Scotiabank is currently a sponsor of the Hot Docs Film Festival, the Giller Prize, the Toronto Biennial of Art, and the Scotiabank Photography Award. It is also one of the largest investors in Elbit Systems. Elbit is "Israel's" largest military and arms company, providing 85% of Israel's land-based military equipment and 85% of its drones. It provides surveillance and border control systems to the occupation. It provides munitions to "Israel" - $144 million worth in 2020 alone - and has historically been linked to internationally-banned cluster bombs and white phosphorous.

The No Arms In The Arts campaign is led by a coalition of groups, including Writers Against The War On Gaza - Toronto, Film Workers For Palestine, Artists Against Artwashing and Canlit Responds, that reject arts funding tied to the ongoing displacement and death of Palestinians. Scotiabank is not the campaign's only target, but has been a primary one for cultural workers leveraging their art and labour against the imperial war machine.

In November 2023, there was an on-air disruption of the Scotiabank-sponsored Giller Prize pointing out its ties to Elbit. The Gillers responded by pressuring police to pursue criminal charges against the protestors, and attempting to silence authors who spoke out in solidarity. The Gillers also sports partnerships with Audible, Indigo Books and the Azrieli Foundation - two corporations and a non-profit with deep ties arms funding, settlements and Zionist organizations.

In late April 2024, the No Arms In The Arts Festival was held - 11 days of counterprogramming to the Scotiabank-funded Hot Docs. The programming consisted of vigils, direct actions, screenings and panels intended to create a space for Palestinian solidarity in a notoriously censorious industry. Additionally, a surge of filmmakers took to official Hot Docs stages to denounce Scotiabank night after night, calling for an Elbit divestment. A land in the sand was drawn: arts festivals can no longer be used to discreetly launder their funders' blood money.

Pressure on Scotiabank is working. In Spring 2024, it was announced that Scotiabank's 1832 Asset Management halved its stake in Elbit. In Summer, that stake was halved again, representing a partial divestment of over $350 million. This was the result of months of actions, in which culture sector organizing and agitation was far and away the most visible. Prior to this, the investment had been left mostly untouched for years, and Elbit Systems CEO Bezhalel Makhlis attributed Scotiabank's gradual withdrawal to increasing political pressure. But we aren't settling for half-measures. We're winning the moral and material battle, and we're coming for the whole thing.