TORONTO, April 7, 2013 - RBC wants to address media reports and provide clarification. Contrary to allegations, RBC has not hired temporary foreign workers to take over the job functions of current RBC employees. Like most businesses, RBC works with many suppliers to provide certain products and services in Canada and globally.

"RBC agreements with suppliers, including in this case iGATE, requires them to ensure that they are abiding by the applicable laws and regulations," said Greg Grice, head of Enterprise Services and chief procurement officer. "External suppliers allow us to leverage their scale and technical skills to continually improve our operational processes and service, and re-invest in initiatives that enhance the client experience."

Initiatives that impact our employees are always difficult. When employees are affected, we work with them to find new roles that match their skills and interests and the bank's business requirements. In instances where this is not possible, we provide affected employees with assistance to support them in their career transition.

"We recognize the impact of this situation on our employees and we continue to remain focused on assisting our employees through this transition. We are working diligently to find suitable roles for those affected and it is our hope over the next few months to transition them to other positions," said Zabeen Hirji, chief human resources officer, RBC. "RBC continues to create jobs in many areas of the organization and has a track record of retraining and redeploying our staff."

About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries operate under the master brand name RBC. We are Canada's largest bank as measured by assets and market capitalization, and are among the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. We are one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, and investor services and wholesale banking on a global basis. We employ approximately 80,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 15 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 49 other countries. For more information, please visit rbc.com.

RBC supports a broad range of community initiatives through donations, sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. In 2012, we contributed more than $95 million to causes worldwide, including donations and community investments of more than $64 million and $31 million in sponsorships.

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Media Contacts:
Rina Cortese, RBC Media Relations, 416-974-5506