Well-known broadcaster Valerie Pringle will kick-off a two-week, cross-Canada tour starting in Halifax on August 16 to talk to Canadians about their saving habits, challenges and successes.

The tour is part of Pringle’s role as the Saving Ambassador for Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS) new “Let the Saving Begin” program, which is designed to encourage Canadians to improve their saving, investing and borrowing habits.

During the tour, Pringle will visit several other cities including Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver, with additional cities in the fall. She will speak with Canadians both on the street and in small group settings to better understand their perspectives on saving. In addition to the tour, Canadians are invited to join the conversation and share their saving stories through the Let the Saving Begin Facebook page (www.letthesavingbegin.com/facebook) where Pringle will be posting daily insights and updates from her tour, including photos and videos.

“Saving is a critical issue for Canadians and it’s important that we start talking about it now to break some of the inertia surrounding it,” says Pringle. “Our financial health is essential to our peace of mind and I hope to gain some insight through my discussions with people across the country. Ultimately I will present my findings to Scotiabank so they can continue to develop this program.”

Chris Hodgson, group head Canadian banking, Scotiabank. says “Valerie’s cross-country tour is an important part of sparking a movement to get Canadians saving again and we look forward to her findings.”

Scotiabank launched the savings program last month in Toronto, where employees took to the streets and distributed more than $25,000 worth of saving “kick-starts” to thousands of people.

The program is designed to inspire and empower Canadians to get on track with their saving, investing and borrowing habits, without having to make significant changes to their current behaviour.

It’s built on three principles:
– save automatically, because it works;
– invest for your future, because no one else will; and
– borrow to get ahead, not fall behind.

IE