1960 - 1979

In 1979 the bank chose Harvard MBA Suzanne Labarge as its first woman executive. Appointed Executive Vice-President in 1995, Ms. Labarge continues to challenge barriers, serving since 1999 as Vice-Chairman and Chief Risk Officer, one of nine members of the bank's Group Management Committee. As of 2001 approximately 32 percent of RBC Royal Bank Canadian executive positions were filled by women.

During the Second World War, with many male staffers serving at the front, women assumed a central role in conducting the bank's daily business, as illustrated in this 1945 staff snapshot of the Whitney Pier branch in Sydney, Nova Scotia. By 1945, 71 percent of bank staff was female, up from 21 percent in 1939.