Chartered Accountant named Canada's CFO of the Year 2006

BMO Financial Group's Karen Maidment 1st CA to win

Toronto, Ontario (April 18, 2006) - Karen E. Maidment, FCA, has been named Canada's CFO of the Year for 2006. Ms. Maidment, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer at BMO Financial Group, is the first Chartered Accountant to achieve this prestigious honour.

"On behalf of Ontario's 31,000 CAs, I'd like to salute Karen Maidment for this outstanding achievement," said Brian Hunt, FCA, President and CEO of the Institute. "Her success reflects well on the profession as a whole, and the opportunities afforded by achieving the CA designation."

Ms. Maidment began her career with Clarkson Gordon and became a CA in 1983. She was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario in 2000. At BMO Financial Group, she is responsible for financial strategy, financial reporting and planning, taxation, treasury, investor relations, legal and compliance, corporate communications, economics, and enterprise risk and portfolio management.

According to the award organizers, Canada's CFO of the Year Award is presented annually by Financial Executives International Canada (FEI Canada) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, in association with The Caldwell Partners International, to honour and recognize the quality, insight, direction and leadership of Canada's senior financial leaders. This is the fourth year the award has been presented.

About the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario:
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario is the qualifying and regulatory body of Ontario's 31,000 CAs and 3,500 CA students. Since 1879, the Institute has protected the public interest through the CA profession's high standards of qualification and the enforcement of its rules of professional conduct. The Institute website is: www.icao.on.ca

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For more information please contact:
Perry Jensen
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario
416-969-4271 or 1-800-387-0735 ext. 271
pjensen@icao.on.ca