
offering first-class education and training facilities for call
centre operations played a key role in our decision to locate our
centre here, and building on our proud 165-year history in Nova
Scotia."
Said Richie Mann, economic development and tourism minister:
"This project reaffirms that Nova Scotia is a good place to do
business. We compete nationally for jobs of this calibre and
employing 150 people in the first year will strengthen our
economy. Jobs are important and the government is committed to
fostering that growth."
Mr. Keith explained that locating the call centre in Halifax
offered several additional advantages for Scotiabank.
First of all, locating in Halifax allows us to take advantage of
the administrative framework and services we already have in
place for Scotiabank's Atlantic regional office," he said.
"Second, Halifax is a logical fit into our network of call
centres in Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, positioning the bank to
better serve Atlantic Canada.
"Third, we appreciated the commitment and dedication of
Connections Nova Scotia Partnership to the project."
"Our Connections Nova Scotia Partnership has been working very
closely with Scotiabank and its agents for almost a year now,
discussing teleservice opportunities and the benefits of a Nova
Scotia location," said Murray McIsacc, MT&T vice-president, major
accounts. "It was a very competitive process, especially over the
last several months, so it's extremely satisfying to see those
efforts result in yet further business growth within our
province."
Nova Scotia Community College will provide customized training
for people who will work in the new Scotiabank centre. The
college will also be a primary partner in the development and
delivery of new training for the whole financial teleservice
industry.
"The Nova Scotia Community College is proud to be the training
provider for this exciting new project," said college president
Jack Buckley. "This is another opportunity to enhance the skills
of Nova Scotia's qualified workforce to better meet the specific
needs of the growing financial teleservice industry.
The centre, expected to begin operations in January 1998, will
handle calls primarily from Atlantic Canada and will serve as a
backup centre for calls from other regions during peak periods.
It will provide customers with telephone and correspondence
services relating to a broad range of products, including VISA,
mortgages, mutual funds, RRSPs and, eventually, PC banking
services.
"Telephone banking has become very popular with our customers,"
commented Mr. Keith. "The number of calls has increased by more
than 60 per cent this year alone, with our call centres across
the country now handling more than one million calls per month."
Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial
institutions, with more than $176 billion in assets and more than
34,500 employees worldwide. It is also Canada's most
international bank, with 1,468 branches and offices in 48
countries on five continents. Scotiabank is on the World Wide Web
at http://www.scotiabank.ca
Audio of the remarks will be available on the Economic
Development and Tourism website at
https://novascotia.ca/ecor/press/1997/07bank.htm
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Contacts: Hugh Cameron
Scotiabank
416-866-4989
Rick Alexander
Economic Development and Tourism
902-424-0927
Wilma Butts
Nova Scotia Community College
902-424-2524
Deborah Hashey
Connections Nova Scotia
902-493-3139
sab July 10, 1997 10:40 a.m.
