TORONTO, ON --(Marketwired - June 30, 2015) - Scotiabank and yconic, a student help community that provides access to financial opportunities, have partnered to announce $10,000 in cash and prizes for international students studying in Canada. Now in its second year, the "What's Your Canadian IQ" quiz engages international students to learn more about Canadian culture and ease their transition into studying abroad.

The "What's your Canadian IQ" quiz is located at FundYourFuture.ca -- a student-focused website. Created jointly by yconic and Scotiabank, the website provides financial aid and advice for money management strategies. The contest runs until August 25, 2015, and winners will be selected in late fall 2015.

"Our goal at yconic is to help make life for students pursuing post-secondary education more affordable and less stressful," said Rob Henderson, President and CEO of yconic. "We are pleased to partner with Scotiabank again to offer financial assistance that helps students with tuition fees that can be three times greater than their Canadian counterparts."

The Scotiabank Canadian IQ Quiz offers eight students the chance to win $1,000 in scholarship money, as well as a $250 'Canadian prize pack'. Odds of winning depend on the number of entries in their region. Eligible international students who participate in the "What's Your Canadian IQ" quiz will also learn more about the ScotiabankStartRight Program for Newcomers, a banking package that aims to make settling in Canada easier for international students. The program offers solutions and advice to students interested in learning how to manage their personal finances and invest in their future, including financial literacy information on the Scotiabank StartRight website scotiabank.com/startright.

"Like many new Canadians, international students are concerned with immediate needs like finding a place to live, settling into their routine and understanding the financial products and services available to them in Canada," said Puneet Mann, Co-Lead of Multicultural Banking at Scotiabank. "Working with yconic to offer this cash prize enables us to help a diverse set of students become financially better off as they pursue their post-secondary studies here in Canada."

yconic and Scotiabank also jointly manage programs that offer $750,000 in financial awards for high school and post-secondary students across Canada.

How it works

International students studying in Canada, or planning to study in Canada in the 2015/2016 academic year, can enter to win online by participating in a fun and engaging Canadian trivia contest at FundYourFuture.ca.

To be eligible for one of the eight prizes, students must:

  • Be an international student on a student visa (permit must be for one year or longer);
  • Be enrolled or planning to enroll in a degree or diploma program at a college or University in Canada in the 2015/2016 academic year;
  • Be 16 years of age or older at the time of contest application;
  • Be a member of yconic; and
  • Complete at least one "What's Your Canadian IQ" quiz by the contest deadline: August 25, 2015, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). A skill-testing question will be administered for selected entrants.

For more information about the "What's Your Canadian IQ" quiz, please visit FundYourFuture.ca.

About yconic

yconic has helped millions of students in Canada and the U.S. through yconic.com, the leading student platform that provides access to more than $170 million in financial opportunities and Canada's largest youth-focused market research panel. We partner with select brands, agencies and higher education professionals that want to better understand, engage with and build meaningful relationships with youth. yconic only partners with brands that share our passion for authentically helping and investing in students. For more information about yconic, please visit we.are.yconic.com.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and parts of Asia. We are dedicated to helping our 21 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 86,000 employees and assets of $837 billion (as at April 30, 2015), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using Marketwired. For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankNews.

For media enquiries only:

Jennifer Falzon
Director of Marketing
yconic
T. 416.322.3210 x 237
M. 416.315.2099
E. jennifer.falzon@yconic.com

Heather Armstrong
Public and Corporate Affairs
Scotiabank
T. 416.933.3250
M. 647.632.4524
E. heather.armstrong@scotiabank.com

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