Just as RBC has a business vision that gives direction to our strategy and goals, we also have a social vision that guides our approach to corporate social responsibility. RBC’s social vision articulates our goal of helping build successful, thriving communities wherever we operate: “building prosperity together.”

“Prosperity.”

Mention the word to 10 people and you’ll get 10 different definitions. Most would say the word means “economic well-being.” That’s certainly what you’d think if you heard the word from someone like me in the financial services industry.

But the word “prosperity” also has a broader definition: it also means “being successful or thriving.”

Just as RBC Financial Group has a business vision that gives direction to our strategy and goals, we also have a social vision that guides our approach to corporate social responsibility. RBC’s social vision, “building prosperity together,” rests upon that broader definition of prosperity, because our goal is to help build successful, thriving communities wherever we operate.

The articulation of our social vision may be new, but the actions underlying it have been constant at RBC throughout our 135-year history. As such, we pledge to continue building prosperity together by:

• contributing to the economic development of communities by creating jobs, paying taxes and purchasing goods and services;
• earning the right to be our clients’ first choice by developing value-added products and delivering our services respectfully, while protecting our clients’ privacy and offering effective problem resolution when things go wrong;
• providing access to products and services for clients with special needs;
• operating our businesses in a sustainable fashion through ethical business practices, strong corporate governance and adhering to the law;
• stewarding the environment through sound policies and practices in our daily operations and business and lending initiatives;
• contributing to the well-being of communities through donations and sponsorships, and making our network available in times of crisis;
• creating and maintaining employment, treating our employees with dignity and respect, and offering good jobs and competitive rewards;
• encouraging, recognizing and celebrating the role our employees play as volunteers in their communities;
• respecting the diversity of our employees, clients and communities;
• building on our role as one of North America’s leading corporate citizens, sharing our knowledge willingly and encouraging others to aspire to high standards of citizenship.

Another important word in our social vision is “together.”

No one, not a company or a government, nor an individual or not-for-profit group, can build a prosperous, healthy community alone. It’s a shared responsibility. RBC believes that working partnerships are the best possible way to create lasting change at a community level. Our 2003 Corporate Responsibility Report and Public Accountability Statement highlights some of the partnerships in which we’re involved that help contribute to the economic development of communities.

As in past years, our Report reviews how RBC employees contribute to their communities, how RBC supports causes such as arts, athletics and health care, and how we provide services to clients with special needs.

But you’ll also see how we support the financial well-being of our clients and communities by our focus on education and learning, two of our key interest areas. After all, prosperity depends on well-developed minds – achieved through fostering intelligence, imagination, ingenuity and innovation. It is in our interest as a company, and especially as a financial services company, to nurture knowledgeable employees and help develop community infrastructures that enable innovation.

One important role a financial services company must play is to support the small business sector. RBC Royal Bank continues to be a leader in supporting small business. But it takes more than just products and services to maintain this leadership role. It takes the extra effort put in by knowledgeable staff across the country who work to educate current and would-be entrepreneurs, who champion women entrepreneurs, and who support the growing number of young entrepreneurs.

We live in a global marketplace, where the ability to create and commercialize ideas is a critical determinant of economic success. To be successful, partners from all sectors need to create a culture of excellence through education, innovation and business leadership. And we need to find ways to capitalize on our competitive advantages. In 2003, RBC released Managing for Growth, a major study into the skills needed by entrepreneurs to manage growth and build successful enterprises that can compete in the global marketplace of the 21st century. This followed our 2002 Path to Prosperity report, which examined external barriers to small business growth.

As one of Canada’s largest corporations, we take social responsibility seriously. We are very proud to have received awards and recognition from many groups for our leadership in corporate responsibility and governance, including the prestigious “Canada’s Most Respected Corporation” ranking, from the accounting firm KPMG in partnership with Ipsos-Reid and The Globe and Mail newspaper.

But we also know that “responsibility” is a journey, not a destination: so we continue to look at ways to improve our performance as a good corporate citizen while producing sound and sustainable financial results for our stakeholders.

I invite you to read our 2003 Corporate Responsibility Report and Public Accountability Statement, or to browse through the areas you’re interested in. Please visit our Web site for more information and to give us your feedback.

Gordon M. Nixon
President & Chief Executive Officer

Vision Always earning the right to be our clients’ first choice
Values Excellent service to clients and each other Working together to succeed Personal responsibility for high performance Diversity for growth and innovation Trust through integrity in everything we do		Goals To be a leading North American financial services organization, recognized as: The undisputed lead provider of integrated financial services in Canada A best-in-class provider of personal and business financial services in the United States A premier provider of selected global financial services		Strategic priorities Superior client experience Strong fundamentals North American expansion Cross-enterprise leverage