(Toronto) The Royal Bank of Canada has committed to carrying out racial equity audits after facing pressure from its shareholders.
The bank says it will conduct an independent audit of its employment practices next year and another of its business practices in 2025.
Royal spokesperson Jeff Lanthier said the bank remains focused on identifying and removing barriers that can hinder the success of Black, Indigenous and other racialized groups.
The bank’s announcement follows a meeting earlier this week with shareholder advocacy group SHARE and the British Columbia General Employees Union, who jointly introduced a resolution at the general meeting annual report from the Royal, calling for an audit. The resolution had the approval of 42% of shareholders.
Racial equity audits aim to identify and correct practices that may negatively impact Indigenous people and racialized communities, and broadly assess how well a company is addressing systemic racism.
The two groups also filed a similar resolution with the Bank of Montreal, which received 37% support, but SHARE said the bank had not yet publicly confirmed whether it would conduct such an audit.
