Meritas Mutual Funds announced today that the first day of trading for its newest fund, the Meritas Monthly Dividend and Income Fund, will be February 2, 2006.

Meritas is a provider of socially responsible investments (SRI) for individual and institutional investors,

The new fund is the first retail mutual fund for the SRI market in Canada which will combine the investment expertise of Jarislowsky, Fraser Ltd. and the social, environmental and governance research of Jantzi Research Associates.

“This is a significant milestone for investors and advisors in Canada,” said Gary Hawton, CEO of Meritas Mutual Funds. “Jarislowsky, Fraser Ltd. is one of Canada’s most respected investment management firms and one of the leading advocates for good corporate governance. It is an honour to partner with them to allow investors who want to access their expertise to be able to do so and also align their investments with their social, ethical or environmental concerns,” adds Hawton.

Len Racioppo, chief investment officer of Jarislowsky, Fraser noted, “We have numerous institutional accounts with a variety of social or environmental restrictions on them. To be able to manage a retail mutual fund for investors who wish to have screens on their portfolio was a natural progression for us.”

The fund will be structured in such a manner as to payout a monthly distribution to investors who may choose to receive this distribution or reinvest it in more units of the fund.