Exhibit 99.1

Annual Meeting March 31, 2020 | Bank of Montreal Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Management Proxy Circular Your vote matters. Please take a moment to vote. Your participation as a Shareholder is important to us. This document tells you who can vote, what you will be voting on and how to vote.

Choose to vote in one of three ways:

Detailed voting instructions for non-registered and registered shareholders can be found starting on page 8 of this Management Proxy Circular.

BMO IFL 3550 Pharmacy Ave. Toronto, Ontario   PARKING Located on the West side of the building.

DIRECTIONS

From West:

From East:

From North:

From South:

Letter to Shareholders

Dear Fellow Shareholder,

The Annual Meeting of Shareholders this year is scheduled to be held on March 31. This is the most important opportunity of the year for you to participate in the governance of your company, and we hope you will join us. As always, the annual meeting allows you to hear directly from management and your elected representatives on the Board of Directors about how the Bank performed over the previous fiscal year and where it is heading in the year ahead, and to cast your vote on the business matters brought before the meeting.

The business to be conducted is set out in the pages of this Notice of Meeting and Management Proxy Circular.

This document should be read in conjunction with our 2019 Annual Report, which lays out the Bank’s financial performance for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2019, as well as our 2019 Sustainability Report and Public Accountability Statement.

In 2019, BMO continued to show clear progress against our strategy. We delivered good revenue and income growth, reflecting the strength and quality of our diversified businesses. We finished the year with strong performance and are well positioned to accelerate through the coming year.

Adjusted net income was $6.2 billion, an increase of 4% over the previous year; return on equity was 13.7%. Adjusted earnings per share grew by 5% to $9.43. And we increased the declared dividend by 7%, extending BMO’s unbroken dividend record since 1829.

Our progress in putting our strategy into action reflects the conviction behind it. In 2019, we came together as an organization to talk about the core beliefs that have driven our bank’s success from the beginning. Many voices helped unlock a simple, powerful statement of purpose: Boldly Grow the Good in business and life.

Everything we do at BMO is grounded in our Purpose. It attaches intention to our priorities and gives direction to our growth. It informs all of our efforts to accelerate positive change – for our customers, our employees and the communities where we do business. And it amplifies the unique strengths we bring to creating shared value with our stakeholders.

Please take the time to review the valuable information included in this Proxy Circular, where you will also find an explanation of the voting instructions. Whether you plan to attend the Annual Meeting in person or virtually, we invite you to register your vote on the various business matters in advance of the meeting. In casting your votes, we encourage you to consider the benefits of online voting, which is both secure and instantaneous. If you prefer, you may still register your position on proxy matters through the mail. Whichever method you choose, your participation matters to your Board of Directors and the management team. Please make your vote count.

As was discussed in the Annual Report this is a year of transition for your Board of Directors, as three longstanding directors retire. George Cope, one of Canada’s most accomplished and respected business leaders, will be the next Board Chair. He knows the Bank well, having served as a director for over 13 years, and he enjoys the unanimous support of the board. In addition, Philip S. Orsino and Don M. Wilson III will retire They each have served the Bank with great dedication and distinction and we thank them for their valuable contribution.

Again this year, we are holding our Annual Meeting at the BMO Institute for Learning. The Institute is the centrepiece of our commitment to continuing education, advanced leadership development and enabling innovation. We are constantly evolving to make our customers’ banking experiences more personal and intuitive. The IFL was built with that in mind – and we are proud to showcase it.

If you are unable to attend the Annual Meeting in person, you can attend virtually at www.bmo.com/home/about/banking/investor-relations/annual-general-meeting. Either way, we hope you will participate. Our fellow directors and the management team look forward to welcoming you on March 31.

February 6, 2020

Notice of Annual Meeting of

Shareholders of Bank of Montreal

The meeting will be held for the following purposes:

Our website will carry live coverage of the meeting, as well as a recording after the meeting. Online, you can also find our 2019 Annual Report, our Sustainability Report & Public Accountability Statement, our quarterly results, presentations to the investment community, and other useful information about us.

Holders of common shares (“Shares”) as at February 3, 2020, will be entitled to vote at the meeting. The number of eligible votes* that may be cast at the meeting is 639,627,837, such number being the total number of Shares of the Bank outstanding at market close on February 3, 2020.

Whether or not you plan to attend the meeting in person, please complete the enclosed form of proxy or voting instruction form and return it in the postage prepaid envelope provided, or follow the instructions on the form in order to vote your Shares. For your vote to be recorded, your proxy vote must be received by our transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company of Canada, no later than 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) on March 30, 2020. To vote in person at the meeting, please see the section “Voting Information” on page 8 of the management proxy circular.

By order of the Board of Directors,

Barbara M. Muir

SVP, Chief Legal Officer – Corporate & Corporate Secretary

February 6, 2020

Management Proxy Circular

Annual Meeting of Shareholders

The annual meeting of holders of Shares (“Shareholders”) of the Bank on March 31, 2020 is our opportunity to discuss the Bank’s performance and our plans for the future. It is also your opportunity to vote on important matters. We encourage you to vote.

Management Proxy Circular

This Management Proxy Circular provides Shareholders with important information to make voting decisions. References to “BMO”, the “Bank”, “we”, “our” or “us” mean Bank of Montreal and, where applicable, our subsidiaries. References to “Shareholders” mean common shareholders of the Bank and references to “Shares” mean common shares of the Bank. References to the “Board” mean Bank of Montreal’s Board of Directors.

Date of Circular

This circular is dated February 6, 2020, and all information, unless indicated otherwise, is as at that date.

Business of the Meeting

The meeting will cover the following five items of business:

You can find BMO’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended October 31, 2019 in our 2019 Annual Report.

Information about the director nominees starts on page 12. All nominees were elected as directors at the Bank’s 2019 annual meeting of Shareholders. The directors you elect at this year’s meeting will hold office from the close of the meeting until the next annual meeting or until their successors are elected or appointed.

The Board recommends that you vote FOR the election as director each nominee whose name is set out under the heading “Nominees for Election to Board of Directors”.

If Robert Prichard or Darryl White is your proxyholder and you have not given instructions on how to vote, he will vote for all of the nominees listed in this circular. If, for any reason, at the time of the meeting any of the nominees are unable to serve, and unless you have specified otherwise, Robert Prichard or Darryl White may, at their discretion, vote for any number of substitute nominees.

Majority vote for directors

The Bank has a majority voting policy for the election of directors. If a director standing for election or re-election in an uncontested election receives more withhold votes than for votes, he or she must promptly offer to resign. In such case, the Governance and Nominating Committee will recommend to the Board whether to accept or reject the resignation, and the Board shall accept the resignation absent exceptional circumstances. The nominee will not participate in the decision to accept or reject the resignation.

The directors propose to appoint KPMG LLP as the Shareholders’ auditors for the 2020 fiscal year. KPMG LLP has been one of the Bank’s auditing firms since 1990, and became the Bank’s sole auditing firm on November 1, 2003.

The Board recommends that you vote FOR the appointment of KPMG LLP as auditor.

If Robert Prichard or Darryl White is your proxyholder and you have not given instructions on how to vote, he will vote for the appointment of KPMG LLP as the Shareholders’ auditors.

Independence of auditors

We have a strict policy limiting other services that the Shareholders’ auditors can provide to the Bank. Moreover, the Audit and Conduct Review Committee or its delegate pre-approves all services from the Shareholders’ auditors in accordance with the Bank’s Auditor Independence Standard, either on a case-by-case basis or in annual budgets for specific services. This helps protect the audit function from conflicts of interest and helps ensure the independence of the Shareholders’ auditors. A rigorous process is applied under this standard to ensure that all the services provided by the Shareholders’ auditors comply with the standard and professional standards and securities regulations.

Shareholders’ auditors’ fees

Aggregate fees paid to the Shareholders’ auditors during the fiscal years ended October 31, 2019 and 2018 were as follows:

The governing objective of our executive compensation program is to align executive interests with the interests of stakeholders, including Shareholders. This objective is reflected in our philosophy of pay for performance based on competitive market practice, without encouraging excessive or inappropriate risk-taking. You can find details of our executive compensation program starting on page 68.

The Bank believes that our approach to executive compensation is aligned with the Bank’s best interests as executives and stakeholders share common goals: success of the Bank, including improved Shareholder value. Independent studies commissioned by the Bank’s Human Resources Committee support our approach.

We are asking you to vote on the way we compensate our executives. This vote is advisory and non-binding. However, it will influence how the Human Resources Committee looks at compensation in the future. At the 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, this resolution was approved with 94.08% of Shares voted in favour.

The Board recommends that you vote FOR the approach to executive compensation.

“Resolved, on an advisory basis and not to diminish the role and responsibilities of the Board of Directors, that the Shareholders accept the approach to executive compensation disclosed in the Management Proxy Circular delivered in advance of the 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the Bank.”

If Robert Prichard or Darryl White is your proxyholder and you have not given instructions on how to vote, he will vote for this resolution.

You can contact the Corporate Secretary’s Department with comments and questions on our executive compensation program or you can communicate directly with the Board of Directors. Applicable contact information is on page 48.

The purpose of the Bank of Montreal Amended and Restated Stock Option Plan (the “Plan”) is to align incentives for executives with the creation of shareholder value for the long term. The Bank established the Plan in 1994 upon shareholder and regulatory approval. Details of the current Plan are included in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis on page 71 (Long-Term Incentive Plan) and starting on page 104.

Shareholders are asked to consider a resolution to increase the maximum number of Common Shares of the Bank that may be issued pursuant to the exercise of options under the Plan by 12,000,000 Common Shares (the “Limit Increase”). The Limit Increase has been approved by the Toronto Stock Exchange conditional upon, among other things, shareholder approval.

The Bank adheres to prudent governance standards regarding the use of options as an element of compensation. The total number of Common Shares reserved for the Plan, minus those options that have been exercised, is limited to 7.5% or less of the total number of issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Bank. This reduces the future dilutive effects of stock options on share value.

The Limit Increase proposed is expected to provide a sustainable inventory for between 6 to 8 years. The last limit increase proposed by the Bank was in 2009, and while it was expected to provide 6 years of additional inventory, the Bank evolved its stock option granting practices to maintain the inventory for 11 years. The enhanced practices include:

In 2019, 87 executives received stock option grants. This practice does not result in significant concentration for any single officer.

Shareholders previously authorized the issuance of 72,200,000 Common Shares under the Plan. The last limit increase was approved by 84.1% of shareholders on March 3, 2009. Through the judicious use of stock options, the Bank has not required a further limit increase for over 11 years. As of December 31, 2019, taking into account options that have been forfeited, cancelled or expired, a net total of 70,648,270 options have been granted to participants in the Plan. Since the Plan was adopted, option exercises have resulted in the issuance of 63,928,315 Common Shares. As of December 31, 2019, 1,515,730 stock options remain available for grant, which is insufficient for future anticipated grants.

The Bank’s overhang, dilution and burn rate measures for the most recent fiscal year for the Plan are set out below and are within best practice guidelines:

For more information, see page 105 of this Circular.

If the proposed Limit Increase is approved, the total number of Common Shares reserved for the Plan, minus options that have been exercised, will represent approximately 3.17% of the total number of issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Bank. The following chart shows the number of Common Shares available for issuance under the Stock Option Plan before and after the proposed Limit Increase.

On December 16, 2019, the Board approved an increase in the number of Common Shares available for issue under the Plan, subject to obtaining shareholder and TSX approval. On January 16, 2020, the TSX conditionally approved the increase subject to shareholder approval.

The Board recommends that you vote FOR the amendments to the Bank of Montreal Amended and Restated Stock Option Plan.

“THAT the Bank of Montreal Amended and Restated Stock Option Plan (the “Plan”) be amended to provide that the number of Common Shares of Bank of Montreal issuable pursuant to the exercise of options under the Plan be increased by an additional 12,000,000 Common Shares, such that the reserve will be 84,200,000.”

To be effective, the resolution must be passed by a majority of the votes cast thereon in person or by proxy by the shareholders at the meeting. The persons designated in the enclosed form of proxy, unless otherwise instructed, intend to vote for the foregoing resolution.

The Mouvement d’éducation et de défense des actionnaires (“MÉDAC”) has submitted two shareholder proposals and Harrington Investments Inc. has submitted one shareholder proposal to the Bank to be included in this management proxy circular. These Shareholder proposals submitted for your vote, along with the Bank’s responses to them, are set out starting at page 52. You may vote for, against, or abstain from voting on each of them.

The Board recommends shareholders vote AGAINST each of these shareholder proposals.

If Robert Prichard or Darryl White is your proxyholder and you have not given instructions on how to vote, he will vote against each of these proposals.

Voting Information

Items of Business

At the meeting, you will vote on:

Each item of business, other than the election of directors, needs approval by a majority (more than 50%) of the votes cast in order to be approved.

Who Can Vote

You have the right to vote – one vote per Share – if you owned Shares on February 3, 2020, unless you are described below under “Who Cannot Vote”. On that date, we had 639,627,837 Common Shares outstanding.

Voting Instructions for Non-Registered Shareholders

You are a non-registered Shareholder if the Shares you own are registered for you in the name of an intermediary, such as a bank, investment dealer, securities broker or trust company. Most Shareholders are non-registered Shareholders. If you are a non-registered Shareholder, your intermediary will send you a voting instruction form with this circular. We may not have records of your shareholdings as a non-registered Shareholder, so you must follow the instructions from your intermediary to vote.

If you wish to vote in person at the meeting, insert your name in the space provided for the proxyholder appointment on the voting instruction form, and return it as instructed by your intermediary. Do not complete the voting section of the voting instruction form, since you will vote in person at the meeting. When you arrive at the meeting, please register with our transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company of Canada. If no space is provided for you to insert your name on the form, please contact your intermediary for instructions.

If you do not intend to attend the meeting and vote in person, you can either mark your voting instructions on the voting instruction form or choose another person – called a proxyholder – to attend the meeting and vote your Shares for you. In either case, you will need to complete and return your voting instruction form as instructed by your intermediary.

Voting Instructions for Registered Shareholders

You are a registered Shareholder if the Shares you own are registered directly in your name. If that is the case, your name appears on your Share certificate or a statement from a direct registration system confirming your shareholdings.

If you wish to vote in person at the meeting, do not complete or return the enclosed proxy form but bring it with you to the meeting. When you arrive at the meeting, please register with our transfer agent, Computershare.

If you do not intend to attend the meeting and vote in person, you can either mark your voting instructions in the voting section of the proxy form or choose another person – called a proxyholder – to attend the meeting and vote your Shares for you. In either case, you will need to complete and return the enclosed proxy form to Computershare.

Voting by Proxy

Choosing Your Proxyholder

The enclosed proxy form or voting instruction form names Robert Prichard or Darryl White, each a director of the Bank, as your proxyholder. If you wish to appoint a different proxyholder, write that person’s or company’s name in the blank space on the form or, if voting online, in accordance with the online voting instructions. Your proxyholder does not have to be a Shareholder of the Bank. Make sure your chosen proxyholder will attend the meeting and vote for you. If you do not appoint a different proxyholder in your returned proxy form or voting instruction form, then Robert Prichard or Darryl White will vote for you.

How Your Proxyholder Will Vote

For the election of directors and the appointment of the Shareholders’ auditors, you may either vote for or withhold. For the advisory vote on the Bank’s approach to Executive Compensation, you may vote for or against. For the approval of the amendment of the Bank of Montreal Amended and Restated Stock Option Plan, you may vote for or against. For the shareholder proposals, you may

vote for, against or abstain. If you have given voting instructions in your proxy form or voting instruction form, your proxyholder must vote according to those instructions. If you have not given voting instructions in your proxy form or voting instruction form, your proxyholder will decide how to vote. Your proxyholder will also decide how to vote on any amendment or variation to any of the matters in the notice of the meeting or any new matters that are properly brought before the meeting.

If you properly complete and return your proxy form or voting instruction form, but do not appoint a different proxyholder and do not give specific voting instructions, Robert Prichard or Darryl White will vote for you as follows:

Returning the Proxy Form

If you are a registered Shareholder, the enclosed proxy form tells you how to submit your voting instructions. Our transfer agent, Computershare, must receive your proxy by no later than 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) on March 30, 2020 (or the last business day before any adjournment, if the meeting is adjourned). You may return your proxy form in one of the following ways:

Returning the Voting Instruction Form

If you are a non-registered Shareholder, return your voting instructions using one of the methods noted on the voting instruction form provided by your intermediary. Remember that your intermediary must receive your voting instructions in sufficient time for your intermediary to act on them. For your votes to count, they must be received by Computershare by no later than 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) on March 30, 2020 (or the last business day before any adjournment, if the meeting is adjourned).

Changing Your Voting Instructions

If you are a registered Shareholder and you change your mind about how you have voted before the meeting, you must deliver a signed written notice changing your instructions to one of the following people:

You may also change your instructions by voting in person at the meeting after registering with our transfer agent, Computershare, at the meeting.

If you are a non-registered Shareholder and have returned your voting instructions to your intermediary and change your mind about your vote, or decide to attend the meeting and vote in person, contact your intermediary to find out what to do.

Voting Instructions for Employee Shareholders

If you hold Shares through the Bank of Montreal Employee Share Ownership Plan or Employee Share Purchase Plan, you may vote your Shares in one of the following ways:

We Encourage You to Vote

We encourage you to vote. This circular is being sent to you for the purpose of soliciting proxies by the Bank’s management for use at the meeting. Costs of the solicitation, including the costs of distributing materials to all beneficial owners, are paid by the Bank. We may also contact you by

letter, email or phone call to ask you to vote, using our outside agency, Gryphon Advisors Inc. We expect to pay approximately $40,000 for their services, plus charges for any telephone calls. They can be reached toll-free at 1-833-266-0365 or by email at inquiries@gryphonadvisors.ca.

Who Cannot Vote

Shares beneficially owned by the following entities and persons cannot be voted (unless in circumstances approved by the Minister of Finance):

Also, if a person, or an entity controlled by a person, beneficially owns Shares that are, in the aggregate, more than 20% of the eligible votes that may be cast, that person or entity may not cast any vote on the Shares (unless permitted by the Minister of Finance).

To the knowledge of the Bank’s directors and officers, as at February 3, 2020, no one person or entity beneficially owned, directly or indirectly, or exercised control or direction over more than 10% of the Bank’s outstanding Shares.

Confidentiality

To keep voting confidential, Computershare counts all proxies. Computershare only discusses proxies with the Bank when legally necessary, when a Shareholder clearly intends to communicate with management, or when there is a proxy contest.

Contacting the Bank’s Transfer Agent

For general Shareholder inquiries, contact our transfer agent:

by mail at:

Computershare Trust Company of Canada

100 University Avenue

8^th Floor, North Tower

Toronto, Ontario

M5J 2Y1

by telephone:

within Canada and the United States at 1-800-340-5021

from all other countries at 514-982-7555

by email at:

service@computershare.com

by fax:

within Canada and the United States at 1-888-453-0330

from all other countries at 416-263-9394

Shareholder Questions at the Meeting

You can ask questions about the Bank and its business in any of the following ways:

Shareholder Proposals Next Year

Proposals for the next annual meeting of Shareholders must be submitted by November 9, 2020. The Board has adopted a Proxy Access Policy, which provides an additional way for shareholders to submit director nominations. This Policy can be found at https://www.bmo.com/home/about/banking/corporate-governance/select-documents

Directors

The Board is responsible for supervising the management of the business and affairs of the Bank. As Shareholders, you elect the members of the Board. This section provides information about the director nominees for election to the Board, their continuing education and skills, their compensation and their attendance at meetings.

Nominees for Election to Board of Directors

The effective management of an organization of the Bank’s size and scope requires dedication, diversity and experience. Pie charts (a) and (b) below provide summary information about the geographical mix and tenure of the non-employee director nominees. Pie chart (c) shows the attendance of non-employee director nominees serving on the Board at the end of fiscal 2019. The director nominee profiles on pages 13 to 18 provide detailed information about each nominee for election to the Board, including their expertise, committee memberships, meeting attendance, public board memberships and voting results for last year’s director elections. The profiles also disclose information on the securities held by the nominees as at February 6, 2020, as well as the value of their total compensation earned in fiscal 2019.

Continuing Education and Skills

Continuing Education

All directors are required to continuously advance their knowledge of the Bank’s business, the financial services sectors in which it operates, emerging trends and issues and significant strategic initiatives.

To assist directors in understanding their responsibilities and updating their knowledge of issues affecting our businesses, we provide directors with an ongoing education program. The Bank’s Governance and Nominating Committee is responsible for (i) overseeing the orientation program for new directors and committee members with respect to their Board responsibilities, the role of the board and its committees and the contribution individual directors are expected to make, and (ii) overseeing the programs for providing continuing education for all directors and committee members.

On an ongoing basis, the Bank provides many opportunities for directors to read and hear about specialized and complex topics relevant to the Bank’s operations, and to make site visits. In particular, directors:

During the 2019 fiscal year, directors participated in educational sessions and roundtable sessions and received educational materials on the topics outlined below. They also received quarterly and ad hoc briefings on regulatory developments.

In 2013, the Governance and Nominating Committee oversaw the implementation of an online director education program (the Board Learning App), developed in conjunction with the Bank’s Institute for Learning, consisting of didactic and self-directed learning via electronic medium. Launched in April 2013, this learning application responds to the need for continuous financial industry and risk learning in support of the complex and evolving role of the Board of Directors at the Bank. In 2018 the Board Learning App was redesigned to align with the expectations of modern learners and to provide the Board of Directors a greater variety of learning resources, on a broader range of topics and more frequently. The content framework for the learning application consists of 6 core topic pillars: (1) financial; (2) customer/client; (3) risk; (4) regulatory; (5) change; and (6) people.

As part of the redesigned platform, directors are provided with internal and external educational materials related to each of the six content areas. The content is curated by subject-matter-experts (SMEs) from across the Bank. SMEs and content providers also play a role in setting the context for the way material is presented. The learning application is updated periodically with new resources, building on additional topics as they relate to the six core areas and the Bank’s strategic priorities. Over the last year, directors were provided with the following educational materials through the Board Learning App:

The following mandatory and recommended training was also made available to the full Board through the Board Learning App:

In addition, directors are encouraged to participate in relevant external education seminars and in 2019 several did.

Skills Matrix

Non-employee directors confirm their skills and experience in February of each year. The information is used to assess the overall strength and diversity of the Board. All non-employee nominee directors possess the following skills: Other Board Experience (2), Accounting and Finance (4), Mergers & Acquisitions (5), Risk Management (6), Human Resources (7), and Strategic Planning (10). Non-employee nominee Directors also possess the following skills: