Donations & Sponsorships

We believe it's in the best interests of our communities that everyone takes part in community life. We support programs that remove barriers to education and help people with disabilities find jobs. In 2007, we donated over $1.3 million to organizations supporting people with disabilities.

Over the years, we've supported a variety of programs for individuals with disabilities. For example:

• RBC donations to the Canadian Centre for Diversity will help develop practical tools and strategies and business practices in diversity training for small and medium sized businesses.
• RBC Career Transition Program for students with disabilities at Wilfred Laurier University, unveiled in October 2007 with a donation of over $700,000, aims to meet the career development needs of more than 750 students with disabilities by investigating career options and transition work.
• In 2004, we pledged $400,000 to help the Atlantic Centre, at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, expand its programs, establish a summer training institute and improve access to information through speech recognition technology. The Atlantic Centre provides support to students with disabilities.
• Since 2001, we've committed $1.2 million to Ryerson University's School of Disability Studies. This school is designed to give educators and practitioners the opportunity to teach and research in response to community needs. The Institute also creates research and work opportunities for students at the undergraduate and graduate level.
• We've also supported the Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres and their network of 28 independent Living Resource Centres that promote saving for post-secondary education among parents with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities.
• RBC and the Special Olympics have a long-standing relationship going back to 1968, when we became one of the Special Olympics' founding partners. Since that time, we've provided over $4 million in funding through both donations and sponsorship of national, regional and local games.