RBC Corporate Responsibility Report and Public Accountability Statement

A community’s prosperity isn’t just limited to its economic outlook. RBC’s vision of “building prosperity together” also means that we pay attention to the well-being of our communities by supporting arts, culture and athletics.

A dance to remember
If you attended The National Ballet of Canada’s production of Swan Lake or The Firebird in 2003, you won’t soon forget the powerful performances of one of Canada’s premier dance troupes. But imagine how it would feel to be one of the performers. That’s the memory young dancers and young children have from The National Ballet of Canada’s five-city Western Tour, sponsored by RBC Investments. At every stop along the tour, RBC and The National Ballet provided once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for ballet students to attend a master class with stars from the troupe. Children who attend RBC-funded after-school programs were also thrilled to take part in movement and dance workshops led by professional dancers from The National Ballet.

And, for the ninth year, RBC Capital Markets supported The National Ballet’s Kids Corps, an educational outreach program for children.

Support for cultural cornerstones
In 2003, RBC announced its largest gifts ever to support arts and culture in Toronto, where four of Canada’s leading cultural institutions are based. The Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet School received a total of $4 million to invest in improvements to their facilities.

“We have much to learn from RBC,” said Hilary Weston, chair of the Royal Ontario Museum’s fundraising campaign. “Your financial support is proof of your foresight – and carries on RBC’s esteemed legacy as a leader in the support of arts and culture.”

RBC’s donation was directed to these cultural cornerstones in recognition of the important role arts and culture plays in the region’s economy and quality of life for its residents.

A brush with success
RBC Investments and the Canadian Art Foundation sponsored the fifth annual New Canadian Painting Competition, established to recognize visual artists in the early stages of their careers.

Over 600 artists entered the 2003 competition, and works by the 15 finalists were displayed publicly.

The three regional winners will also have their works showcased in RBC’s own art collection, started in 1929 to encourage Canadian artists, and containing works by artists such as Emily Carr, Alex Colville, Marc-Aurèle Fortin, Cornelius Krieghoff and Christopher Pratt. Hundreds of paintings, prints and sculptures from our collection are displayed in RBC locations throughout Canada and around the world.

Cross-border art exchange

Sheldon Chester, RBC Dain Rauscher and Joe Horse Capture, Minneapolis Institute of Arts</span>

Residents of Minneapolis had a taste of Canadian art as part of a joint venture between the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
     Northern Visions: Art and Life of the Inuit, a collection of Inuit sculptures and prints, was exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 2003. The collection, one of the largest in the world, belongs to the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
     The exhibition is the first of a series of cultural exchanges between the two art galleries, designed to build cultural and business connections between Minnesota and Manitoba. RBC Dain Rauscher in Minneapolis, and RBC Investments in Winnipeg, each donated $5,000 toward the cost of the exhibit.
    Joan Grathwol Olson, director of development for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts agrees. “The exhibition has been well received. People here have never seen anything like it and we are grateful to RBC for their financial contribution and partnership.”

Sheldon Chester, an RBC Dain Rauscher financial consultant and collector of native art looks at prints with Joe Horse Capture (right), associate curator at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. In 2003, RBC sponsored an exhibit of Inuit sculptures and prints at the gallery, as part of a cultural exchange with the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
IMAGE: Stan Waldhauser

RBC Financial Group supports arts and culture, with donations to music, dance, theatre and the visual arts, for we believe in the power of the arts to enrich our lives and enhance our communities. We also support amateur athletics, from grassroots all the way to the Olympics.

Wide-ranging support for opera
RBC has been an ongoing supporter of opera since the 1960s, and has contributed over $2.1 million to 30 opera associations across Canada in the last 10 years, including national support of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio program. We extend a broad base of support to local opera companies, too, which is why RBC was named the 2003 winner of the Bravo Award for Outstanding Corporate Support in Canada by Opera America, a non-profit association of 170 professional opera companies across North America.

“RBC is a true leader in corporate philanthropy, recognizing the vital role opera plays in the educational and cultural life of communities,” says James Wright, General Director of Vancouver Opera, who nominated RBC for the award. “We, and the millions of people that opera reaches across the country, are grateful for their vision and leadership.”

Concert tour gives back
Since 1987, some of Canada’s most popular performing artists, under the leadership of musician and actor Tom Jackson, have raised their voices in song as part of the Huron Carole, a concert series named after Canada’s first Christmas carole, composed in 1641.

And while the music provides food for the soul, the 13-city tour also raises funds for local food banks in each of its stops. RBC has been a sponsor of the tour since 1997.

This year, the Huron Carole raised $365,000 from ticket sales and collected nearly 7,000 kilograms of food, with an additional $17,830 raised through the sale of commemorative pins at the RBC Pin Bin.

Special Olympics
RBC has supported Canadian Special Olympics since 1968. Today, employees across Canada volunteer their time as coaches, fundraisers and organizers with local teams while RBC-sponsored Sports Celebrities Festivals raise more than $1 million annually for Special Olympics.

Some of our employees compete in Special Olympics, too, and for one of them, 2003 was a banner year.

Vancouver’s Corrie Carlile earned a spot on the Canadian Special Olympics’ National swim team, competing in the World Games in Dublin, Ireland, where she won two gold medals. Corrie serves as an inspiration to other athletes with disabilities. Her advice? “Be ready to try new things, train hard, be a good sport and follow your dreams.”

An Olympic tradition

It’s official – Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. RBC has supported the Canadian Olympic Team since 1947 – the longest continuous supporter of any Olympic team in the world – so we were a proud community contributor to this Vancouver Bid.
    RBC continued to support the Canadian Olympic Committee through its Career Opportunities Program in 2003, providing employment for Olympic contenders across the country while giving them the flexibility to train and compete.
    In British Columbia, RBC also hired a team of Olympic and Paralympic athletes as community outreach ambassadors dedicated to creating awareness and support for the Vancouver Bid, engaging Canadians in the pursuit of excellence and in the Olympic ideals.
    RBC is now focused on helping Canada’s Olympic team members achieve their dreams at the Athens Olympic Games, in August 2004.

RBC hired a team of Olympic and Paralympic athletes, including Daniel Wesley, as community outreach ambassadors to create awareness and support for the successful Vancouver 2010 Bid.
IMAGE: Kurt Kallberg

Olympics in the classroom
The entire world pays attention to the Olympics – and watching the Games on television is as close as most of us will ever get to an Olympic experience. But for students all across Canada, the 2004 Athens Olympic Games will feel a little closer, thanks to the Canadian Olympic Education Program.

In 2003, RBC teamed up with the Canadian Olympic Committee to offer this curriculum-based resource geared to students in grades four to six. Made available for free to over 12,000 schools across Canada, the resource includes a 32-page kit of curriculum-based activities on topics including ancient Greece and a fun unit on how to stage a mini-Olympic Games.

Athletes study and score
RBC celebrates the achievements of amateur athletes both on the field and in the classroom. The annual RBC Junior A Scholarship program rewards outstanding academic achievement, athletic prowess and community service. Ten players, one from each of Canada’s Junior A leagues, received $1,000 scholarships. Of these, the most outstanding candidate was recognized with an additional $5,000 award.

Fundraising support for sports teams
RBC’s popular Toonies for Your Team program has been helping local sports teams raise funds for uniforms, equipment and playing space for eight years. In 2003, events like Leo’s Shoot-Out, The RBC Helmet Toss and the Toonie Toss (where event spectators toss a two-dollar coin onto a target and the person with the closest coin to the target splits the proceeds with the team) raised more than $100,000 for minor teams across Canada.

RBC’s Local Hockey Leaders
In 2003, RBC launched a new program in Canada to recognize and celebrate “Local Hockey Leaders,” behind-the-scenes individuals who inspire others through activities such as coaching teams, shovelling outdoor rinks, organizing fundraising campaigns or driving players to games.

Thirteen regional winners receive $5,000 each toward a registered charity or hockey cause in their community, special recognition in the Hockey Hall of Fame and a signed Team Canada jersey. Then, one national winner receives a grand prize of $25,000 for a hockey-related cause.

Labrador Winter Games
Imagine a week-long sporting event that brings together over 500 Innu, Inuit, Settlers and Métis people from 18 remote communities across Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada’s easternmost province. Now imagine there are no age barriers in the competitions, which include dog-sled racing, snowshoeing and the “seal crawl.” Add snow and cold. These are what make the Labrador Winter Games unique.

The Labrador Winter Games began in 1982 as a way to revive traditional sports that are part of the local culture, and support athletes who are from remote areas and face obstacles such as inadequate training facilities, the lack of local peers with whom they can compete, as well as the high cost of travel to competitions.

RBC has been a key supporter of the Labrador Winter Games since 1997.

They shoot, they score

Hockey is a way of life for millions of people across North America, from players and coaches to officials, volunteers and spectators. RBC has been a supporter of hockey since the 1980s, and the centrepiece of our support is the RBC Royal Bank Cup, the National Junior A Championship.
    The tournament is a great opportunity for players to showcase their talents to Canadian and American scouts. Each year over 100 teams compete to make it to the Championships, with the final five competing in a week-long round robin.
    But visitors are treated to more than exciting hockey. RBC kicked off the 2003 tournament, held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, with a barbeque to thank the community, attended by 2,500 people. Friends and family of the teams were then treated to an evening of dinner and dancing to thank them for their support of hockey.
    RBC also sponsored the 2003 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, held in Nova Scotia – the first time in Canada since 1999. It was considered to be the most important sporting event ever to be held in that province.

Communities from across Canada compete fiercely to host the annual RBC Royal Bank Cup, and in 2003, the tournament swept into Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, bringing with it thousands of spectators, boosting the local economy and raising the national profile of this seaside city.
IMAGE: www.lamediadesign.com