I plan to use my Bank of America(VISA)Debit Card to withdraw Canadian currency from ScotiaBank ATM's.
As I recall on my last trip to Europe there was a problem using 4-digit passwords.
I believe the password had to consist of a combination of numbers and letters greater than four.
My BofA password is only 4-numbers long,
not a combination of numbers and letters.

Will this work in ScotiaBank ATM's?

Every major bank ATM in Canada, including Scotiabank, accepts 4-number pins. I am unaware of any ATM in Canada that does not.

European banking conventions are different from those in Canada, but I have never had a problem in Europe with a 4-digit PIN.

You may want to advise Bank of America of your outside of US travel before your trip. We had problems earlier this summer using our BOA cards at ATMs in Nova Scotia. Our cards had been accepted for payment in retail shops for a day or so before we attempted to draw cash from an ATM. We spent an anxious evening in Truro dashing from ATM to ATM as each declined the transaction. A call to Bank of America confirmed that our account had been red flagged because the usage in retail shops had been noted as suspect. This makes absolutely no sense, as we travel out of the US on a fairly regular basis and have never had this sort of problem. It took much of one morning on the phone resolving the issue and we were then able to draw cash (with a 4 digit password) from pretty much any old ATM we came across. We will definately check in with our bank in the future before we venture onto foreign soil! As banks and cash machines can be few and far between in some areas, you want to avoid the scare we had if at all possible. Have a great trip!

Never leave the country without notifying your credit card companies. I've been nearly stranded in remote Scotland and in the middle of nowhere in Canada before I got the message. They appreciate it, and it's for your protection anyway. They are trying to protect you from fraud, and they have no idea how frequently you leave the country.

Don, my pin is 4 numbers... that's all I've ever had, so you won't have any problems that way. ( I'm Canadian).

I had a problem in NYC at a restaurant trying to use my VISA. I had not informed my visa company that I would be in NYC. It was a good thing I had another credit card with me. Now I always try to remember to notify them when I travel.

And, not to be alarmist, but be careful with ATMs. When we were in Montreal our debit card was "skimmed." This means that somebody attached a small card reader onto the ATM so that when I inserted the card, it was also read by this other reader. They also rigged it to capture my PIN, either by a small hidden camera, or by hooking up to the keypad.
Anyway, with this info, the skimmers can then make a duplicate card. About three weeks after we got back, they hit a few ATMs in Montreal with the fake card and withdrew $500.
Fortunately we caught it quickly and the bank reimbursed us for most of the money, but it was scary.
I'm not positive which ATM it was, but I'm pretty sure it was one of them in a shop in Vieux Montreal. We had to try a few places because they were not accepting our cards. My guess is it was one of them.
I guess this thing is starting to happen all over the place, but nobody here in Chicago has heard of it yet. It's only a matter of time. There are some articles on the web about skimming. You can look it up to get a better idea of what to look for.

mlanoue: You don't mention which ATM you used which resulted in your card being compromised.

If I were to guess, I would imagine it was one of the many non-bank ATMs which are found at convenience stores, gas stations, and other heavily trafficked sites.

I never use these mostly because the service charges are outrageous, but also because of the possibility of scams.

If you use an ATM from one of the major banks (RBC, Scotia, CIBC, TD, National, BMO) you should generally be safe.

Thanks all for your responses

elston & oliverandharry & kodi
I advised the BofA that I would be withdrawing money in Canada Sept 18 thru 22 and placed a 5-day window raising my daily withdrawal from $500 to $2,000 for that time period.

malanoue
I usually obscure my hand when I punch in my PIN but this wouldn't defeat a keypad number detector and the crooks are becoming ever more clever.

laverrdrye
I always try to make my currency withdrawals from a bank ATM ,preferably from inside the bank,
but my flight arrives too late so I will have to use a market ATM machine in Calgary on the road to Banff.
There apparently aren't any more Scotiabanks within the parks.

Besides, if we get"et by a grizzly bar" while hiking around Moraine Lake it won't matter much where I get my CAD's.(See DaveS's warning to "Please review my Itinerary".)
Fortunately I can run faster than my wife so that should slow down a bear, unless he is really hungry.

Don, if you can run faster than your
wife, you'd better keep all the money!!!

If you have to use an ATM other than Scotiabank, then try to use one at a real bank, rather than at a convenience store.. whose fees are much higher, I'd imagine.

Have a great time.

Yes, although I'm not sure which one it was, I know it was a non-bank ATM because that was all we could find when we were roaming in the Old City and were getting desperate for some cash. I had a bad feeling about it, too, but never suspected anything like skimming. Well, we learned our lesson.

Just an incidental point - debit cards with more than four numbers in the PIN are not acceptable in Europe