The Bank of Nova Scotia ($BNS)

Please welcome Mr. Aaron Regent, Chair of ScotiaBank's Board of Directors.

Thank you. And good morning, everyone. As he just said, my name is Aaron Regent, and I am the Chair of your Board of Directors. Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and welcome. We'll begin by recognizing that we are on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the [indiscernible], the [indiscernible], the [indiscernible] and the [indiscernible] Peoples. Across Canada, we acknowledge the traditional territories of the First Nations, Inuit, and [ Matas ] people who call these lands home. As Chair, I am proud that Scotiabank continues to progress in its journey of reconciliation by building momentum through education and deepening trust in communities across [indiscernible] Island. Through our truth and reconciliation action plan, the bank is committed to continue partnership with the [indiscernible] to remove systemic barriers to economic [indiscernible] participation and the past made it difficult for indigenous people to have access to banking services and in [indiscernible] the financial industry. This year, we followed through on our action plan by operationalizing 11 of our 37 commitments, driving social and economic outcomes for indigenous peoples in Canada. As Scotiabank continues down this path of reconciliation, we stay committed to listening, learning and the consistent actions necessary to help drive prosperity for future generations of indigenous peoples. Now it is my pleasure to welcome you to Scotiabank's 194th Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders. As we have done in the past, we are proud to offer today's meeting in both of Canada's official languages for all participants. For those of you joining us in person, simultaneous interpretation headsets can be found just outside the [indiscernible] in this room. If you don't have a headset and would like one, please raise your hand and one of the ushers will bring one to you. English is Channel 1 and French is Channel 2. For those of you joining us online through the webcast you may choose the language of the webcast interface in the right -- top right of the broadcast screen and the language of the streaming audio in the bottom left side of the broadcast stream. Sign language interpretation is also available, in the room today, and we are offering closed captioning on the webcast in both French and English. I will now ask that you please turn all personal communication devices to silent or private. I want to extend a warm welcome to everyone joining us today in Toronto and by webcast. Thank you for taking the time to be with us today. We continue to make every effort to host the meeting in a manner that promotes shareholder participation, by providing the options for shareholders to attend online or in person and vote their shares and [indiscernible] questions regardless of their method of participation at the meeting. Now please allow me to introduce the members of Scotiabank's management team who will be presented today. Scott Thomson, our President and CEO, and Jaime Larry, Vice President, Bank Governance and Corporate Secretary. In accordance with the bylaws of the bank, I as Chair of Board will act as Chair of this meeting, and Jaime Larry will act as Secretary. I appoint [ Terra Israelian ] and Colin Nielsen of Computershare Trust Company of Canada and scrutineers. I received proof that notice has been duly given and that a quorum is present. As such, this meeting is duly constituted. Please note that in advance of today's meeting, the bank has asked certain employees to move and second the motions for shareholders' consideration today. These individuals are shareholders or duly appointed proxy holders of the bank, and we do this to facilitate the introduction of motions. I'll now ask Jamie to speak to some of the procedure items for today's meeting.

Thank you, Aaron. For those shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders who have not voted in advance, Voting will be available throughout the meeting until the formal items of business are concluded. To facilitate the voting procedure on the items of business coming for today's meeting for those shareholders attending in person, there will be one ballot. A ballot will be provided to any registered shareholder who has either not completed a proxy form or would like to vote on a motion in person rather than by a previously delivered proxy. Any person appointed as proxy by a shareholder who has not indicated voting instructions on the proxy form may also request a ballot. If you would like a ballot, please raise your hand now so that they may be handed to you by the scrutineers. Completed ballots will be collected by the scrutineers following the voting on the shareholder proposals. Also, please ensure that you print your name clearly on the ballot and sign it. Instructions on how to submit your votes online are available under the Home icon on the top left side of your screen, if you are watching the webcast, in the rules of conduct and the document icon at the top left side of your screen and also in the AGM user guide located on the bank's Annual Report and Annual General Meeting web page. If you are attending in person, please refer to the leaflet that was provided at the entrance to this room. The items to be voted on are: the election of directors, the appointment of the auditor, the amendment to By-law No. 1 regarding directors' compensation, the administrative amendments to By-law No. 1, the advisory vote on executive compensation and the shareholder proposals. Each item of business that will be put before this meeting will be voted on by ordinary resolution requiring a majority of the votes cast for approval. The exception to this is the amendment to By-law No. 1 regarding reactor's compensation, which will be voted on by a special resolution requiring at least 2/3 of the votes cast for approval. We will provide the preliminary voting results during today's meeting, and the final voting results will be available after the meeting.

Thank you, Jamie. We will be conducting the meeting in accordance with our rules of conduct. I also note that questions may be raised by shareholders and duly appointed press holders through the various channels made available today. Shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders attending in person are invited to approach one of the standing microphones in the room or if easier, please raise your hand and a microphone will be brought to you. I ask that you hold your comments and questions until the appropriate time in the meeting. Shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders are also able to ask questions through the webcast by selecting the messaging tab and either typing the question in the box at the top of the screen or type in your phone number in the box to indicate that you would like to ask your question over the phone. I've asked Jamie to read out questions submitted through the web chat. The agenda for today's meeting can be found in the leaflet that was provided at the entrance of the room. As in previous years, we will have a general question period at the end of the meeting. If you have a question on the business of the meeting, shareholders and proxy holders submitting questions online are encouraged to submit their questions as soon as possible during the meeting so that we can do our best to address them at the appropriate time. For those attending online, and wishing to ask questions over the phone after you are prompted to provide your phone number, please ensure that you also note the subject matter of your question so that we can do our best to address it again at the appropriate time during the meeting. To facilitate the timely conduct of our business and to ensure that all shareholders who wish to raise issues at the meeting have an opportunity to do so, I would ask that each speaker focus or question on the topic under discussion at the time. And also please be brief and concise limiting their comments to 3 minutes. We also request that anyone wishing to ask a question limit themselves to one question at a time until other shareholders have had an opportunity to ask a question. Questions should be of a general nature as this is a shareholders meeting. Client or personal questions can be directed to one of the contacts on the back of the proxy circular. Bank representatives will also be available after the meeting to answer any additional client or personal questions from in-person attendees. As we will be receiving questions through multiple channels, we do appreciate your patience. If there are several questions on the same topic, we may group these together. We endeavor to answer all the questions during the meeting. However, any questions that cannot be answered and that have been properly put before the meeting, we will post answers on our website as soon as practical after the meeting. For those attending online who are asking questions over the phone, if for some reason, we are not able to address your question during the meeting, please use the web chat to submit your question or reach out to the Corporate Secretary using the contact information on the proxy circular. On behalf of your fellow shareholders, I thank you in advance for your cooperation. Before we turn to [indiscernible] business, I would like to thank you our shareholders for your continued commitment to Scotiabank. 2025 was an important year for the bank. Under leadership of President and CEO, Scott Thomson, the bank has built a solid foundation for future growth, allocating capital to priority markets, prudently managing operating expenses and strengthening the capabilities that support long-term performance. At the same time, the bank continued its shift from volume to value, and is focused on proving products and services and diversified its business mix to advance Scotiabank's North Star of client primacy. Together, these actions have driven strong progress towards the bank's medium-term objectives, even as we've continued to navigate a challenging economic and geopolitical environment. While Scott will speak more about the bank's progress in his prepared remarks, I would like to recognize the Board's role in support of the bank's strategic execution and the important work that was -- that has been done over the past year. The Board continued to engage with many of the bank's shareholders on matters such as governance, sustainability and leadership. These discussions remain an important part of our role, particularly as shareholder expectations evolve, and they help ensure we maintain strong governance and effective oversight of the bank's operations. We also established a new technology committee this year to oversee the bank's technology strategy, technology-based risk management and technology investment and innovation. As the pace of change continues to increase, oversight of cybersecurity and the ethical use of data and artificial intelligence are key areas of focus for this committee. We also remain highly engaged with the bank's management team and providing oversight and stewardship of the bank as it advances its priorities, and we look forward to continued progress in the year ahead. It is truly my pleasure to serve the bank and you, our shareholders, as Chair of our highly qualified and engaged Board of Directors. And I look forward to continuing to meet and engage with all of you on various matters in the year ahead. On behalf of the entire Board, I would also like to acknowledge the Scotiabankers across our global footprint who worked tirelessly to deliver for the bank's clients, shareholders and the communities in which the bank operates. As a Board, we remain confident in the path that the bank is on today as it continues to execute its strategy and create long-term value for all its stakeholders. Now before we turn to the first item of business, I would like to point out that discussions during today's meeting may contain forward-looking statements about the bank's outlook and objectives and our strategies to achieve them. The bank's actual results could differ materially from expectations discussed. They also be references to non-GAAP measures. The details of our warning regarding forward-looking statements and non-GAAP measures are behind me and on the webcast screen. They can also be found in the bank's first quarter report to shareholders. I would now like to invite Scotiabank's President and CEO, Scott Thompson, to address the meeting.

Good morning. It is a pleasure to welcome our shareholders here in Toronto this morning. Thank you for your continued confidence during such an important time for our bank and for the country. Over the past year, I've spent time across Canada and our broader footprint, meeting small business owners and corporate and commercial clients as they navigate this period and decide how best to steer their enterprise through it. On a recent approach into Vancouver Airport, I look down at the stacks of shipping containers lined up at the port and was struck by the power of simplicity. For much of the last century, trade faced a basic problem. Goods moved across oceans, but ports handled cargo differently. Ships would arrive and teams of dock workers would get to work breaking them down, pallet by pallet, crate by crate, barrel by barrel. Every ship was unpacked, sorted and reloaded by hand. It was labor-intensive and time-consuming. Global trade was not constrained because of a lack of demand but because of a lack of a common standard. Then a civil idea changed everything, the shipping container, one box that could move from sea to rail, to road, align global trade and something remarkable happened. Speed increased, costs fell and scale became possible. That idea, that alignment matters as much as ambition has guided how we have run the bank over the past 2 years. Just as the shipping container transform trade by harmonizing how the system operated, our focus has been on simplifying, standardizing and sharpening how we deploy capital and serve clients. And the results are clear: stronger earnings improving returns and a balance sheet built for resilience. Across the bank, we've shifted from volume to value, moving from leading with our loan book to building deeper, more meaningful client relationships. We ended the year with an adjusted return on equity of 12.5%, up nearly 200 basis points year-over-year. We told the market we expect to reach our medium-term return on equity target of 14% plus in 2027, 1-year ahead of plan. And in the first quarter of this year, we've already reached 13%. Our net income was up 10% in 2025, helped by strong revenue growth and good expense control. We have repurchased 20 million shares over the past year and we intend to continue repurchasing shares in the quarters ahead. Taken together, this has helped to drive a total shareholder return north of 35% in 2025. The introduction of the shipping container shows us that innovation on its own is often not enough, but rather what you do with it through processes, approaches or ideas that help a system scale. That's the lens we're applying across the bank from how we attract primary clients to how we modernize platforms. One of our core areas of focus continues to be growing primacy. And over the last 2 years, we've added more than 400,000 retail primary clients across Canada and our international footprint. These are clients for whom we meet their core banking needs who actively use our products and who are engaged digitally. In Canada, many of these clients are coming to the bank through our innovative Mortgage+ program, which now represents more than 90% of new mortgage originations. Mortgage+ is a customizable banking proposition that gives clients access to preferred mortgage rates. We were also excited to welcome iconic Canadian brand Shell, to our Scene+ program this year, unlocking new ways for members to save and earn rewards on everyday essentials like fuel, groceries, entertainment, fuel and of course, banking. In our International footprint, we completed the transfer of our banking operations in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama to Latin American Bank [ Deva Vienda ] in exchange for an approximate 20% ownership stake in the combined entity. The transaction, which closes in December -- closed in December reflects our commitment to optimize our International Banking business by focusing on those countries which we can grow and scale. Our Global Banking and Markets business has been investing in new capabilities with our business in the United States now growing to 12% of the bank's total earnings in 2025. And in our Global Wealth Management business, we've seen a 14-point improvement in our Net Promoter Score since we launched our strategy in 2023. And this is one of our key metrics we use to measure client satisfaction. Within the bank, we focused on technology investments that are redefining how Scotiabank serves clients, how our teams work and how we create long-term value, allowing us to compete and win in a rapidly changing landscape. We have now launched our enterprise approach to data and AI, which we call ScotiaIntelligence. Through ScotiaIntelligence, we are building for where AI is going, not where it was. It unifies our most advanced tools and capabilities to turn information into actionable insights at scale, accelerate decision-making and drive a more agile, connected and high-performing organization. As part of these efforts, we are putting the power of assistive AI tools into the hands of all our employees to help them make faster, more informed decisions so that we can deliver better outcomes for our clients now and into the future. All of our efforts have helped to build a strong foundation that is prepared and equipped to support our clients in whatever lies ahead and to continue delivering sustainable long-term returns for you, our shareholders. Just as a shipping container reshape the economic map, today's technological and geopolitical shifts are reshaping it again. The implications for Canada and our clients are profound, guiding where investment flows and how risk is managed. In the International Monetary Fund's most recent check-in on Canada's economic health, it found the country to be economically resilient. In fact, Canada is faring better than might have been feared. But resilience on its own does not create prosperity. . The IMF message is that productivity, investment and policy clarity now matter more than ever. Growth won't come from demand alone, but rather from restoring investor confidence that gets capital flowing and boost Canada's capacity to deliver on today's national priorities. This includes energy and resource infrastructure, defense, housing supply and innovation. In other words, the demand is here. The capital exists but misalignment between policy, infrastructure and investment still holds Canada back. Those same geopolitical ships have also sparked long overdue conversation about Canada's economic framework. Leaders have galvanized around a deliberate pro-growth agenda focused on trade diversification and long-term prosperity. Last year at this meeting, I said that this is Canada's moment to point itself in the right direction, to be more deliberate about growth, investment and competitiveness. Since then, the federal government has referred more than 20 initiatives to the major projects office with countless other smaller scale projects receiving investment or support to help get them off the ground or accelerate their impact. Many businesses too have shown a renewed optimism about the path Canada is on, and it will take those same businesses stepping up and investing with confidence to unleash the country's potential. That confidence matters because Canada has set an ambitious goal to unlock up to $1 trillion in investment over the next 5 years. That investment is key to building infrastructure expanding industrial capacity and strengthening long-term growth. If achieved, it would be transformational for the economy. It would boost real GDP growth by 2%, driving a meaningful improvement in living standards in this country to the tune of approximately $1,200 per person per year in real income. It is also this type of ambition that is necessary admits an ongoing period of economic dislocation. Public capital can help set the direction, but it is private investment that will make this a reality. Today, the world is converging on a shared view of Canada's opportunity. The recent conflict in the Middle East has served as a reminder that when resources become a geopolitical tool, secure supply trusted partners and long-term capacity matter more than ever. And that puts a premium on more Canada. Nowhere is this clearer than in energy. Just 4 countries, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, hold more than half of global oil reserves with conflict effected countries, including Russia and Libya rounding out the top 10, more than 60% of natural gas reserves sit in the Middle East and Russia. In other words, a large share of the world's supply sits in places where politics can change the reliability and the price overnight. For households, this works its way into heating bills, gas prices and the cost of everyday goods. Before the Middle East conflict, a 1/5 of global oil and LNG moved through the Strait of Hormuz one of the world's most critical choke points. About 1/3 of global seaborne fertilizer passed through that same choke-point at a time when global food demand is only expected to rise. When fertilizer supply tightens or becomes more expensive, it flows straight through to farmers' costs and ultimately into grocery prices. This weaponization of resources also extends to the green energy transition. Half of all critical minerals essential to the energy transition are now intentionally restricted by export controls around the world, while nearly 75% of processing occurs in just one country. Canada is uniquely positioned as a secure, reliable alternative to many of the world's suppliers. We stand apart in the global energy landscape, third globally in oil reserves fourth in production and fifth in natural gas. We are also in the top 3 globally on both current and planned carbon capture and storage capacity. Canada is the second largest producer of uranium and has some of the largest reserves of other key critical minerals such as nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements. Canada accounts for roughly 1/3 of the world's reserves and production of potash, one of the key ingredients in fertilizer. Crucially, these resources sit within a country characterized by strong governance, rule of law and political stability in contrast to many dominant global suppliers. This is especially important as artificial intelligence continues to permeate deeper into everyday business in life with access to affordable and reliable power quickly becoming a key factor in adoption. According to the International Energy Agency, data centers currently consume about 1.5% of total global electricity. That share is expected to double to 3% by 2030. Put differently, this represents half of the projected growth in domestic energy demand over that period, and it won't be a marginal shift. AI's energy use is expected to overtake that of all energy-intensive goods sectors combined, including chemicals, aluminum, steel and cement. In a world where all forms of energy and raw materials will play an increasingly important role. Canada has the resources. Add to that our human capital our highly educated population, our deep financial sector expertise and a quality of life that ranks amongst the best in the world, and we also have the credibility to lead. But investment only moves at scale when systems line up, when capital policy and infrastructure pull, in the same direction. Amidst today's uncertainty the cost of misalignment is higher than it has ever been. That question of alignment matters just as much when we look beyond our borders. In the same way, the shipping container reduced friction by standardizing how trade moved, North America's advantage comes from shared frameworks that let trade and investment flow with confidence. Canada has what the world wants and needs and getting those goods to new markets has become a priority as the country works to diversify its trading relationships. Tangible commitments to do so may also reinforce the government's goal of attracting new investment and getting capital flowing into projects that enable overseas trade. Supporting this growth will mean making transformational investments in marine and air infrastructure and strengthening investments in rail, road and intermodal capacity. This is a generational opportunity that will be essential to securing Canada's economic future. At the same time, it is important to deepen our relationship with our neighbor to the South. Geography matters. 70% of goods leaving the country shipped by road, rail or pipeline Canadian trade is deeply integrated with the United States. The U.S. has always been and will always be a central partner for Canada. And just as Canada needs the U.S. The U.S. needs Canada. It's no coincidence that some $900 billion in goods and services flow between Canada and the U.S. each year in roughly equal proportions. Energy, food and critical inputs move back and forth across the border every day. The United States relies heavily on Canadian energy and potash dependencies that underscore how interconnected our economies truly are, and nearly 8 million U.S. jobs are supported by trade with Canada. More broadly, the Canada, U.S. and Mexico relationship remains one of the most integrated in the world. North America has been the second fastest-growing region over the last 30 years and represents roughly 30% of global GDP. Canada and Mexico are the United States' biggest trade partners, but they are also significant partners to each other. Mexico was the fifth largest purchaser of Canadian goods in 2024 and the third largest source of Canadian imports. Beyond the trade flows, the 3 countries human capital is highly complementary. Lower-cost, highly skilled labor in Mexico coupled with Canada's resource advantage, provides relatively cheaper inputs for American manufacturers, which in turn drive significant innovation and productivity growth. These strong cross-border supply chains have kept jobs in Canada and the U.S. that would have otherwise departed. This is particularly the case in key sectors like automotive, which have benefited from stronger competitiveness while capital flows allow each country's firms to invest in the others, creating further jobs, fueling productivity and generating wealth, whether you're a tomato farmer in Leamington, a fleet owner in Lethbridge, or an auto parts distributor in Laval, trade uncertainty matters. Roughly 3/4 of Canada's economy is now services based, but it is the goods-producing sectors about 1/4 of GDP that absorb most of the friction when trade rules are uncertain. Even relatively modest increases in trade friction can have meaningful economic effects, slowing investment disrupting supply chains and raising cost. This is especially true in sectors like manufacturing, machinery and transportation equipment on all sides of the border that depend most on cross-border flows. When you look at the resource, labor and manufacturing synergies to be found by working as one, it is not less of each other that we need. It's more, particularly in a more fragmented multipolar world, the relative strength that all 3 countries gained from [indiscernible] becomes all the more important. We believe that the renewal of [indiscernible] remains the most likely outcome. The economics of the deal are obvious, but the path to get there may not be linear. The real risk is prolonged misalignment and missed opportunity. As the [indiscernible] review unfolds, the objective should be not only to move quickly to reduce uncertainty, reinforce clear rules and keep North America investable, it should be also to deepen even further to amplify trade and to grow our collective prosperity. Together with broader global trade diversification, Canada will be on a course to thrive. The faster we gain that trade alignment, the faster businesses can commit capital, build capacity and move forward with confidence. Scotiabank intends to be at the center of that alignment. We're built for this moment. We are the fourth largest bank in Mexico and one of the top 10 in North America. We are the only bank that operates at scale in all 3 countries with deep expertise across sectors, including oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, real estate and many others. We are uniquely positioned to support our clients in each of these jurisdictions with an unparalleled ability to support those transacting across the continent. That's one of the reasons that we opened a best-in-class regional office in Dallas this year, a long-term investment in a region that is a hub for North American connectivity. It's why I brought our entire senior leadership team down to Mexico just 2 weeks ago to spend time with our clients and teams and to connect with a market that is so important to our bank. And it's why we're looking forward to hosting clients and officials from across Mexico and Canada as the government of Mexico launches its trade mission to Canada in the weeks ahead. Just as a shipping container caused significant societal shifts as traditional rules were upended, technology has changed and new opportunities emerged, so too will the disruption is reshaping today's global economy. To that end, the way we approach areas like social impact, sustainability and community investment are continuing to evolve. I'm very proud to share that we will disclose our energy supply ratio later this month, which will provide investors with clear insights into the relative balance between our financing of low carbon and conventional energy supply. We will be amongst the first banks globally to disclose both an ESR methodology and a calculated ratio. Importantly, we will also publish a supplementary ESR where natural gas and low carbon energy are recognized as essential to the transition. This is a recognition that all forms of energy, both conventional and alternative will be required to support the global emerging middle class and the unprecedented demand driven by technological advancements like AI. Another area where we're committed to real impact is indigenous economic reconciliation. The relationship between indigenous participation, reconciliation and Canada's economic resurgence is clear. We are focusing on driving real opportunity for indigenous clients and communities and taking an enterprise-wide approach to expanding products and services that further contribute to the prosperity of the indigenous economy and our broader stakeholders. This includes through Cedar Leaf Capital, which is opening doors to new opportunities that support indigenous communities and accessing tailored financial advice, building capital and driving economic development. Our community investment efforts through a $500 million ScotiaRise program will continue to evolve alongside our business strategy. To ensure that we are meeting the economic needs of tomorrow, the program will work to prepare our communities for innovation-driven infrastructure-intensive future. And through all of our efforts inclusion remains foundational. It is central to our culture framework, our ScotiaBond. And as we build the team that will continue to deliver our strategy, diversity of talent, experience and perspective remains a strategic advantage. Taken together, these efforts reflect a bank that is operating with clarity, confident about our role in the world today, and deliberate about the way we drive our impact forward. In the container revolution, the winners weren't the portal, but rather the ones that aligned early around the new economic order and build for scale. That's how we thought about our own journey here at Scotiabank, and it mirrors the path that Canada is on today. As a country and the continent only through alignment will be able to compete and lead globally. Alignment between capital and policy between stability and growth between today's economy and tomorrow's. That's what turns potential into performance, within our bank and across Canada. That's how we'll thrive. And through it all, Scotiabank will be there, partnering with clients, delivering for shareholders and strengthening the communities we serve. Thank you.

Thank you, Scott. Those are great remarks. We will now proceed with the first item of business as set out in the notice of meeting. Copies of the annual report, which contains the bank's 2025 financial statements and auditors report were sent to shareholders in advance of this meeting. You can also obtain a copy of our 2025 annual report, at the entrance to this room or on the website at scotiabank.com. We will now take any questions directly related to the financial statements. Raj Viswanathan, our Group Head and Chief Financial Officer, is here with us today. I'd ask again, please use one of the microphones located in the aisle, or again, raise your hand if you need a microphone brought to you. And please state your name and whether or not you are a shareholder or a proxy holder. Okay. I see no questions in the room. Jamie, have we received any questions online?

We have one question online. It is from a shareholder, Alan Best. He has a few questions. And his first one is deposits, are the foundation for growth in our business. I want to acknowledge the compelling promotional campaign the bank has undertaken to grow deposits in our Canadian Banking and Wealth Management groups. The message was clear and well reinforced in our branches. There were competing campaigns in the marketplace, and I'd be interested to hear management's assessment of our results and also to know where shareholders might look to see the hard numbers resulting from this effort?

Great. Mr. Best, thank you very much for your comments. You always have very good questions. As you know, the core to this strategy is primacy. Primacy with our retail clients or small business clients, our commercial clients and our corporate clients. And to get primacy, you need deposits, core deposits. And so that has been a huge focus for the firm since we launched the strategy. We've made good progress. I think since first quarter 2023, we've added $67 billion in -- to the deposits of the bank. And if you look at 2025 year-over-year deposits in day-to-day, which are the key deposits we're after are up 5%, in line with market. So as a management team, we feel good about where we're heading. And I hope you find that we're being very transparent about that. So as you look at the financial results, as you look at the quarterly conference calls that I do, that's a big area of focus, and we can point you through our IR group to the right area to look, but we're pleased with the progress we're making. So thank you for the question.

I have one question. We have all kinds of problems with the United States. You didn't say anything about how can we solve that? They always want something different, increasing taxes and doing all these nonsense.

Well, first, thank you very much for being a shareholder for 50 years. That's very impressive. And thank you for the faith you put in the bank. We're here to serve you. So thank you very much. I think the U.S., Canada, Mexico relationship is a complicated one right now for reasons that we're seeing in the press. I think the key is to make sure that we don't lose sight of this power of the regional trading block of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. And as I'd mentioned, it's growing quickly. It's 30% of the GDP. There's obvious issues that U.S. has with Canada and Canada has with the U.S. I think we have to stay away from listening to all the rhetoric on television and focus on the data and the stats. And the fact that, in my view, we want to grow and diversify trade with other countries. We should do that for sure, but we also should deepen and amplify the relationship with the U.S. And if we can do that, the economic pie gets better and we all benefit.

There were no further questions online.

Okay. We will now proceed with the election of directors. The Board's role is to oversee management of the bank, ensuring that strong corporate governance practices are in place. Sounded effect that corporate governance is a critical part of the bank's culture and fundamental to our long-term success. Our directors are regional, national and international business and community leaders, with diverse thoughts, perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. As a group, they have been selected based on their integrity, collective skills, and ability to contribute to the broad range of issues the Board considers when overseeing the bank's business and affairs. I would like to thank all of our directors for their commitment, hard work, leadership and counsel to me. I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of [ Dodd Callahan ], who is not standing for reelection this year. His insights and collaborative spirit have been so valuable to the Board and to the bank. [indiscernible], thank you for your service, and we wish you the very best. This year, we are delighted that Antonio Garza is standing for election at today's meeting for the first time. Tony is a senior adviser in the Mexico City office of White & Case LLP, and the former United States Ambassador to Mexico. He's acknowledged expert on U.S.-Mexico relations with a deep understanding of the business and political environments of both countries. Tony has extensive public policy and financial services experience as well as expertise in human capital management, executive compensation, risk management, and sustainability and governance matters. The Board of Directors has fixed the number of directors to be elected at 12 and I confirm that all nominees are eligible for election. We believe we have a board with the right combination of skills, experience and integrity to provide strategic counsel to management and oversee the bank's business and affairs. All of our directors are joining us today either in person or virtually. I will invite Jamie to read the names of the nominees standing for election, and I would ask each nominee who is attending in person to stand as their name is called.

Thank you, Aaron. The nominees for election as directors are: Nora Aufreiter, Guillermo Babatz, Dave Dowrich, Antonio Garza; Michael Medline, Lynn Patterson, Una Power, Aaron Regent, Sandra Stuart, Scott Thompson, Steven Van Wyk Benita Warmbold.

All right. Thank you, David. The Board looks forward to serving our shareholders this year. You will find information on each of our nominated directors on Pages 17 to 23 in both the English and French versions of the bank's management proxy circular. I now call on Michelle Stevens to make the motion for the nominations for directors.

Good morning, Mr. Chair. My name is Michele Stevens, and my pronouns are she/her. Here at Scotiabank, I hold the position of Manager Board Services within the Corporate Secretaries Department. I am a shareholder. It is my pleasure this morning to nominate each of the director nominees as set out in the management proxy circular to be a Director of the bank until the close of the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Michele. Are there any questions or comments about the election of directors? And again, please use one of the microphones in the room or one to be brought to you. And similarly, you can ask a question through the online channel. And again, I ask that you state your name and whether or not you are a shareholder or a proxy holder. Okay. I see no questions in the room. Jamie, any questions online?

We have no questions online.

Okay. I declare the nominations closed. The election of directors is the first item to be voted on. If you have not yet voted, please vote now by selecting either the option for or withhold for each individual director. And I'll pause for a moment so people can complete their voting. [Voting]

Our next item of business is the appointment of the auditor. At the Annual Meeting held on April 8, 2025, shareholders reappointed the firm of KPMG LLP as a shareholder auditor of the bank for the 2025 fiscal period. You will find detailed disclosure on Pages 6 and 7 in both the English and French of the management proxy circular. The Board recommends that KPMG be appointed as the auditor of the bank until the close of the next annual meeting. Avi Verma, Jim Newton and Brent Alison representing KPMG are here in person today. It is a pleasure to welcome them to this meeting. And I would ask that Mr. Verma, Newton and Alison, would you please stand to be recognized. I will now call on David Washburn to make this motion.

Mr. Chairman, my name is David Washburn. I'm Vice President, Executive Compensation worldwide, and I'm a shareholder. I propose that KPMG LLP be appointed auditor of the bank until the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Jamie to second the motion?

I support -- I second the motion.

Okay. Thank you, David. Thank you, Jamie. I will invite shareholders and proxy holders with questions related to the point of the auditors to approach one of the microphones or if your question online, please use one of the online channels. I see no questions in the room, and Jamie, any questions online?

We have no questions online.

Okay. This item of business is the second item to be voted on. For those of you who have not yet voted, please vote now by selecting either the option for or withhold. Our next item of business is the amendment to Section 3.13 of the bank's By-law No. 1 regarding directors' compensation. A description of the proposed amendment and the text of the resolution can be found on Page 8 of the management proxy circular in both -- particularly in both English and French. As noted earlier, to become effective, this resolution must be passed by not less than 2/3 of the votes cast in respect of this resolution. I now call on Andre Guage to make this motion.

Mr. Chair. My name is Andrea Gauge, and my pronouns are she/her. Here at Scotiabank. I'm the Senior Manager of Canadian Banking Communications within Global Corporate Affairs. I am a shareholder. I move that the special resolution to amend Section 3.13 of By-law No. 1 to delete the reference to $5 million and replace it with $7 million as set out in the management proxy circular for this annual and special meeting be confirmed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Great. Thank you. Jamie?

I second the motion.

Okay. Thank you, Andrea, and thank you, Jamie. Shareholders or proxy holders with questions concerning this item to again approach one of the microphones or have one brought to you and similarly use one of the online channels. I see no questions in the room. Any questions online?

We have no questions online.

Okay. This item of business is the third item to be voted on. If you have not yet voted, please vote now by selecting the option for or against. Our next item of business is to confirm administrative amendments to the bank's By-law No. 1. A description of the amendments and the [indiscernible] resolution can be found on Pages 8 and 9 of the management proxy circular in both English and French. I now call on Alex Saint Germain to make this motion.

Hello, Mr. Chair. My name is Alex Saint Germain and my pronouncer she and her. I'm Indigenous Community Relationships Manager here at Scotiabank. I'm also a shareholder. I move that the ordinary resolution for administrative amendments of By-law No. 1 as set out in the management proxy circular for this annual and special meeting, be confirmed. [indiscernible] to Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Jamie?

I second the motion.

All right. Thank you, Alex. Thank you, Jamie. I invite shareholders or proxy holders with questions concerning this item to approach one of the microphones or again, use the online channel. I see no questions in the room.

We have no questions online.

Okay. This item of business is the fourth item to be voted on. And again, if you have not yet voted, please vote now by selecting the option for or against. The next item of business on the agenda is the advisory vote on the bank's approach to executive compensation, commonly known as "say on pay". Our approach to executive compensation is described in detail in the compensation discussion and analysis section on Pages 69 to 115 in the English and Pages 71 to 119 in the French versions of the management proxy circular. Because our annual say and pay as an advisory vote, it is not binding upon the Board. However, the Board and the Human Capital Compensation Committee will take the outcome to the vote into account together with other suggestions that we receive from you when considering future executive compensation arrangements. A resolution on the approach to executive compensation is set out in the management proxy circular on Page 10 and under the heading Advisory Vote on our approach to executive compensation. I now call on Sarah Mohammad to make the motion to approve the bank's executive compensation approach.

Mr. Chair. My name is Sarah Mohammad, and my pronouns are she and her. It's a true pleasure to be the Senior Manager of Global Inclusion, working with the inclusion team to build Scotiabank's culture. I'm a shareholder. I move that the resolution set out in the management proxy circular under the heading Advisory Vote on our approach to executive compensation be passed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Jamie?

I second the motion.

Okay. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you, Jamie. I invite shareholders or proxy holders with questions regarding this item who approach the microphone. I see we have one question.

Mr. Chairman, my name is [indiscernible] representing [ MEDAC ]. Like each year, we are voting against this approach for the same argument -- that is -- the compensation ratio is far higher than the 30x that we recommend for the ratio between the remuneration of the highest paid employees in the bank that should not go beyond 20x to 30x the median employee remuneration. And we would invite all shareholders to vote against this proposal. In fact, one bank is getting there this year. They did achieve a reasonable ratio. So it's possible. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. [indiscernible] I think as we set out in the circular, our approach to executive compensation is to make sure that we're fair and competitive and provide an incentive structure to properly motivate our team. And we think we have a plan in place that does that. And so thank you for your comments. And again, our whole approach to executive conversation is well described in the circular and the rationale behind it, but thank you for your comment. Okay. Jamie, is there any questions online?

We have no questions online.

Okay. This item of business is the fifth item you voted on. If you have not already voted, please vote now by selecting the option for or against. The next item on the agenda is the shareholder proposals. This year, 8 shareholder proposals were submitted for a vote at today's meeting. Shareholders and proxy holders will be given an opportunity to ask questions related to the proposals after the proposals have been presented and moved. The 8 proposals were submitted by [ Le Moment Education and Defense ] [indiscernible], or MEDAC, which you will find in the management proxy circular beginning on Page 119 in English and on Page 124 in French. The management proxy circular includes statements by [ MEDAC ] in support of its proposals as well as the bank's responses. Mr. [indiscernible] of MEDAC has joined us in person today. Welcome. Mr. [ Gagnon ] you're welcome to address the meeting with any comments on your 8 proposals. And please don't forget to move each proposal.

Mr. Chairman, so again, [indiscernible] [ Gagnon ] for [ MEDAC ]. I'm a shareholder of the bank. And we are making our proposals this morning. I will start with a very small comment on Page 29 of the circular. There is an excellent table in which we see the evolution of governance within the bank. We're very happy with the publication of that table. If we had to write MEDAC next to each of the measures that you've adopted over the past 20 years, it would often show up in the circular. And we're very happy that we were able to participate in the evolution of the bank governance, and we're very happy with that small table. We would have been even happier to see our name in there, but we understand, how it was put together. So we had submitted 9 proposals and 8 are being put to a vote. Today, we managed to agree on one of the proposals. The key proposal is the first, and I will spend a little more time on that than on others. Given that other proposals -- so 3 of the proposals have been made to you in the past. 5 are new. The other 3 are former proposals that are being [indiscernible] again. The key proposal, which is consistent with MEDAC's goal of promoting shareholder participation in the companies in which they've invested reads as follows. Strengthening shareholder participation in annual meetings. Last year, one company had no quorum. They didn't manage to get a quorum, and they were required to postpone their annual meeting by 2 days. And this led us to ask the question, why? Why does this kind of thing happen? We've proposed a series of measures to the bank that could be implemented to try and promote shareholder participation in annual meetings. We would have been open to not submitting this proposal for the vote. If the fourth measure that we were asking, documenting participation in the publication of a table in which we could see whether or not shareholder participation in annual meeting has been increasing or decreasing over the last years, in a small table in which we could distinguish between the participation of institutional shareholders and the participation rate of individual shareholders because you can see in the table that we provided that there is a gap between both the institutional shareholder participation is keeping up. Whereas generally speaking, in Canada, the participation rate for individual shareholders is decreasing and we find that's a catastrophe and that corporations should devote specific efforts. It would be easy for the bank to publish such a small table which would present information that is already available in documents published over the past few years on the rate of participation in annual meetings. Had the bank agreed to publish the small table, we would not be putting this motion to a vote today. We hope the bank will eventually be open to publishing such a table, which would not be expensive to produce and independently of the results that we obtained today and the vote, we would be happy to see that. And we would invite all shareholders to support this proposal. I will spend much less time on the other proposals, inclusion of young people in the banks governance bodies, Proposal #2, this is a measure that has already been taken by a number of crown corporations in [indiscernible]. The bank is saying that it will not do this as long as the regulators don't require it. We think it would be a good thing to do. Nonetheless, and we've [indiscernible] shareholders to support this proposal. Proposal#3 that the bank adopted more responsible compensation policy, aligned with the bank's overall performance. That goes without saying in its reply, the bank seems to agree with us on principle, but not on modalities. So we would invite all shareholders to support this proposal. Proposal#4. Strategic diversification of skills on the Board of Directors. We were asking what were the mechanisms that would allow in a time of crisis, such as the one we're experiencing now with the United States, worldwide crisis and war. If a mechanism could be triggered, that would review the compensation -- the -- sorry, the skills matrix for directors, we would invite shareholders to support this proposal. Proposal 5, a recognition of the Board of Directors systemic role. We were asking the bank to create an advisory committee with journal experts to address the systemic role of the bank in the country's economy. This is a concern that the bank has -- we have heard about it today. and we heard about it last year in the CEOs addresses. And we would find it helpful if such a committee were created. So we did invite shareholders to support this proposal. The other proposals -- so oversight of artificial intelligence, that is a proposal that we made last year, which obtained 12% of votes and public disclosure of nonconfidential information, country-by-country reporting, this is a proposal that had a obtained 8% last year and that we are making again this year, and advisory vote on environmental policies, that is a proposal that obtained 14% support last year. That is why we are making it again. So combating forced labor and child labor. This is a proposal that is not being put to a vote since we've been able to agree with the bank on the principal. The bank has stated that during 2025, no concern related to modern slavery and child labor has been identified. This is what we were asking for. So I'm sorry about the large nature of proposal that we've made. If we we're able to agree on the past proposals that have obtained a high percentage of support, they would not be made again. So we hope that we can continue our dialogue with the bank in the future on these important topics even though even though we don't necessarily get a majority of votes. I would like to stress one important thing. It is stated in the bank's reply to say climate that we, [ MEDAC ], believe that this vote would replace discussions with shareholders. This is not the case. We are not saying that. We are saying that say on climate would be additive to all the efforts that the bank is already excellently deploying with shareholders. We don't want to substitute this for the dialogue that is existing. So we would hope that the state of discussions we have with the bank be reflected in your answers rather than the opposite of what we are submitting. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for all the time that you have allowed us. I'm happy to continue to attend this meeting in person. It's important, and we would obviously invite all shareholders to support our proposal. Thank you.

Mr. [ Gagnon ], thank you for your proposals, and thank you for your comments. And one of the things that I'll continue to stress is we welcome ongoing engagement with our shareholders, whether it be at the annual meeting like this or throughout the course of the year. We have a very active dialogue, and we appreciate getting input at different perspectives. And we take it seriously, we bring it on board. And many of the things we agree with, we may be with just how we go about addressing the issues, so that you have raised. I think you would have seen in our response, a pretty comprehensive response by the bank 2-year proposals. And I would encourage all shareholders to review those. But thank you again for your comments. On that, shareholders can find the bank's position on each of [ MEDAC's ] proposals on Pages 120 to 133 on the English and Page 125, 140 of the French versions of the management proxy circular. Are there any other questions on the proposals that have been made. I see none in the room. Online?

We have no questions online.

Okay. So if you have not yet voted, please vote now by selecting the option for or against or abstain for proposals 1 to 8. Having now completed the formal items of business as set out in the notice. The voting is now closed. The scrutineers will now collect the ballots. Please raise your hand if you need the scrutineers to pick up your ballot. Thank you. InvestNow submitted a proposal which was withdrawn after productive discussions. Ms. [ Gina Pepino ] of InvestNow would like to speak to this proposal. And Ms. [ Pepino ] thank you for being here, and please the mic is yours.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak about InvestNow's withdrawn shareholder proposal. We ask the bank to return to viewpoint neutrality in their business practices and to put [indiscernible] duty to their shareholders first. But after submission, it was argued that the language of our request was at odds with the requirements of the Bank Act, which stipulates that decisions must be made in the best interest of the bank itself and its shareholders. So in these remarks, we are asking the bank to return to viewpoint neutrality in their business practices and to put fiduciary duty to the bank and its shareholders first. Banks are essential institutions for participating in modern life. Without a bank account, it is difficult to play any part in our society. Banks therefore, must be truly inclusive institutions, and that means they should be held to a standard of strict viewpoint neutrality. Looking after the interest of their clients in a nonpartisan non-ideological way. As long as the bank's clients are abiding by the law, banks should be open to all potentially profitable businesses for the good of the bank, its shareholders and the health of the economy. But over the past decade, maximizing financial returns to shareholders has increasingly taken a backseat to the pursuit of environmental, social and ideological goals. Along with other fiduciaries like public pension plans and university endowment funds, Canadian banks have placed ideological goals like decarbonization, Net Zero and energy transition above returns. Since 2022, we have presented shareholder proposals to the big 5 Canadian banks, to counter these prosperity destroying campaigns, whose ultimate objective is to shut down Canada's oil and gas industry. Our goal has always been to prevent the bank from giving into political and ideological pressure and becoming complicit in schemes to undermine Canada's energy sector. Banks hold the government charter to conduct banking. That charter grants a privilege, but it also comes with the responsibility to stay focused on the purpose of banking. As customers and as shareholders of the banks, we need to hold the banks to account for any activity that strays from the business of banking. Thank you.

Gena, thank you very much for being here and for your very thoughtful remarks. Sheryl Association for Research and Education, or SHARE submitted a proposal, which was withdrawn following the bank's a productive discussion with the banks. Ms. Gena Li, of SHARE would like to speak to the proposal. Ms. Li, you may briefly address the meeting.

Good morning, shareholders. My name is [indiscernible] Lee. I'm the Associate Director of Corporate Engagement at the Shareholder Association for Research and Education, also known as SHARE. I am representing the Hamilton Community Foundation, a shareholder of Scotiabank, which has filed a shareholder proposal at Scotiabank, requesting that the bank conduct and disclose the results of a third-party ratio equity audit analyzing Scotiabank's employment and commercial practices to identify, address and prevent systemic discrimination risks. Hamilton Community Foundation filed a similar proposal in 2025 and has engaged the bank on these matters since 2022. At Scotiabank's 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, the proposal received over 38% of support for shareholders. Subsequent to the filing of this proposal, SHARE on behalf of Hamilton Community Foundation, engaged in meaningful and productive dialogue with Scotiabank, resulting in commitments from Scotiabank, to advance financial inclusion across its business for Black and other racially minoritized people and indigenous peoples and commitments to mitigate systemic discrimination risks, in line with the scope of a racial equity audit. Broadly, Scotiabank has agreed to undertake a number of actions in exchange for the withdrawal of the shareholder proposal to be completed in fiscal year 2026 and 2027. The commitments include a series of internal assessments and public disclosures related to the [indiscernible] impacts of the bank's employment systems, procurement processes and lending and investment activities. The commitments touch upon topics such as financial inclusion, affordable housing and complaint handling. Scotiabank has also made a commitment to assess the merits of racial equity audit of business practices, an evaluation of the merit of such an audit will allow Scotiabank to assess peer bank practices, identify the effectiveness of its current policies, programs and practices and better understand the importance of a racial equity audit as a risk management tool for the business. Such assessment will be important for investors to better understand and assess the due diligence conducted by Scotiabank to inform its decision around the conduction of a racial equity audit. Following these commitments, Hamilton Community Foundation withdrew the proposal. As Scotiabank assesses the merit of a racial equity audit, shareholders continue to see the racial equity audit will provide Scotiabank with a comprehensive mechanism to assess compliance with Canadian Human Rights and Indigenous Rights framework, identified gaps in financial products and service offerings for under-banked communities and evaluate deficiencies in the bank's systemic discrimination risk mitigation processes. The racial equity audit and Scotiabank's new commitments to strengthen its current practices to advance financial inclusion and commitment to medicate systemic discrimination risks. Scotiabank will be better positioned to manage reputational, legal and operational risks, fulfill its own racial equity and indigenous reconciliation commitment, align its practices with its ScotiaBond foundational commitments and build long-term value for our shareholders. This is in line with peer banks. ABC, BMO, RBC and National Bank of Canada, who have agreed to conduct a racial equity assessment of employment and business practices. At present, we are in an environment that requires companies such as Scotiabank to continue advancing racial equity while managing for systemic disclamation risks to meet regulatory expectations and long-standing human rights and indigenous rights to work. As illustrated by the commitment made by Scotiabank providing [indiscernible] discrimination remains a priority for businesses and strengthening of systems to address these risks continue to be warranted. Thank you for the productive exchange. We look forward to continued engagement with the bank on these matters.

Thank you, Ms. Lee, and we appreciate our ongoing engagement with you. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, the scrutineers have completed the preliminary tabulation of the votes cast in respect of each item of business before the meeting. I would now ask Jamie to speak to the preliminary report on voting results.

Thank you, Aaron. We wish to report that the vote return is over 53%. I'm pleased to inform you that each of the 12 nominees for Director named in the management proxy circular, has been elected and received over 96% of votes in favor. The auditor was reappointed with over 92% voted in favor of KPMG LLP. The special resolution to amend Section 3.13 of the bank's By-law No. 1 regarding directors' compensation was passed by more than 2/3 of the votes cast with over 98% voted in favor of the amendment. The administrative amendments to By-law No. 1 passed with over 98% voted in favor of the amendments. The advisory vote on the approach to executive compensation was passed with over 95% voted in favor, and all of the shareholder proposals were defeated. Proposal #1 received over 98% voted against. Proposal #2 received over 97% voted against. Proposal #3 received over 93% voted against. Proposal #4 received over 90% voted against. Proposal #5, received over 92% voted against. Proposal #6, received over 77% voted against. Proposal #7 received over 91% voted against, and Proposal #8 received over 82% voted against.

Okay. Thank you, Jamie. The final voting results will be available after the meeting. We will also ensure -- we will also issue a press release as required by the Toronto Stock Exchange and post results on the bank's website. This terminates the formal business of the meeting. We will now take questions from shareholders and proxy holders. In keeping with our past practice, I'll ask our President and CEO to return to the podium and preside over this portion of the meeting. Jamie readout questions received online and we'll state the name of the shareholder or proxy holder who submitted them. As noted earlier, this is a shareholders meeting, and as such, questions should be general in nature and related to the meeting. As I said earlier, if you have a client-related question, bank representatives will be available to speak with you after the meeting at the client care desk outside this room. To give all shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders the opportunity to participate and ask questions, please ask only one question at a time and re-queue if you have another question. Before asking your question, please give your name and state whether you are a shareholder or a proxy holder. Over to you, Scott.

Good morning. My name is Kira Taylor. I'm with investors for [ Paris ] Compliance today representing [indiscernible] Foundation, a Scotiabank shareholder. So I'd like to provide an opportunity to Mr. Thompson to clarify his recent remarks, praising U.S. global military intervention, specifically regarding the context of South America. These statements included that the Trump doctrine is "a good thing for The Bank of Nova Scotia". This was surprising to many, given the history of intervention leaving permanent scars in many countries in Latin America. With a large presence that Scotiabank has in Latin America, this is surely something that probably Scotiabank already knows. These praises have also aged poorly given the U.S.'s recent intervention into Iran already causing hundreds of billions in cost to the global economy, also setting up a possible global recession, which will directly hit Scotiabank's bottom line. So would Mr. Thomson like to clarify your remarks?

Right. Thanks for the question. I guess two things. One is we don't have any operations in Venezuela, and we have for a long time, and we don't have any operations in Iran, and we've never had operations in Iran. I think the point that I was making in respect to January was around what I said today is the regional trading block of Canada, U.S. and Mexico, I said today, but more broadly, Latin America is extremely important. And the second point I was making is as we see some of these countries like Chile, which was the country that had just gone through an election, move from left to center right, that should be positive for the economic growth of those regions and the Bank of Nova Scotia benefit from that. Those were the two points that I made. I think how it was reported in the press was a little bit differently than what I said if you're listening closely on January 8.

I'm [indiscernible] [ Gagnon ] and I still represent MEDAC. I'd like to underscore the exceptional quality and the fantastic nature of the CEO's speeches last year. I've never seen that in the past 20 years, the CEO of a bank who said so much about the economy. Its really refreshing. And I can see that it's the case again today. And that is the role of CEOs of large banks like you to say what they think. Now I'd like to know what is the opinion of the CEO on the following question. We are a big producer of oil. We have a lot of oil resources. And this does not shelter us from the increased cost of gas in situations such as the ones we're experiencing today. So how is it that here in Canada, we have so much oil, and we are incapable of getting organized with that oil to protect our market and organized in order to make sure that citizens don't pay for other people's wars. I understand that oil refinery or refining in North America is very structured and that Canada does not have the capacity to refine its own oil that they have to have refined in the U.S. to then purchase it refined. So do you have opinions on that? Do you believe that Canadians should be able to benefit from the fact that they produce so much oil and that would help them pay less at pump. What do you think of that regarding oil? But also regarding food because we can see the price of food exploding and everything that Canada is capable of producing, how is it that we are incapable of protecting ourselves from such fluctuation abroad. I understand that our economy are integrated, but I think we should be able to benefit from the advantages we have. So it's an overarching question on the economy, but I believe the bank CEO open the door to us asking questions about the economy at large.

Mr. Gagnon thank you for the question. A few comments. One is, obviously, what's going on in the Middle East is a tragedy right now in terms of wars, and it's not good to see any of that happening. And I do hope it gets resolved soon. As you think about Canada's place in the global economic environment that we are an oil exporter and a resources exporter. And so when oil prices increase like they have, the actual GDP of the country does better. And as an example, I think our economics department, JF Peru has highlighted that for each $10 increase in WTi it's about a 0.5% impact to GDP. And so in a weird way, the war does help the economy, which is not something that we all -- I mean, we want the war to end, obviously. The challenge, though, is it's complex is that all of the geographies don't -- the provinces don't benefit equally. And so you see obviously a lot of resource production out in Western Canada, you see not as much resource production in Ontario as an example. And so affordability does become an issue. And that's as a bank, we're trying to help our clients manage through what is a difficult period right now. And so as a country, I think we'll see a benefit from GDP, but different regions will benefit differently. And the same could be said for other resources as well. It does highlight the opportunity for the country to not only continue the relationship with the U.S., but also diversified trade relationships. And I talked to that in my speech, that's really important. I think that's what the Prime Minister is trying to do right now. And so as you diversify those trade relationships, you can provide the resources that we have to the countries in need. Interestingly, Mexico is also an oil exporting nation or a resource exporting nation. And so again, another country that through this crisis, we'll probably see a little bit of a [indiscernible] to the economy, because of the oil price increase. Hopefully, that answers your question.

Yes. One last comment to the Chair of the Board. If I have a piece of advice for you, be careful with this CEO. He has interesting speeches on the economy, and I think that you might see him poached by politics. I see it almost never. So please try and keep them because politics will get interested in him even if he's not interested in politics.

So Mr. [ Gagnon ]. This is one area we 100% agree.

So Scott, we have a couple of questions online. One from Alan Best, who says that he understands that Tangerine earnings growth is expected to remain modest, and he would be interested to hear about the results of the TV campaign promoting some of the additional services available at Tangerine and whether management views Tangerine as a possible solution for branch closings in some rural communities?

Great. Thank you very much, Mr. Best, and we're fortunate to have [ Terry Lee ] [indiscernible] here today in the room who is the CEO of Tangerine. I'm really excited about Tangerine. I think we have a great opportunity to have a different value proposition for our clients than we've historically had. We're in the front end of building out the team, making sure we have the right technology. And so I think you'll hear more in the weeks, months to come, and you're starting to see the TV campaign, which is actually having some pretty good success. It's off of a small base, but we're actually seeing assets come in, to the bank. And so your first question, which you provided earlier around deposits, this is actually increasing the deposits for the overall bank. As a possible solution for branch closings, that's not connected. We believe the branch network is extremely important for what we're trying to do around primacy. We have closed some branches, but it's not because we don't believe in the branch. We're trying to get the branch in the right place. And so there's been investment in branches, and there's also been a few closures, but Tangerine is a separate proposition from what we're doing at the Bank of Nova Scotia, and definitely not connected to any branch closures that may happen. And I think you're actually going to see a lot more investment into our branch network over time as we move forward in pursuit of the primacy agenda that you referenced earlier.

My name is [indiscernible]. I've been a long-term shareholder and also still proud to be ex-Scotiabanker. Congratulations, Scott, to your team, you and your team for achieving excellent results and consolidating the bank's position. My question is two-pronged. What are your plans to strengthen our position in the U.S.A. which is 1/3 of the world market and also the fast-growing Asian market.

Esther, nice to see you. I remember your time here at Scotiabank and then also at the rating agencies. So good to see you here in the room. So we have a great business run by Travis Machan, who's also in the room today in the U.S. And actually, it's growing at 10%, 12% from a revenue perspective. And it's mostly corporate and wholesale banking. We've added a lot of markets capabilities in the last year or 2, and that's actually been a significant contributor to the overall performance of the bank. So we'll hope that, that continues. You also probably know we have a 15% interest in KeyBanc, which is minority interest, it's a regional bank in the U.S. Our plan is continue to grow organically. Travis is continuing to add on capabilities. There may be some small, very small tuck-in type capabilities we want to add. But right now, we're focused on organic growth not inorganic growth. Sorry, you had a second question, too. Asia. Asia Asia, we're -- Asia has been a great growing area. We do have a footprint in Asia, in Singapore and Hong Kong. We're consolidating that footprint into Singapore. And we've actually continue to focus on Asia, but with clients that are dealing back into the North America corridor. And so as you think about the journey we were on, we were in 53 countries around the world. We're trying to really consolidate around this whole Canada U.S., Latin America footprint that we have, including Caribbean and that. And then servicing clients through Europe and Asia, which actually come back to that regional trading area. So that I wouldn't expect any significant acquisitions in Asia.

We have one more question online from Alan Best. He notes AI seems to be top of mind in every business. He submits this question in order to talk about it at this meeting. Can you tell us how the bank will use AI to grow revenue and earnings and whether you have any worries about possible effects?

Great. Thanks, Al or Mr. Best. I for one, this is top of mind for the Board. It's top of mind for the management team. We struck a technology committee as you know, last year. And from board engagement and the type of interaction we're having AI is top of mind. We're also investing a lot as a company around AI, cloud, data. You're seeing our technology investment go up year-over-year. From an AI perspective, we've just announced Scotia Intelligence. We're being assisted AI tools to all of our employees to allow them to use that in the day-to-day work because we do see that there's productivity advantage. And then as a company, we are focusing on a few distinct areas that will allow us to create value for you, our shareholders, through AI. And as we think about that, think about effectiveness and efficiency, productivity improvements, client experience improvements and risk mitigation for the bank, and all through the cybersecurity and making sure we keep this bank safe is top of mind. And so making sure we do the right investments, we roll out AI to our employees in a way that keeps the bank and our clients safe. And that's the approach that we're taking.

Okay. I see no more questions in the room or online. Thank you, Scott. So my fellow shareholders, this now concludes the meeting. I want to thank the many Scotiabankers, translators and members of our production team who made today's meeting possible. There's a lot of effort that goes into today. I also want to thank you, our shareholders, for attending our annual meeting and for your continued support. And so with that, I'll declare this meeting terminated. If you have any interpretation or -- if you have any headphones, just leave them on your chair, and they'll be picked on. Thank you very much, everybody, and have a great day.