Community

Amateur Sport

RBC supports amateur athletes of all levels, from the community to the Olympic level.

Canada's Olympic Team

• RBC is the longest-standing corporate sponsor of the Canadian Olympic Team, since 1947. We are the Premier National Partner in the banking category for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C., which includes sponsorship of the Canadian Olympic Team for all Games from 2006 to 2012. RBC's total commitment of $110 million includes a cash contribution of more than $70 million as well as provision of banking services, athlete and amateur sport investments, support for the Paralympic Games, First Nations community development programs and marketing support through the RBC network. In 2008, RBC was selected as co-presenting partner, with Coca-Cola*, of the Olympic Torch Relay for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
  
  
• RBC employs current and retired Olympic and Paralympic athletes through the RBC Olympians Program, offering flexible work arrangements so that athletes can make time for training and competition. RBC Olympians act as community ambassadors, visiting schools, community groups, clients and employees. The program also provides valuable work experience to help athletes prepare for life after sport. Since its launch in 2002, the RBC Olympians Program has employed more than 85 athletes and several have gone on to full-time careers with RBC.
  
  
• RBC is an official sponsor of the Canadian Snowboard Federation, which includes our national team and title sponsorship of the grassroots program entitled RBC Riders. We are also official sponsors of the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association and the RBC Jumps and Bumps program. Through these sponsorships, RBC helps fund the coaching and development of Canada's freestyle and snowboard athletes.

Special Olympics

• As a founding sponsor of Special Olympics Canada, RBC helps provide sport training and competitive opportunities for 31,000 Canadian athletes with intellectual disabilities. RBC employees volunteer their time as coaches and fundraisers while the RBCsupported Sport Celebrities Festival raises more than $1 million annually.

Hockey

• RBC has been a Premier Sponsor of Hockey Canada since 1995. In addition to supporting Canada's men's and women's national and Olympic hockey teams, RBC is title sponsor of the National Junior A Championship, the RBC Royal Bank Cup.
  
  
• In its sixth year, the RBC Local Hockey Leaders® program recognized "behind the scenes" volunteers who support hockey in their communities.
  
  
• RBC supports the post-secondary education of players from each of the regional leagues of Canada's Junior A Hockey League (CJAHL). Since 1996, RBC has contributed more than $195,000 in support of the CJAHL, awarding both individual players and their supporting leagues through a national scholarship program.

Athletics

In 2008, RBC sponsored a number of athletic events, programs, teams and organizations around the world, including:

• RBC Canadian Open. RBC will be a title sponsor of this PGA event until 2012.
  
  
• The RBC Wicket Cricket Program, designed to help schools and communities easily introduce cricket to their physical education programs. Geared to students from kindergarten to grade 8, the program gives physical education teachers and community recreation leaders the means to introduce kids to the basics of the game, while providing a fun physical activity that develops interpersonal skills, enhances self confidence and instills the value of fair play.
  
  
• Carolina Hurricanes hockey, Carolina Panthers football, and Wyndham Championship golf in the United States.
  
  
• In 2008, RBC Bank handed out several "Let's Do Something Giant" awards at special events in the United States, recognizing individuals for their community service or athletic accomplishments. We donated over US$5,000 to athletic scholarships and non-profit organizations on behalf of the award winners.
  
  
• The Bahamas National Swimming Championships, of which RBC has been the major sponsor for the past 25 years.
  
  
• National Intercol football competition among secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago.
  
  
• The Jersey Swimarathon in the British Isles, the island's longest running charity event, which we support in partnership with the Lions Club of Jersey. In 2008, the event raised £130,000 for local causes, with the principal beneficiaries being Cheshire Home and a unique hotel for the disabled, Maison des Landes.