MORE than 100 Scotiabank staff members have received training in sign language to date, with other training sessions scheduled.

According to Morris Nelson, senior vice-president, corporate and commercial banking at Scota, “Equipping our team to better communicate with clients who are deaf is very important, especially because we interact with this group frequently. Scotiabank prioritises inclusion of people with visible and non-visible disabilities, and seeks every opportunity to promote an environment where all our clients will feel comfortable doing business with us.”

Deaf CAN! Coffee, a gospel-rooted social enterprise which employs and trains deaf persons in the art of coffee and baking, participated in the training session, offering staff members samples of their branded coffee and sweet treats.

After training sessions Scotiabank staff members will be able to sign basic customer service terms, while videos from the sessions will also be used to do refresher training as well as train new staff members.