Halifax, Nova Scotia, July 29, 2010 – Manulife Financial (TSX, NYSE and PSE: MFC; SEHK: 945) and CGI Group Inc. (CGI) (TSX: GIB.A; NYSE: GIB), announced today that CGI will continue to provide IT services to Manulife into 2013 under a multi-million dollar contract renewal. As part of CGI�s commitment to the Atlantic region, CGI will continue to deliver IT services to Manulife through its global delivery center in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
�Our needs have evolved and CGI has the flexibility and industry insight to work with us,� said Wayne Martin, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer of Manulife�s Canadian Division. We�ve been working together since 2004, and we�re confident that CGI will continue to provide us with the reliable and agile IT services we need to deliver on our client commitments.�
Under the contract renewal, CGI will continue to leverage its Halifax delivery center to provide systems development, maintenance and integration services to Manulife Financial.
�This contract renewal with Manulife Financial speaks to the importance CGI places on developing long-term client relationships,� said Doug McCuaig, President, Canada, CGI. �Manulife is a formidable global player, and we�re thrilled to continue to leverage our global delivery capabilities and offer competitively priced IT services to Manulife through our home-shore center of excellence.�
Since the initial agreement with Manulife in 2004, CGI�s Atlantic Canadian operations have grown to over 700 members, and serves many companies from Canada and around the world.
Quality processes have always been at the forefront of CGI�s operations and the Halifax center was appraised according to the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and is ISO 9001 quality certified. The CMMI describes the principles and practices underlying software process maturity. It covers practices for planning, engineering, and managing software development and maintenance. In 1994, CGI became the first information technology company in North America to become ISO 9001 certified for its project management framework.
About Manulife Financial
Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group operating in 22 countries and territories worldwide. For more than 120 years, clients have looked to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Our international network of employees, agents and distribution partners offers financial protection and wealth management products and services to millions of clients. We provide asset management services to institutional customers worldwide as well as reinsurance solutions, specializing in life and property and casualty retrocession. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$446 billion (US$440 billion) as at March 31, 2010. The Company operates as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as �MFC� on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under �945� on the SEHK.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is one of the largest independent information technology and business process services firms in the world. CGI and its affiliated companies employ approximately 26,000 professionals. CGI provides end-to-end IT and business process services to clients worldwide from offices in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific as well as from centers of excellence in North America, Europe and India. As of June 30, 2010, CGI’s order backlog was $11.4 billion. CGI shares are listed on the NYSE (GIB) and the TSX (GIB.A) and are included in both, the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the FTSE4Good Index.