RBC Financial Group 2005 Corporate Responsibility Report and Public Acountability Statement

A company’s actions speak louder than its words. At RBC, corporate responsibility can be seen in how we operate our business with integrity, support economic prosperity and environmental sustainability, and contribute to communities. Our report is structured to reflect these areas of focus.

Business integrity
RBC has implemented a wide range of policies and practices to ensure we operate with integrity. Some of these represent sound principles for any business, such as our attention to governance, privacy, diversity and being an employer of choice. Others are specific to our role as a financial institution, such as how we manage risk and provide basic banking services.

Economic prosperity
At RBC, we make an economic impact by creating employment and a well-trained workforce, paying our fair share of taxes, and purchasing goods and services responsibly. As a financial services company, we also contribute to economic prosperity by providing access to credit for small business, supporting community economic development initiatives, and supporting innovation and entrepreneurship.

Environmental sustainability
RBC believes that sustained economic growth and a healthy environment are inextricably linked. We take a leading industry role to support and advocate sustainable business practices in terms of providing financial services, especially credit. We also focus on minimizing our environmental footprint in our own facilities and operations.

Community engagement
RBC believes in building prosperity by supporting a broad range of causes. In 2005, we contributed more than $65 million to community causes worldwide, through donations of more than $40.6 million, and an additional $25 million in the sponsorship of community events and national organizations. Our employees and pensioners also make an enormous contribution as volunteers, sharing their financial and business knowledge, time and enthusiasm with thousands of community groups.


Corporate responsibility firsts RBC’s long history of corporate responsibility contains many significant firsts. In fact, RBC takes corporate responsibility so seriously that in 1980, we embedded it in our first formal employee Code of Conduct. Here are some other highlights.

1891	Our first donation on record: $250 to the Springhill Mine accident relief fund.
1902	We hire our first woman: Jennie Moore from Vancouver.
1929	We start our corporate art collection.
1943	We publish the first issue of Royal Bank Monthly Letter, devoted to topics of citizenship.
1947	We are the first sponsor of the Canadian Olympic Association.
1979	We establish an Equal Employment Opportunity program.
1991	We are the first chartered bank in Canada to publish a formal privacy code.
1992	We are the first North American signatory to the United Nations policy on the environment.
2000	We are the first Canadian bank to be named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
2003	We are the first Canadian bank to adopt the Equator Principles, to assess the social and environmental impacts of large-scale project finance deals.
2004	We are a founding member of the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council.
2005	We are named one of the world’s top 100 sustainable companies, according to a new global business ranking: the “Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World.”