The Giller Prize has parted ways with its lead sponsor Scotiabank more than a year after members of the literary community began protesting the bank’s ties to an Israeli arms manufacturer.
The Giller Foundation, which administers Canada’s richest fiction prize, says its relationship with Scotiabank is over as of Monday.
The organization’s statement does not address the reason for the split.
In it, executive director Elana Rabinovitch says the Giller Foundation is indebted to Scotiabank for a partnership that spanned 20 years and deepened the annual prize pot to $125,000 — including $100,000 for the winner.
Scotiabank’s role as the literary award’s main sponsor came under fire at the 2023 Giller ceremony, when Pro-Palestinian activists interrupted the ceremony with signs saying, “Scotiabank funds genocide.”
After the protesters were arrested, hundreds of authors signed a letter calling for the charges to be dropped.
Stake in Israeli weapons manufacturer criticized
Numerous literary figures, including previous Giller prize-winning authors, went on to disavow the award, citing Scotiabank’s subsidiary’s stake in Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems.
In 2023, Scotiabank had an estimated $500-million stake in the company, making it the largest foreign shareholder of Elbit Systems. The company’s weapons technology has been documented being used in Gaza and the occupied West Bank by Israel.
Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons maker, has come under scrutiny for the use of its drone technology in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Here is what’s behind Scotiabank’s estimated $500-million stake in the company — and why protesters are calling for the bank to divest.
As Israel’s devastating military campaign continued in Gaza throughout 2024, the literary community kept the pressure on the Giller prize to break with Scotiabank.
A number of authors publicly withdrew their novels from consideration ahead of last year’s Giller award, calling for a boycott of the event. During the award show in November 2024, which had dropped “Scotiabank” from the name without removing it as a sponsor, a literary group called CanLit Responds held a counter-gala across the street to protest the event.
One former winner of the lucrative Giller prize, Madeleine Thein, requested publicly for the award show to completely remove her name, image and work from its website and never use her in promotional material.
The Giller foundation says it will “explore new opportunities and collaborations” following the split with Scotiabank.
A Scotiabank representative said by email the bank had no comment. Since 2023, Scotiabank has cut its stake in Elbit Systems at least three times.
Rabinovitch previously said the contract with Scotiabank was to end at the end of 2025.
In a statement Monday, she said the literary foundation looked forward to “an exciting new era.”
