Butterfield Bank has pledged to make every effort to avoid redundancies as it relocates jobs to its service centre in Canada.

The bank said in a statement today: “Over the next several years, we will be working to modernise and adjust our operations and processes to support business growth, enhance customer service and improve efficiency.

“As a result, certain staff roles in some jurisdictions may be redefined and/or replaced with Halifax-based positions. Where this occurs, the Bank will make every effort to accommodate job displacement in Cayman, Guernsey, Bermuda and other locations through natural attrition, early retirement, or redeployment of resources to other areas.”

Earlier today, Shadow Minister for Home Affairs Walton Brown had “implored” the government to protect Bermudian jobs in light of a possible transfer of positions from Bermuda to Halifax.

At that stage, the bank had said it was planning to cut operating costs, moving some functions to Canada, but no announcement had been made on the impact of jobs in Bermuda.

Mr Brown stated: “The PLP calls on the minority OBA government to take action to keep Bermudian jobs here in Bermuda.

“The job of the Bermuda Government is to stand strong for Bermudian workers and create Bermudian jobs. When the government learns that Bermudian jobs are under threat, they should do everything they can to protect these jobs.”

The Butterfield statement also said: “Butterfield is focused on the growth of our businesses in Bermuda and our other jurisdictions.

“To support growth, Butterfield has established and is expanding its service centre in Halifax, Canada. We have an agreement, dating back to 2015, with Nova Scotia Business Inc under which the Bank will receive a scalable payroll tax rebate for the creation of up to 100 jobs in the Canadian province over the next six years.

“At present, we employ about 35 people in Halifax, all net new positions. Butterfield has not moved jobs to Halifax from Bermuda, Cayman or Guernsey.

“We are currently actively recruiting for positions in Bermuda, Cayman, Guernsey and our other international locations, as well as Halifax. In Halifax, we are hoping to hire Bermudian graduates of universities in the area to fill available positions.”