(Toronto) The Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal have committed to racial equity audits after facing pressure from its shareholders.
RBC announced Friday that it will conduct a third-party audit of its employment practices next year and another audit of its business practices in 2025.
“We remain focused on identifying and removing barriers that can hinder the success of Black, Indigenous and other racialized groups,” Jeff Lanthier, an RBC spokesperson, said by email.
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 addresses systemic racism.
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 Royal Annual Report, calling for an audit. The resolution had obtained the approval of 42% of shareholders.
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.
The Bank of Montreal confirmed late Friday that it would also carry out such an audit.
“BMO is committed to equity, equality and inclusion through its multi-year “Inclusion Without Barriers” strategy and we will conduct a third-party racial equity audit party,” said Kate Simandl, spokesperson, in a statement.
“We look forward to updating our shareholders on our progress in 2024 and appreciate SHARE’s engagement with us on this topic. »
CIBC and National Bank pledged earlier this year to conduct audits, while TD Bank said last year it would conduct one, with results expected soon.