One of Canada’s Big Six banks has dropped the word ‘diversity’ from its core values, replacing it with the term ‘inclusion.’
Bank of Montreal CEO Darryl White made the announcement during an internal presentation earlier this month. Some say it offers a window into how one of Canada’s most influential companies may be dealing with the corporate diversity backlash in the U.S.
White, head of more than 50,000 employees at the bank, discussed the change while outlining his vision for the next five years.
“Remember, the values guide our choices, they guide our actions,” White said in a clip from a company-wide video presentation seen by the Star.
“We have made some adjustments. Now we are focused on acting with integrity, responsibility, empathy and inclusion,” he went on.
“Note that inclusion is replacing diversity. Corporate interpretations of concepts like diversity have become too, I would say, input focused. Inclusion is more holistic, more outcome focused. And it reflects our own focus on the outcomes that ensure that all employees — and clients — are valued, respected and included when we drive progress through our strategy.”
Canadian companies with U.S. operations are trying to navigate an increasingly complex and polarized political climate. More corporations have been re-examining how they speak about diversity, a term that has become culturally divisive.
In January, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders seeking to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in both the public and private sectors. Following Trump’s move, several American media outlets reported that Bank of America and JPMorgan changed their language around DEI, substituting in words such as ‘talent’ and ‘opportunity.’
A report from law firm Osler published last month found that progress on enhancing diversity among directors and executives lost momentum in Canada in 2025.
Firms listed on the S&P/TSX Composite saw representation of women on their boards decrease for the first time, according to the report.
The changing political landscape south of the border may also be having an impact on Canadian companies’ diversity disclosures, the report stated.
BMO’s operations in America are extensive. It is one of the top 14 chartered banks by assets in the U.S., with more than 1,000 branches in the country, according to the Federal Reserve.
In 2023, BMO acquired Bank of the West for $16.3 billion (U.S.), increasing its footprint to 32 American states.
Some experts worry the rebrand could mean the bank is reducing efforts to have marginalized groups represented at all corporate levels.
“What BMO is doing is very consistent with a larger shift that we see in the industry,” said Wyle Baoween, CEO of Inclusivity, a Canadian consulting firm specializing in business strategy and workplace culture.
“I think it’s great that they want to ensure that everyone feels they belong,” he said. “The question here is, will they still hold themselves accountable for social equity, for diversity, for inclusion? Or are they just trying to find a way to get out of that?”
BMO spokesperson Jeff Roman did not say why the bank decided to drop ‘diversity’ from its core values, but said inclusion has been core to the culture at BMO for decades and is at the heart of the bank’s strategy.
“We believe that diversity and inclusion are fundamentally connected,” Roman wrote in a statement, “and essential to achieving the outcome of inclusivity and creating an environment where everyone is valued, respected, and empowered to contribute fully.”
References to ‘diversity’ remain on BMO’s webpages displaying information about the company’s culture as well as employee resource groups.
Roman did not address a question from the Star on whether BMO wanted to align its conduct with American companies amid the anti-diversity backlash in the U.S.
Michelle Grocholsky, CEO of consulting firm Empowered EDI, and former senior manager of diversity and inclusion at BMO, who left the bank in 2014, believes that focusing on inclusion is not synonymous with prioritizing diversity.
She said inclusion relates to how the different people who make up a company’s workforce feel at work and whether there is a sense of belongingness.
Diversity, according to Grocholsky, is about celebrating people’s differences and removing impediments that prevent different groups of people from entering the company, moving up, or getting paid fairly.
“Many organizations that lack diversity have very high inclusion scores because there’s a lot of groupthink,” said Grocholsky. “Because that prevalence of similarity creates this sense of often safety and collegiality that can be a deep detriment to innovation and performance.”
A spokesperson for BlackNorth Initiative, an organization aimed at combating anti-Black racism in Canada, said BMO was among the first signatories of its pledge, which commits organizations across the country to concrete action on representation and equity.
“That early leadership helped set an important benchmark for accountability across corporate Canada,” the spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement.
The spokesperson confirmed BMO is still a signatory of the BlackNorth Initiative’s pledge.
“We believe that the words organizations use to define their values carry meaning, but what matters most is the sustained work to translate those values into equitable systems and measurable outcomes.”
Tanya van Biesen, CEO of VersaFi, an organization supporting gender equity in the finance sector, echoed the sentiment that actions speak louder than words.
“There’s been a lot of conversation lately about changes in language, but what truly makes the difference in advancing progress for women in our sector is whether institutions back their values with action.”
