Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), also known as Scotiabank, pledged to invest 2.5 million Canadian dollars ($1.8 million) over five years in a new workforce development deal with the Smith School of Business at Canada's Queen's University, the company said Thursday.

The investment will support the Scotiabank Centre for Analytics & AI at the Smith School of Business, aiming to develop artificial intelligence-ready workforce, the company said.

Scotiabank also said the investment is part of its ScotiaRISE 10-year, CA$500-million investment initiative.