RBC announces $1m donation to MARS Centre

TORONTO

RBC today announced a historic, $1 million, five-year commitment to support the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing. With this donation, RBC becomes a founding partner of the Centre, launched in late 2011 to increase awareness of social finance and direct new capital and talent to tackle social and environmental problems in Canada.

RBC’s donation will help the Centre become the leadership hub on impact in investing for Canada. With the donation, RBC will fund educational and advisory programs for investors, financial advisors, social enterprises, as well as the development of models, tools, products, research and services to create and measure positive social and environmental impact.

“RBC is proud to be a founding partner of the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing, and we are confident that with this donation, the Centre will strengthen our collective ability to mobilize private capital toward the public good,” said Gordon M. Nixon, president and CEO, RBC. “The Centre will become the ‘go-to’ resource for social finance in Canada, creating a collaborative platform for private, community and government sectors to develop products, services, talent and public policy.”

“MaRS is proud to recognize RBC as a founding member of the Centre for Impact Investing,” said Ilse Treurnicht, CEO, MaRS,. “Their support, and Gord Nixon’s leadership, speaks to the momentum that is building around the impact investing agenda. The talent and capabilities that RBC brings to the table will strengthen the Centre’s capacity to build a robust investment hub.”

Today’s donation complements the RBC social finance initiative, a $20 million commitment to help ignite social and environmental change through investment activity. This commitment includes the $10 million RBC Generator, a pool of RBC capital designed to finance enterprises addressing social and environmental challenges and a $10 million investment of RBC Foundation assets into socially responsible investment funds.