Our goal is to have a meaningful, positive and measureable impact on society, the environment and the economy. RBC supports a broad range of community initiatives through donations, sponsorships, environmental initiatives and employee volunteer activities.
At RBC, we are committed to helping young people reach their full potential. Our employees are passionate about volunteering their time and energy to provide support and opportunities - whether it’s to help open doors, overcome ill health or disadvantage, or realise their academic, athletic or entrepreneurial ambitions. RBC is here to support young people in creating a more positive future.
This inclusive 5km fun run is part of a series of 17 RBC Race for the Kids events globally, each supporting local children's charities.
RBC has been the title sponsor of RBC Race for the Kids in London since 2010. The beautiful surrounds of Hyde Park are now home to this inclusive event which has raised over £3 million for Great Ormond Street Hospital. In 2019, more than 10,000 people took part, making the London Race the largest in the world. In 2020, the event went virtual, bringing a day of philanthropy and volunteerism celebrations straight to our employees’ homes. US$4 million was donated to over 45 youth-focused charities globally, with 6 charities benefitting from a total donation of US$1 million in the UK.
In Luxembourg, over 5,000 runners took part in RBC Race for the Kids raising over €295,000 for the Kannerhaus Jean Therapy Centre. This Red Cross youth project supports families with children suffering from behaviour and psychological disorders.
RBC partnered with Super League Triathlon to bring this event to Jersey and we were thrilled to welcome over 1,000 participants. Participants walked, wheeled and ran the 2.5K and 5K course and had a fantastic time raising money for Mind Jersey.
RBC’s annual Trade for the Kids event is a celebration of our commitment to children and youth. Launched in 2015 on our New York trading floor, RBC Trade for the Kids spread across North America and to London two years later.
In 2018, the event went global, spanning 23 trading locations and we donated US$3.3 million to 44 youth charities across the regions. In 2019 we donated US$3.8 million to 65+ youth charities around the world.
We have partnered with UK charity SportsAid since 2014 to help bring young athletes’ dreams to life. Each year we sponsor 50 up-and-coming British athletes from disabled and non-disabled disciplines.
RBC colleagues volunteer their time to become ‘buddies’, offering personal support and encouragement to these sporting stars of the future. We also provide our Team RBC athletes and their parents with workshop sessions where they get to learn valuable skills that will help them progress both as athletes and young people. This partnership emulates RBC’s Olympic Athlete and Training Ground programmes in Canada.
SportsAid’s patron is Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge.
Founded in 2010, the RBC Academy provides learning and work experience opportunities for students from inner-London boroughs, enabling them to learn more about RBC and careers in financial services.
This initiative started in London and RBC Academies have now successfully launched in Canada and the US.
Colleagues based at RBC’s offices in Frankfurt engage with local charity Die Arche which helps socially disadvantaged children across Germany.
RBC recently sponsored the annual ‘Sommerfest’ and colleagues volunteered to help at the event. The team have also arranged group visits to the zoo, and donated gifts at Christmas to children who use Die Arche’s local facilities.
Founded in 1976, The Prince’s Trust supports thousands of vulnerable young people as they strive to get their lives on track. RBC partners with the charity in Canada and the UK.
Locally, we support the Enterprise programme, giving hundreds of young entrepreneurs the guidance and mentoring they need to make their business ventures a success. Colleagues further support these young people through a variety of volunteering opportunities offered by The Trust.
RBC supports Ronald McDonald House Charities globally and here in London colleagues have regularly volunteered since 2015. These vital facilities enable families with sick children undergoing treatment to be together in incredibly difficult circumstances. The RBC London team donate Christmas hampers and toys in addition to raising tens of thousands of pounds through challenge events. They also volunteer directly in the Houses, regularly serving dinner to the families, gardening and decorating the House facilities.
At RBC, we recognize the impact we have on the communities in which we live and work. Since developing our first environmental policy in 1991, we have been focused on environmental management and continuous improvement. We develop policies and build programmes that reduce our impact in three priority areas: climate change, sustainable communities and fresh water.
In 2020, RBC launched RBC Tech for Nature, making donations to organisations globally who leverage technology and innovation capabilities to solve pressing environmental challenges. In the UK, Thames 21 and the University of Oxford were beneficiaries of RBC Tech for Nature.
Since 2018, RBC and ZSL have worked together to execute an innovative socio-ecological project in London. Together, RBC and ZSL, are working to improve the health of London’s rivers as a biodiversity-rich ecosystem through innovative technology and conservation programs.
To support their #OneLess Campaign, RBC staff regularly volunteer to help control the levels of discarded single-use plastics that enter the ecosystem of the capital’s waterways.
RBC has a longstanding partnership with theThames21 and in 2020 made an RBC Tech for Nature donation to the charity. This donation will support the creation of a new online educational programme for secondary school students that connects them with their local waterway and enables them to develop an understanding of water management issues in London.
RBC employees will have several opportunities to support the programme through volunteering their time and skills.
The two-year partnership between RBC and Earthwatch enabled the expansion of the FreshWater Watch program to Luxembourg, Paris and Dublin. The program supports communities by safeguarding the quality and supply of fresh water, using simple but robust citizen science techniques. Through training given by Earthwatch scientists and local university partners, RBC employees are equipped with the knowledge and resources to conduct regular water-monitoring activities locally including annual ‘WaterBlitzes’.
RBC have made an RBC Tech For Nature donation to Oxford University’s World Weather Attribution (WWA) project. This donation will support the charity in their international effort to analyse and communicate the possible influence of climate change on extreme weather events such as storms, extreme rainfall, heatwaves, cold spells, and droughts.
Climate change affects all communities and sectors of the economy. The RBC Climate Blueprint is our strategy to accelerate clean economic growth and support our clients in the low-carbon transition.
Investing in the arts is a long-standing priority at RBC. We believe the arts play an important role in building vibrant communities and strong economies. We support organisations and artists across a range of genres – including music, visual arts, theatre and film – to help enrich our communities, promote cross-cultural exchange of ideas, and develop talent among emerging artists.
RBC is the Principal Partner of this iconic, 201 year old London theatre and our support directly enables more artistic output and varied programming than ever before.
With our support, the theatre has delivered 12 world premiere productions since 2015 and more than 1 million people have visited the theatre, of those 58% were newcomers.
Our partnership also celebrates the theatre’s historical Canadian links - the late Canadian businessman and philanthropist Ed Mirvish, who saved the theatre in 1982.
2020 marks the 7th year of RBC’s principal partnership of Masterpiece London, the world's leading cross-collecting fair, offering stunning works of art, furniture, jewellery and design. Masterpiece has become the must-attend event for collectors, exhibitors and curators in the art and auction world.
Take the Lead is an innovative scheme that will inspire and equip young people with key skills to unlock their full potential. RBC is committed to promoting and investing in young people’s skills for the future and through our partnership with The Old Vic, we can use theatre as a way of building confidence and positive communication skills. Take the Lead is free and open to any students aged between 16 and 18 years old. The Old Vic is working with 20 schools in 2019 and up to 1,000 Key Stage 5 students.
Read MoreDiversity and inclusion is more than just a value, it’s our strength and it’s one of the ways we bring RBC’s purpose of helping clients thrive and communities prosper to life. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, we’re motivated by what’s still to come and we know we have work to do. The Black Lives Matters movement in the US has turned into a global reckoning for governments and corporations on the topic of race and equality. We have been looking at our own practices and pausing to consider what impact we can make within RBC with regard to race, our Black and BAME employees, and within the Black and wider community. We will update this page as our initial ideas and efforts crystallise in the coming months.
Accelerate full inclusion to attract, retain and enable the best talent and to increase leadership diversity through inclusive workplaces with a focus on the advancement of women and minorities.
Lead in providing personalized advice and solutions that reflect the diversity of clients.
Strengthen social and economic development through partnerships and corporate citizenship to help generate inclusive prosperity, thought leadership and active leaders.
Find out more at www.rbc.com/diversity-inclusion and visit www.rbc.com/careers to search for your next opportunity.
RBC ranked #3 globally and #1 bank in the Refinitiv Top 100 Most Diverse and Inclusive Index from over 7,000 listed companies.
For the third year, RBC was named to the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, an annual review that measures gender equality in the workplace.
For the ninth year in a row, RBC achieved 100% in the Corporate Equality Index (2011-2019) based on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality.
One of the Top 200 for gender equality in the Equileap global report.
Working Families Top 30 Employer in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Our Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s) are cross-business and self-coordinating groups open to all, who bring together employees of all levels who share a common identity, characteristic and set of interests. In the British Isles, the ERG networks provide professional communities for women, BAME employees, LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer +) individuals, working parents and carers as well as our early talent population. They are a great vehicle for creating a more inclusive, cohesive culture and for connecting with other colleagues. Learn more at www.rbc.com/diversity-inclusion/
This group aims to facilitate the career progression of women by providing networking and professional and personal development, as well as encouraging men to join as allies to advocate for a work environment where all employees have equal opportunities to grow, succeed and achieve their full potential.
The Multicultural Employee Alliance (MEA) is focused on creating a workplace where all employees can thrive, irrespective of race, nationality, ethnicity, heritage, culture, religion, belief and whether they are a person of faith or not.
This employee resource group was created to bridge the gap between current and future leaders within RBC with the main goal is to unite, strengthen and retain young talent at RBC. RFuture is based on four pillars: RSkills (enhancing the intellectual capital), RConnect (connect all businesses and levels together), RLiving (explore topics to create a healthier workforce) and RCommunity (giving back to the community).
The PRIDE network’s key objective is to empower all RBC employees to bring their whole selves to work. They do so by raising awareness and providing education on LGBTQ issues to build a deeper understanding of the LGBTQ employee and client experience. They also help to attract and retain LGBTQ and allied talent by providing broad support and a strong sense of community.
i-CARE is dedicated to provide informal support to all employees on topics such as child and elder care, balancing work and personal life as well as sustaining positive mental health and well-being.
As an organization, RBC recognizes the importance of physical and mental health, supporting a broad range of community initiatives through charitable donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. We sponsor and host our own participation challenge events and encourage colleagues and clients to test themselves as they raise money for good causes.
RBC became Presenting Partner of this award-winning Half Marathon in London’s iconic Royal Parks in 2017.
Established in 2008, the event has become the second largest mass-participation fundraising event in the UK and 150,000+ runners have raised over £50 million for over 1,000 charities.
RBC Ride for the Kids unites colleagues, clients and former Olympians and Paralympians through cycling. In 2018, 47 Team RBC’ers completed a 170-mile journey from London to Bruges via Holland in two days and raised £60,000 for SportsAid and in 2019, 58 cyclists tackled a London to Brussels ride, raising over £80,000 for SportsAid.
This donation will fund a series of national workshops for hundreds of SportsAid athletes on all aspects of physical and mental well-being. Globally, we sponsor three RBC Gran Fondo events in Whistler, Silicon Valley and Houston.