Good morning, everyone. [Foreign language] .
Welcome to our 2025 Annual and Special Meeting of Common Shareholders.
2025 Annual and Special Meeting of Common Shareholders. I'm Jacynthe Côté, and I have the privilege of being Chair of the Board of Royal Bank of Canada. I'm honored to acknowledge the land we are on today. We are located in Toronto, the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Anishinabek, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee , the Wendat Peoples, and we are on Treaty 13 territory. These traditional territories continue to be home to many Indigenous people, and I'm grateful to be on this land. With me on stage is Dave McKay, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Karen McCarthy, Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, and Secretary. I will act as Chair of the meeting, and Karen will be our Secretary. Teresa Ralston and Pina Pacifico, officers of our transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company of Canada, will be our scrutineers.
Also present are members of the Board of Directors and senior management. As notice of the meeting has been duly given, and the quorum of Common Shareholders is present, I now call the Annual and Special Meeting of Common Shareholders to order. [Foreign language] .
As always, the meeting will be conducted in English and in French, and how participants may select the language of their choice depending on whether they are attending the meeting in person or online.
Good morning. If you are attending the meeting in person and would like a translation headset, please raise your hand, and an attendant will assist you. English is on Channel 2, and French on Channel 10. Online, you may choose the language of the meeting by selecting the English, French, or original broadcast above your player. If you select the original broadcast, you will hear the original language spoken without any translation. Closed captioning is available on all broadcasts. If you are listening by telephone and wish to change language, you must hang up and dial back in using the phone number which corresponds to the language of your choice, as indicated on our website. I now ask participants, please take a moment to review the caution regarding forward-looking statements provided on the screens in the room and online.
Thank you, Karen. As always, we welcome constructive dialogue with shareholders and proxy holders, and I will now ask Karen to explain how to ask questions during the meeting. Karen, back to you.
Shareholders and proxy holders may submit questions in either English or French. Participants attending via telephone are in listening-only mode and not able to ask questions. For those joining us in person, please refer to the Rules of Conduct as well as the Lumi Connector User Guide, both of which were placed on your seats. For those joining us online, please refer to the Rules of Conduct and the Hybrid AGM User Guide available on our website and on the Lumi Platform. If you are attending the meeting online, we encourage you to submit your questions as early as possible so that we may address them at the right moment during the meeting.
In order to give all shareholders and proxy holders the opportunity to participate and ask questions, only one question may be asked at a time, and speaking time for each question will be restricted to no more than one minute. Questions should be of an interest to all shareholders and not of a personal nature. If your question is related to a personal matter, please speak with the RBC representatives at our information desk located immediately outside the meeting room. If you are attending the meeting online, an RBC representative will contact you after the meeting. Questions related to specific items of business will be addressed in accordance with the meeting agenda.
Thank you, Karen. So today we will consider the matters of business set out in our 2025 Management Proxy Circular, including the elections of directors and the appointment of our auditor. Common shareholders will be asked to approve a non-binding advisory resolution on our approach to executive compensation, and they will also be asked to consider an ordinary resolution to approve certain amendments to the bank's stock option plan and a special resolution to approve an amendment to Bylaw 2 of the bank. We will then consider the shareholder proposals. So we will now proceed with the first item of business, which is the reception of the bank's financial statement for fiscal 2023 and 2024. And I invite shareholders and proxy holders who would like to ask questions on this topic to either queue in or submit your question online.
At this time, I would introduce Claire Braunwald , Luna Mattis, and Alaina Tennison , the representatives of PricewaterhouseCoopers, our auditor for the 2024 fiscal year. As indicated in the proxy circular, copies of the auditor's report and the financial statement are included in our 2024 annual reports, which can be found on SEDAR+ and EDGAR, as well as on the websites of RBC and Computershare. Karen, are there any questions or comments on the bank's financial statements?
Yes, we have a question online from Donna France. Can you please share more about your buyback strategy mentioned on our Q1 call?
Over to you, Dave.
You can go on the next slide.
Yes, with respect to our buyback strategy, we have an announced NCIB program, of which we have completed less than 20% of that right now, and we continue to buy back shares strategically as we manage all aspects of our growth, our capital ratios, the uncertainty in the economy. All these issues go into the timing of our buyback strategy. It remains strategically important to us to continue to buy back shares as part of our overall investment thesis as well, and the return of capital is part of our overall shareholder strategy. So we'll continue, as we've articulated before, and we execute that tactically week in, week out. Thank you.
Thank you, Dave. Thank you for your question.
We have another question in the room, Kolin Sutherland-Wilson.
Thank you. My name is Kolin Sutherland-Wilson, and I am Gitxsan and currently serving as the elected Chief Councillor of the Kispiox Band. I pursued elected leadership due to the failure to uphold UNDRIP and the Coastal GasLink Project, where the provision for free prior and informed consent continues to be violated. The bar for implementing UNDRIP remains unacceptably low, and RBC's financing decisions must not mirror interpretations that reduce it to an aspirational, non-binding standard. This is a very real issue for my community, as the proposed PRGT pipeline faces significant organized opposition on Gitxsan and Gitanyow land.
As numbers best reflect the truth, what specific measures and disclosures will shareholders see in RBC's financial statements and auditor reports that demonstrate clear alignment with the RBC human rights statement, particularly in identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks linked to financing projects that negatively impact Indigenous lands and communities?
Yeah, with respect to the Coastal GasLink Project, which is now complete, all the projects that we look at go through all the regulatory approval process, including consent. And this project in particular that you referred to has received support from all 20 nations that it goes through and has significant benefits to those nations as I've articulated over a number of years. All those nations have an option to participate up to 10% equity ownership over CAD 1 billion of contracts that flowed to those First Nations to help build the program, which, as I said, is now complete. And therefore, when you look at the opportunity for economic reconciliation with First Nations, it's these types of projects which present significant opportunities to bring the country together, create economic inclusivity within the country.
First Nations have certainly supported this project, as they support many, many other projects in this country. Thank you.
We have no further questions.
Thank you, Karen. So you've received the notice of meetings, which outlined the matters to be considered today. The notice of meeting is also included in our proxy circular, which is available on our website and on the Lumi Platform. I'll now ask Karen to review the voting procedures.
Thank you, Jacynthe. If you are attending in person, you may vote either via the Lumi Connector device or by paper ballot. If voting by the Lumi Connector device, your vote will be automatically submitted to Computershare, our scrutineers, after you click on your choice. If you've opted to vote by paper ballot, please print your name clearly and sign your ballot. If you are attending online, you may vote via the Lumi Platform. All the meeting resolutions are on display. To vote, tap one of the voting options available. Votes may be changed up until the time voting is closed. If you do not vote, you will be regarded as having abstained. The poll will remain open until the chair of the meeting declares voting closed. Votes will be counted by the scrutineers.
Preliminary results will be announced at the meeting today, and final results will be posted on our website. As further detailed in our proxy circular, a simple majority is required to approve matters voted on at this meeting, except for the special resolution to approve the amendment to Bylaw 2 of the bank, which must be approved by at least two-thirds of the votes cast by common shareholders.
Thank you, Karen. I declare voting on all matters open. [Foreign language] questions. We will now proceed with the next item of business.
Thank you, Karen. I declare voting on all matters open.
Questions on this topic, please queue in or submit your question online. This year, the number of director nominees has been set by the board at 13. Biographies of each of the nominees begin on Page 15 of the proxy circular. All the nominees are currently RBC directors, and I will now ask Karen to nominate the individuals proposed for election as directors.
I am pleased to nominate the persons set out on Page 15 through 21 of our proxy circular, and also presented on the screen, to be elected as directors of the bank to hold office until the close of the next annual meeting of common shareholders, or until their successors are elected or appointed.
Thank you, Karen. Are there any questions or comments from participants on the election of directors?
There seems to be. Oh, we do have a question. We have a question online from Nadine Abboud. Given the evolving regulatory environment and the increasing scrutiny on AML, what expertise does the board have to help RBC navigate this environment?
Thank you, and thank you for joining us today. We do, on a regular basis, an assessment of the board competencies and skills. We just completed a cycle very recently, which gives, where we compare our board with large financial institutions, large corporations, and we're also looking forward to what is needed on the go-forward in assessing the profiles to be able to not only do our duty, but make sure that we're well aligned with the strategic priorities and with the fast-changing environment we're in. Regarding AML, this is obviously a very important topic for the board and for RBC. I mean, this is all about our license to operate. We do have people coming from financial institutions. We have people serving that have been serving financial institutions on the board, and we have a very regular education session on that topic as this is evolving quickly.
Thank you for your question.
We have a question in the room, John Ridsdale.
My name is Chief Na'Moks, hereditary chief of the Wet'suwet'en. I'm concerned about the continued election of board member Mr. Vandal, who's also on the board of TC Energy, the corporation behind CGL. Having spoken to European and Asian investors about the risks associated with CGL and proposed expansion, I can tell you the feedback was very interesting. Phase II would double the capacity despite evidence that there is no long-term market for the LNG it would ship. Phase II requires two more compressor stations on Wet'suwet'en lands. This does not have the consent of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary leadership. As Mr. Vandal excused himself from the conversation related to CGL and LNG generally, has he excused himself from the conversations about free prior and informed consent given TC Energy's awful track record?
Will you make the right decision and choice in further financing towards CGL and LNG Canada? Will you remove the director from your board and commit to not appointing fossil fuel-compromised directors in the future? Because this clearly appears to be a conflict of interest.
Thank you for joining us today. We do evaluate director performance every year, and shareholders vote every year for every—I mean, each one of us. Mr. Vandal, as you've been very specific, Mr. Vandal always got 98.5%+ , I mean, or above during all his tenure. I witnessed his performance at the board. He is an excellent director. And again, 98.5% of shareholders have been supporting his appointment to this board. Is there any other question?
There are no further questions.
I declare the nominations closed. Please cast your vote on the election of directors now. The next item of business is the appointment of our auditor. If you would like to ask a question on this topic, please queue in or submit your question online. I'll ask Karen to make a motion for the appointment of the auditor.
I move that PricewaterhouseCoopers be appointed the auditor of the bank until the close of the next annual meeting of common shareholders.
Thank you. The motion has been moved. Karen, are there any questions or comments on the appointment of our auditor?
We're just checking to see if there's any questions. If you just one moment. No, there are no questions.
So please cast your vote on the appointment of the auditor now. The next item of business is the shareholder advisory vote on our approach to executive compensation. The text of this advisory resolution is set out on Page 7 of the proxy circular. We hope that you had a chance to review our compensation discussion and analysis in this year's proxy circular. If you would like to ask a question on this topic, again, please queue in or submit your question online. And I will now ask Karen to make a motion to approve this resolution.
I move on an advisory basis, and not to diminish the role and responsibilities of the board of directors, that the shareholders accept the approach to executive compensation disclosed in the proxy circular.
Thank you. Karen, are there any questions or comments on our approach to executive compensation?
I'm just checking to see if there are any questions. Yes, I believe we do have a question. We have a question in the room from Jesse Stoeppler.
Thank you for joining us. Please go ahead. That doesn't seem to work. Can we...
Hello?
I'm sorry.
My name Gwii Lok'im Gibuu . Fossil fuel projects like Coastal GasLink, Trans Mountain Pipeline, Prince Rupert Gas Transmission, and Connected Infrastructure leave Canadian taxpayers on the hook with tens of billions year after year. Despite the violence against Indigenous people, violations against the environment, enormous cost overruns, and reputational damage, your compensation target signals Canadians that you firmly approve to privatize benefits while socializing the cost. In light of recent tariffs with one of our closest trading partners, how would you justify an investment into LNG Canada Phase II, a project with majority U.S. ownership?
Thank you for joining us. We're going to move, is there any other question? Because the questions we're taking right now are on executive compensation. Is there any other question?
Yes, we have a question online from Alexander Youssef. Are you benchmarking against U.S. executive compensation practices in light of the increasing gap between RBC size and your domestic competitors, as well as your presence in the U.S. market?
Thank you for your question. You will have seen in the proxy circular that we have a peer comparison, which is mainly Canadian banks. We do have a comparator group where we keep an eye, given exactly the question you've asked. We always make sure that the remuneration is aligned with the interests of shareholders, that we're using external expertise to benchmark, to make sure that it remains fair, competitive, and transparent. I would only like to add that that's been an exceptional year, a record year in 2024.
We have no further questions.
Thank you very much. Please cast your vote on our approach to executive compensation now. The next item of business is the ordinary resolution to approve certain amendments to the bank's stock option plan. As described in the proposal, a description of the proposed amendment and the text of this resolution can be found on Page 7 and Page 8 of the proxy circular. If you would like to ask a question on this topic, please queue in or submit your question online, and I will now ask Karen to make a motion to approve this ordinary resolution.
I move the ordinary resolution set out on Page 8 of the proxy circular to amend the bank's stock option plan, to increase the number of common shares available for issuance under the plan by 15 million common shares, and expressly list in the amending provisions of the plan certain amendments that require shareholder approval.
Thank you. The ordinary resolution has been moved. Are there any questions or comments on the proposed amendment in the stock option plan?
No, we have not received any questions on this topic.
Please cast your vote on the amendment to the stock option plan now. The next item of business is the special resolution to approve an amendment to the Subsection 1.1 of Bylaw 2 of the bank. A description of the proposed amendment and the text of this resolution can be found on Page 9 of the proxy circular. Once again, if you would like to ask a question on this topic, please queue in or submit your question online. I will now ask Karen to make a motion to approve the special resolution.
I move the special resolution set out on Page 9 of the proxy circular to amend Subsection 1.1 of Bylaw 2 of the bank to increase the maximum aggregate board compensation amount from CAD 6 million to CAD 9 million.
Thank you. The special resolution has been moved. Are there any questions or comments on the proposed amendment Bylaw 2?
No, we have not received any questions on this topic.
Thank you. So please cast your vote on the amendment to Bylaw 2 now. The voting for common shareholders is closed on all matters other than shareholder proposals. So common shareholders have had an opportunity to read these proposals and the board's response, which are set out in our proxy circular starting on Page 106. There are eight proposals that are put to a vote today. And we will ask submitting shareholders to present their proposals. And we'll invite common shareholders to vote on them at the very end. Proposal number one was submitted by Vancity Investment Management. If you would like to ask a question on Proposal 1 , please queue in or submit your question online. And Vancity is represented by Edmond Ho, who is here on the phone to present this proposal. Mr. Ho, thank you for joining us.
Please take two minutes to speak to the merit of your proposal.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning. As shareholders, we believe executive pay practices should reflect fairness and alignment with the bank's long-term goals and values. RBC states that its compensation decision-making process includes consideration of various financial, non-financial, risk-related metrics, external perspectives, as well as select pay ratios where appropriate. Yet current disclosure suggests that peer comparison is the primary consideration when setting compensation levels, and that any use of internal pay ratios is merely an amplifier rather than as a complementary factor. Over-reliance on peer group pay comparisons can result in inflated executive compensation that fails to accurately reflect company performance or shareholder value. We've observed a troubling trend over recent decades where executive pay levels have risen substantially, often without clear justification due to external benchmarking practices. This exposes companies to cost inefficiency.
A compensation structure comprising of low fixed pay and high variable pay does little to mitigate the upward spiral of executive pay inflation unless it is tied to robust internal benchmarks. This proposal is not about restricting executive pay. It is about providing shareholders the transparency to better evaluate pay alignment and reinforcing RBC's accountability to both shareholders and employees. This proposal is also not meant to advocate for the use of internal pay metrics to alter or replace RBC's current process in setting executive compensation. As such, we disagree with RBC's statement that enhanced disclosure of internal pay metrics will create a distorted and incomplete view of its executive compensation practice or undermine the goal of transparency and accountability. Notably, peer institutions like Scotiabank already provide detailed disclosures on internal pay metrics, including the CEO to median employee pay ratio.
TD Bank has also started taking steps to enhance transparency in its latest proxy circular. We'd like to see RBC follow their approach to meet increasing expectations for transparency from shareholders and further strengthen its reputation as a leading institution in Canada. I move this proposal and urge my fellow shareholders to support it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ho. Karen, are there any questions or comments on proposal one?
Yes, we have a question from Willie Gagnon in the room.
Madame Chair, good morning. Willie Gagnon from MÉDAC, Mouvement d'éducation et de défense des actionnaires. We support this proposal. We know that Vancity has proposed this. We had proposed this proposal in the past few years. There's only one bank that has started publishing the ratio. This is a step forward. You do have the information that, and therefore you could publish it. Why do you not publish it? It would be useful rather than having us do the calculation on our Excel file. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Gagnon.
Yes, we have a live audio question from Daniel Wang. Please go ahead. Okay, we'll go to the next question. In the room, we have Evan Smith.
I am also concerned that RBC is not transparent about their pay ratios, and especially the huge executive compensation. While executive salaries grow, my people and lands diminish. My father is Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chief Woos of Cas Yikh House from Gidimt'en Clan. The community, the water, lands, and people back home are beautiful and worth protecting. Coastal GasLink pipeline brings nothing but destruction. You say you respect Indigenous rights. CGL Phase II financing does not have free prior and informed consent of hereditary chiefs. Will you commit to supporting this proposal to bring more transparency to your compensation and to your financing decisions? Will you stop any financing towards Coastal GasLink pipeline and Phase II and LNG Canada Phase II?
Thank you for having joined us. Any other comment?
We have no further questions.
Very good. That would bring us to the next shareholder proposal. [Foreign language]. The next seven proposals were submitted by MÉDAC. If you wish to ask a question on proposals two through eight, please queue in or submit your question online. MÉDAC is represented by Willie Gagnon, who is here in person to present these proposals. Thank you for joining us, Mr. Gagnon. You'll have five minutes to speak to the merits of MÉDAC's proposals.
Hello. [Foreign language]
We are presenting a proposal on the in-person meeting so that they are maintained in person. You are the only bank that did not commit to maintain in-person meetings except in cases of force majeure, and in your response, there is no commitment from you. We do not understand why you're resisting such a simple and straightforward commitment, so this is proposal number eight. Proposal number two, fighting against forced labor and child labor in loan portfolios. We were close to getting to an agreement with the bank. We wanted some more information about the Modern Slavery Statement that is available just outside this room. You mentioned that no cases were identified in 2024. It is good to know, but we would have wanted more detail about your loan portfolios in this regard. We haven't come to an agreement.
The negotiations were interrupted for a few weeks, and we heard about the results through the circular. We would have wanted to discuss it some more. So we invite shareholders to vote for this proposal. Proposal number three, advanced generative AI systems and code of conduct. A code of conduct was established by the federal government last year. The CIBC joined this code of conduct, and we invite RBC to join the code of conduct as well. We do not see why you wouldn't do it. And we invite our shareholders to support this proposal. Proposal number four, disclosure of languages mastered by employees. The bank told us that they had information about the languages that they're required from their employees. We would like to know in which proportions. You'll understand that language is a social responsibility. When a bank offers a job in French, it supports a French-speaking community.
When it offers English-speaking jobs, it supports the English-speaking community. We know that we won't get a lot of votes on this, but a majority of the population, 70%, 71%, 72% of the population, would like to get these numbers from listed companies. And we do not see why you would not publish them since you accepted to publish the language mastered by directors and by management. So you have the numbers. I'm left with one minute 49. This is like a TV show. Proposal number five, advisory vote on environmental policies. This is the same proposal as last year. We got 15% of the vote, and we're anxious to know what the result will be this year. We have the same arguments than last year. You say that this is not a good idea.
When this kind of advisory vote on compensation is a good idea to you, we do not understand why. Proposal number six, public disclosure of non-confidential information, country-by-country reporting. You publish country-by-country reporting. We hope that we'll get the same result as last year on this proposal. And proposal number seven, circular economy. You're the only bank to which we submit this proposal. We got a result of 8% last year, and we want you to invest in this regard, such as circular economy leadership Canada advocated for. So I used to have fun here, but this is really the most disagreeable or unpleasant meeting of all banks. The fact that you decided to have this meeting outside of the city, the chairs are far from each other. This is far from the city. It's not fun. So I hope that next year you'll organize this meeting elsewhere.
I'm not given as much time as last year. I should be able to have the time as necessary to read my proposal. In short, please, we invite shareholders to support our proposals.
Thank you, Mr. Gagnon, and we'll keep talking. Or comments on Proposal 2 through Proposal 8?
Yes, we have a question in the room. William Erickson.
I have a question about Proposal 5 on environmental policies. I'm here at the RBC AGM on behalf of my community of Nak'azdli Whut'en in northern BC and Indigenous Climate Action, where I work as the Education Coordinator. I'm here not as an Indian Act band council member, but as a rights holder to the land on Yinka Dene Territory where Coastal GasLink is taking place. CGL and RBC as a funder has violated free prior and informed consent by only seeking the approval of elected band council members when over half of our community members were in opposition to this project. Perhaps me and the United Nations are wrong, but free prior and informed consent cannot be granted by proxy entities like band councils.
So my question is, will you commit to supporting this proposal of funding a climate-safe future that respects Indigenous rights and reforms your standards of free, prior, and informed consent?
Well, thank you for your question. And certainly, as we strive to be the lead bank in helping go through climate change and helping all the markets, particularly Canada that we operate in, build a safe future for all generations, we take that very seriously. And as we go through that and we think about our commitments, which you'll see in our sustainability report that will be published very soon, we take all of these things into consideration. So obviously, as we go through a specific program and project that you're talking about around Coastal GasLink or Phase II or Cedar Link, as you call it, we go through and we're guided by a global standard called Equator Principles. The Equator Principles is a global standard that we use to go through the approval process and make sure the proper consultations have happened.
Now, we certainly recognize that when you come to the Cedar Link that you're talking about, that is 50% owned by the Haisla Nation. And that extension, as you referred to a couple of times today, has been co-designed by the Haisla Nation and co-built. So within the communities, we recognize that there are never a 100% consensus within the multiple First Nation communities that have an interest in all of these projects. And therefore, we are informed by those programs and those projects, as we talked about. And therefore, we feel that we will move forward with a project when we have determined that we've gone through those processes. So we have to comply with all laws in a given country. And therefore, we are guided by that basis. So thank you for your question.
Are there any other questions?
Yes, we have a question online from Patrick Lajoie. AI is rapidly changing financial services, with some saying it will give smaller tech-driven firms a competitive advantage over traditional banks. How is RBC using AI to strengthen its own competitive position?
Yep, sorry.
AI is rapidly changing financial services, with some saying it will give smaller tech-driven firms a competitive edge over traditional banks. How is RBC using AI to strengthen its own competitive position?
You know, we are heavily involved in understanding and working with artificial intelligence. It's not something that we've just started. We've built a very strong team around machine learning and reinforcement learning over the last decade. We've been recognized by a number of external bodies as being at the highest end of the maturity scale in understanding and deploying artificial intelligence. And it's that knowledge that we've been working with machine learning, reinforcement learning, other capabilities, and deploying that technology into our organization over the last decade. It's allowed us to adapt to the newest technology coming out of the AI field, which is generative AI.
And we've taken that capability and we've organized our data to be able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of those models and have started to deploy them across the organization, from capital markets to the consumer bank, to the commercial bank, to wealth management in very different areas, so as we go through that, it's with the knowledge of having worked with the technologies for over a decade, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of that, and being very careful how we deploy that, and often we'll deploy in a pilot and make sure that we have accuracy. The model's efficacy is really important as we go through the validation process. We make sure the processes can adapt to the new model.
We've been implementing these solutions carefully and sequentially and systematically to make sure that they serve customers to the best degree, they serve our employees to the best degree, and their communities to the best degree. I think the potential of this technology is very, very significant to transform not only the financial services industry, but clearly to transform our entire society. We feel we're well capable of doing that. And as you saw in our Investor Day a couple of weeks ago, we made a very significant commitment to shareholders to create up to CAD 1 billion of NPV in shareholder value from deploying these models across eight specific use cases around the organization. Thank you for your question.
There any other question?
Yes, we have a question in the room from Adaeze Mbalaja.
Thank you for joining us. Please go ahead.
Regarding Proposal 6 , I would like to begin by asking why RBC continues to maintain a standard of secrecy and silence around pay ratios and tax havens. Why are pay ratios and tax havens kept confidential? Who does this serve? As a student at York University and the Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario, representing over 350,000 students in this province, it is disappointing and concerning that RBC continues to prioritize a lack of transparency. Students and youth are a large demographic that RBC markets to, and we have made it abundantly clear that we demand both transparency and accountability from RBC. We reject RBC and its facade of greenwashing while it remains committed to funding the destruction of sovereign Indigenous lands. We reject the complicity of our post-secondary institutions and RBC's intentions of hiding its internal finances.
We, the students, have made it abundantly clear that we join the demands of several Indigenous nations, including the Wet'suwet'en and the Gitxsan, to respect free prior and informed consent of Indigenous nations and divest from fossil fuels.
Thank you for your question. Again, for us, I mean, remuneration has to be aligned with shareholder interests, make sure that it's fair, competitive, and transparent. We're going to, I mean, even if it's not a binding vote, the Say on Pay, the board takes this feedback from shareholders very, very seriously. So we will see how the vote goes today. So is there any other question?
We have a question online from Jocelyn Hajavine. I'm attending this meeting virtually and appreciate that I had the option to do so. My question is, what does the bank do to ensure a level playing field for all attendees, regardless of format?
Thank you for your question. I mean, obviously, for the shareholder meeting, we want to make sure that there's access and there is opportunity. So this is why the process we've got in place. We've got that room, which is large, which is accessible. We are offering the virtual because for many people, being able to get back to their job right after, it is very convenient. And we're having, I don't know how many lines we've got connected, but we have quite a few. And the process we've put in place to give opportunity for more shareholder or proxy holders to be heard. I mean, last year, we had nearly 30 people being able to comment or ask questions, which was a record year, not only for RBC, but for any bank. So this is remaining very, very important for us.
So we're going to continue, I mean, taking feedback, but 30 shareholder proxy holders, I mean, proxy holders being able to comment last year. And we'll see how we finish the session. But we thought it was a much better score than previous years. I think we will need to move to the.
We do have one last question.
Sorry?
We have one last question.
So let's take the last question.
From Celine Isimbi.
In the room.
Thank you for joining us. Please go ahead.
RBC falsely claims to be a climate leader and supporter of the circular economy and sustainable finance initiatives. Yet you are still the number one Canadian funder of fossil fuels, putting billions into oil, gas, and LNG projects like the Coastal GasLink that was mentioned, that violates Indigenous rights and sovereign lands and worsens the climate crisis, while also having the worst clean-to-dirty energy financing ratios, according to a Bloomberg report. In addition, backing out of the already weak UN Net-Zero Banking Alliance when opportunity saw fit in 2025. At the same time, the bank hides behind vague internal tracking when asked for basic data on circular economy financing. If RBC is proud of these investments, why won't you disclose them publicly? What are you hiding? I'm here to represent a national movement of students and youth who see through this greenwashing and call for RBC off their campus.
We know RBC's sponsorships and branding are just PR to distract from its role in financing climate destruction. I urge shareholders not to consider the board's recommendation for this proposal because transparency is the bare minimum. If RBC wants to be seen as a climate leader, you need to prove it, not just spin it.
Thank you. The question has been asked, similar question. David, do you have anything to add? Thank you. And there's no further questions. So if you have not yet voted on any of the items on the agenda, please do so now. At this point of the meeting, I will ask the scrutineers to collect any paper ballots. Please raise your hands so that the scrutineers can identify you. As we have now dealt with all the business items on the agenda, I declare voting on all matters closed. At this time, I will ask the scrutineers to tabulate the vote. I have been informed that all the scrutineers have completed their preliminary tabulation of the votes cast in respect of each of the items on the agenda. I would now ask Karen to speak to the preliminary voting results.
The scrutineers have reported that 52.56% of eligible shares have been voted at this meeting. According to the scrutineers' report, I am pleased to report that all board-recommended matters of business have been approved and all shareholder proposals have been defeated. Final detailed results will be posted on the bank's website and on SEDAR.
Thank you, Karen. There being no further business, I hereby declare the annual and special meeting of common shareholders terminated.
There being no further business, I hereby declare the annual and special meeting of common shareholders terminated.
Welcome RBC's President and Chief Executive Officer, Dave McKay, to share some remarks. Dave?
Good morning, everyone. [Foreign language] . Wherever you are, I would like to thank you for being here today, as well as for your continued support and confidence that you bring to RBC.
Live and communities prosper. This is what guides our strategy, shapes our culture, inspires our more than 98,000 employees to provide ideas and trusted advice to 19 million clients around the world. We create value by listening to the clients who put their trust in us in building products and services that anticipate their needs and help them make better decisions. Our people bring that same unwavering commitment of excellence to making a meaningful and positive difference in our communities. To continue being one of the world's most trusted and successful organizations, we must stay ahead of where our clients are going. Expectations of RBC are high, so we have to work hard to exceed them. Our bold ambition for the future starts from a position of significant financial and strategic strength.
We have a diversified business model across segments and geographies, technology and data scale, a strong balance sheet, a trusted brand that's number one in Canada and a top brand globally, and a proven ability to execute with excellence. We also have strong governance and a prudent approach to risk management that's designed to navigate uncertainty and protect our clients through all economic cycles. In a rapidly changing and more complex economy, we will continue to build a future-focused bank that can be a pillar of strength and a beacon of hope for all our stakeholders. This ambition helped us drive the business momentum and outperformance that we delivered in 2024. We're coming off a truly remarkable year where we brought the full power of RBC together in unprecedented ways.
We generated record earnings of CAD 16.2 billion and a return on equity of 14.4% as we continue to deepen client relationships and build new ones across all four market-leading franchises. We also returned CAD 8.1 billion to our shareholders through common dividends and share buybacks, all of which enabled RBC to outperform in total shareholder return over three, five, and 10 years against our global peer average. One of the year's defining moments was the completion of the acquisition of HSBC Canada, a technological feat where we integrated nearly 80,000, sorry, 800,000 clients and thousands of employees in a single weekend. This once-in-a-generation opportunity has helped us take our global banking capabilities to the next level.
At the same time, we launched a bold new U.S. cash management platform with RBC Clear and implemented a new operating model to bring our U.S. businesses closer together to maximize the value that we're bringing to clients. It's amazing to look back at all the transformational work we successfully accomplished last year to become a more globally connected bank. But I'm most proud that we did all of it while outperforming in the core bank and never losing focus on our existing clients. That's a credit to what RBC and our incredible people can do, and I am so, so proud of them. With this strong success and significant momentum, we entered our fiscal year at the top of our game. In our first quarter, we reported very strong earnings of CAD 5.1 billion, up 43% from last year, with a premium ROE of 16.8%.
These results once again reflect strong client-driven growth across each of our business segments.
Looking ahead, we remain confident in RBC's growth trajectory and the strength and diversification of our client franchises. In the world around us, we're seeing some of the biggest changes to global trade since the 1930s. The implementation of global tariffs could impact jobs and may hurt affordability for workers and families everywhere. And many small and mid-sized businesses will be put at risk as the cost of doing business goes up. As we navigate the weeks and months ahead, I want you to know that our bank has the financial resilience and expertise to help our clients navigate difficult and uncertain economic times, just as we did during the pandemic. We're here to support you. In our home market, Canada now has an unprecedented opportunity to build a better and more prosperous future and to get some big things done that it just couldn't do before.
The world wants what Canada can provide in great abundance. Canada can feed and fuel the growing world and be a leader in sectors like energy, agriculture, critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, and technology. To do this, Canada must build a more resilient economy that leverages its strengths. That means eliminating barriers to growth and productivity, getting energy and infrastructure projects approved more quickly, supporting homegrown talent and the incredible educational institutions in this country, and unlocking more capital to scale our best engines of economic growth. I believe this is the moment to unite the country behind a long-term economic agenda that boosts competition and drives prosperity for all. Throughout our almost 160-year history, RBC's strength has been our ability to not only manage through change, but also to help our stakeholders capitalize on the opportunities change can bring. That's never been more important than today.
As we shared at our recent Investor Day, we're committed to delivering on an even bolder growth ambition over the next three years. You heard us clearly articulate our plan to compete and win across our biggest client opportunities and accelerate our ambitions. That includes extending our leadership in Canada while expanding in global fee pools, increasing investments in technology to create value from our leading data scale and artificial intelligence, and continuing our focus on disciplined and prudent growth while bringing the best of RBC to our clients. Underpinning each of these areas are our medium-term objectives. This includes a premium return on equity of 16%+ , diluted earnings per share growth of 7% +, strong capital ratios, and a dividend payout ratio between 40% and 50%.
We believe our client segments, geographies we target, and our risk strategy are all aligned to deliver on these objectives through all economic cycles. That's our investor thesis, and we'll continue to build a bank that delivers on that promise. Before I close, I want to share a few things that continue to set us apart. In Canada, we're the leading bank with a number one market share in personal banking, commercial banking, wealth management, asset management, and capital markets, and an insurance business with significant momentum. Much of our success comes down to the meaningful value we create, whether that's helping consumers through strategic partnerships and the Avion Rewards loyalty program, or the market-leading advice we provide to our globally connected business clients. Beyond Canada, our ambition is greater than it's ever been.
In the U.S., our second home market, we have strong standalone franchises across capital markets, wealth management, as well as both private and commercial banking, including City National. Across some of the world's largest asset pools, we're focused on enhancing our value proposition by expanding banking wealth planning solutions in the U.S. and Europe. Looking ahead, we're continuing to prepare for a world where our client interactions are increasingly informed by artificial intelligence and data-backed insights. And we're proud to be recognized as a top three bank in the world for artificial intelligence maturity. Our technology investments are a key competitive advantage for us as we deliver more personalized digital experiences and advice for our clients.
We expect these investments will continue to power our business results, and we're backing that up with a bold ambition to generate up to CAD 1 billion in enterprise value from artificial intelligence by 2027. While there are still untapped opportunities, I truly believe there's no other large bank in the world that delivers the differentiated client value and experiences that we do at scale. At RBC, we've always believed that our clients' ability to thrive relies on our community's ability to prosper. RBC's long-term success depends on both. I'm proud that we've announced our commitment of CAD 2 billion in community investments by 2035 to support ideas that help seed, scale, and sustain solutions in three key areas: supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy, equipping people with the skills for a thriving future, and driving more equitable opportunities for prosperity.
Alongside these initiatives, our colleagues contributed a record-breaking CAD 30.2 million in personal donations last year, supporting charities around the world. The lasting and positive impact we continue to make in our communities is a hallmark of Team RBC, and I'm always so proud to share these results. To our shareholders and clients, thank you again for the trust you place in RBC. And to our employees from around the world, thank you for your hard work, dedication, and commitment to our purpose. And with that, we're looking forward to taking your questions.
So let's move on to the question period. I will now open the floor for questions and comments. Karen, are there any questions or comments? We have a question in the room from Joey Scaleri. Thank you for joining us. Please go ahead.
Hi. First off, congratulations on your incredibly successful foray into music and concerts and using that to help market RBC. From what I understand, the partnership with Taylor Swift was the most successful thing your company's ever done and produced incredible results. Second of all, thanks to anybody, the person who organized this meeting, because having the chairs separated actually helps me because I'm claustrophobic, so I appreciate that greatly. Synergy is an important part of many businesses. I worked at Disney for many years in the U.S., and they were the best at it, and I know that it's a big priority for RBC now in your U.S. businesses to synergize in a much better and more pronounced way. Can you elaborate on that and give us maybe an update on the progress and what you see in the future of synergy in your U.S. businesses?
Thank you, Mr. Scaleri, for your point and question. As far as Taylor Swift, we are incredibly proud of our sponsorship and partnership with Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour last year. To your point, as we've commented publicly, it achieved a record new client acquisitions for us through that partnership and from existing and many, many, many new client relationships. So very, very, very, very pleased with the outcome there. And our overall support of music, what we love about the support of music broadly in our society, it touches every segment of our society. Or many other programs that we run appeal to a certain segment of our society, which is important. Everyone connects to music in a different way, and therefore it's such an important sponsorship for our organization.
As arts and culture, in my view, and our organization's view, are very important to the overall health of a community and help a community prosper. Hence why we support it for all those reasons. To your specific question then about the United States, we're entering a new phase of opportunity in the United States. We have hired some very significant leaders in the United States, including Greg Carmichael, who was the Chair and CEO of Fifth Third Bank for 10 years. And with that experience that Greg has brought to our organization, he is helping build a more horizontally connected and seamless organization in the United States from a couple of perspectives.
First and foremost, the opportunities to build a more seamless and integrated technology capability that will save us costs in development, costs in running the organization that will present opportunities to launch new products and to build shared services across the organization. We're pursuing opportunities to streamline our management structure across the organization from a functional perspective, and we made those announcements before. And all that positions us, whether it's a functional integration, legal entity integration, technology integration, all that provides us with an opportunity to provide a more seamless client experience and community experience at the end of the day from our capital markets organization through to our private banking and wealth management operation. That seamless integration then presents an opportunity to serve a client more fully and more deeply and create more value for the client and therefore more value for shareholders.
Very excited about the next phase of opportunity that the team is working on, the entire group of executives working on with Greg Carmichael. Thank you for your question.
Thank you. Are there any other questions? Yes, we have a question in the room from Richard Brooks. Thank you. And please go ahead with your question.
Richard Brooks, Climate Finance Director with Stand.earth. I'm surprised by the lack of mention of climate change in your comments, despite this being the hottest year on record. But a year ago, you committed to your shareholders, including the New York City Comptroller, to report on your energy financing ratio. You still have not. Bloomberg, though, helped us out in February by reporting that your ratio stands at just CAD 0.47 into low carbon energy for every dollar into fossil fuels. And they stated RBC is the lowest among the world's top energy financiers. National Bank, on the other hand, their ratio is four times yours at 1.66. And they recently set a renewables financing target of CAD 20 billion by 2030, surpassing RBC's target by 33%. National Bank is one fifth the size of RBC. How is this possible?
My question to you is, will you disclose your fossil fuel to renewables financing ratio today and make a commitment to drastically increase it by 2030? And if not, why?
Thank you for your question, so we are committed to the transition to net zero in 2050, and we are working closely, obviously, with governments and require their commitment and policy, obviously, to continue this journey forward. You will see in our sustainability report that will be published very soon that we're certainly will articulate how we're approaching that finance ratio. I'm not aware of the figures that you're quoting from Bloomberg, so we'll have to check those and see that ratio, but we have made commitments, so I think the part of your comments that are incorrect, we have made very public commitments around the renewable funding targets. They will be restated in the sustainability report, but we will and have committed to CAD 35 billion targets, almost twice that of the reference to the other bank you made, and that's kind of low carbon and renewable financing.
So as we go through that supporting low carbon financing, in addition to keeping the economy working ahead and making that transition in an orderly fashion, is absolutely critical. So we are working diligently on it. We've made progress. You'll see the progress in our sustainability report we've made across reducing emissions. And some of that has come from, to your point, financing more renewable energy in our portfolio and seeing the mix starting to shift in our portfolio as well. So you'll see more details on that data imminently.
Thank you. Next question. We have a live audio question from Roger Straathof. Thank you for joining us. Please go ahead.
Thank you. I've been a shareholder for over 40 years, and in that time, I witnessed a growing mismatch regarding the makeup of our board. The Management Proxy Circular states that the board provides oversight, rebuilding expectations of our clients and communities. Makes sense, as the vast majority of our clients are retailers, small business. They produce over 50% of our net income and have by far the highest return on equity. However, our board consists of corporate executives and old baby boomers. How do you intend to correct this mismatch to better reflect the importance of this client profile and tap into post-boomer generations? Thank you.
Thank you for your question. As I mentioned earlier, we are always making sure to compare with other financial institutions of our size, large corporations. We listen to shareholders, the voice of the shareholders when they elect or don't elect us. This is a big signal, and we are really looking at the next three to four profiles as we're going to have some retirement to make sure that we are absolutely capable of not only serving our duty of oversight of the bank performance, but that we remain very aligned with the strategic direction of the bank, taking into account the fast-changing environment in which we are. So thank you for your comment.
We have a question in the room from Willie Gagnon. Mr. Gagnon, [Foreign language] .
[Foreign language]. Thank you, Willie Gagnon from MÉDAC. Again, I have three comments and two questions.
We used to receive the preliminary results at the meeting, and I think that the CEO presentation should happen before the votes, and the question period should be within the meeting, the official meeting. Those are technical considerations. Perhaps you can give me some information about that. We understood that you left NZBA like other banks. I would like to know why. This is one of the conditions why we accepted not to submit other proposals for voting. And also compensation. The compensation doubled compared to other banks. It's about CAD 12 million for other banks. You are at CAD 25 million. Why? And it would be also a good idea to talk about trade and the trade war that we can see in Canada. There was an inspired speech by Mr. Thomson at the Scotia AGM.
So it's good to behave like a bank, but if there's disruptions to the economy, we won't go anywhere. And I'm sorry for speaking so long.
Pass it directly. Mr. Gagnon, can we answer the type of questions? Oh, one thing regarding questions and comments. The process we're using is quite similar to the one used last year. So formal portion of the meeting and questions, it's quite similar to what we did last year. Your second point was about NZBA. And the tariffs.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Gagnon. At NZBA, and when global banks, including all the Canadian banks, joined NZBA, we were going through an evolution in our understanding of how to measure and how to report on the progress of the climate change agenda within a financing portfolio within a bank. So this was all new. And the NZBA coalition and organization was very helpful in bringing the banks together to help share best practices and understand how to align and how to measure climate within your portfolios. And that served its purpose very well for the better part of a number of years. But as banks have evolved and needs have changed, the organization didn't serve the purpose of helping us build for the future. And therefore, the U.S. banks decided to move off into other areas to progress to the next level.
And I think it was a very useful organization. While we are part of it, I think all Canadian banks have also pulled out for similar reasons. And therefore, it happens. Institutions serve a purpose for a period of time and then don't become as relevant to the next phase of change that we have to go through. In no way does it signal in any shape or form, as you'll see in our sustainability report, a lack of commitment to the climate journey. It just recognizes the fact that organizations come and go and reflect a period of transition. And it did a good job for us at the beginning of this transition. As far as tariffs, we could probably talk all day. And you've heard me make a lot of public comments on tariffs on television in the United States in particular and in Canada.
It's a topic I've covered very well. And under some situations, I choose not to cover. There's a lot of volatility. So anything you might say today could change tomorrow. But generally, the comments I will make around the tariffs as they've been articulated and planned will suppress growth globally, have caused a lot of uncertainty around the world. And I'd tell you, businesses make investments based on stability and certainty of the environment. Many business leaders across every sector, including ours, are faced with decisions to make long-term capital allocations. They're not short-term decisions. And therefore, when you're making a five, 10, 15-year capital decision, you need certainty of the rules of law. You need certainty of the operating environment, and you need certainty of policy. And therefore, we're in this period of great uncertainty.
Therefore, markets have reflected that uncertainty and the uncertainty of growth in all markets. Therefore, we were obviously happy, as equity markets were yesterday, to see a bit of a pause to understand the overall objectives and what's trying to be achieved and time for countries to have a dialogue. I think it's so important that countries sit down. This has caused a dialogue to happen, including Canada will have a dialogue. I think the pause was welcome because there's a lot of discussion that has to happen with many, many nations. We should do this in a thoughtful and organized manner is really, really important. I think I expect that phase to help. Markets have, obviously, equity markets. We'll see about fixed income markets have cheered that on.
What I would like to see also is, notwithstanding how Canada comes through this, even if it's kind of a lack of change in the short term till we get to USMCA negotiation, we cannot fall back to where we were as a country. There is so much opportunity in this country in front of us that we have failed to seize as a nation, failed to seize because of, at times, tax policy, failed to seize because of difficulty in getting things approved and bureaucracy, failed to seize sometimes a lack of ambition to do some big things. And we have to change that. We have to seize this moment as a country, as business leaders are articulated, political leaders coming together.
And when the country goes through the democratic process and chooses a new leader, we have to debate that as a country, which leadership team is going to help us seize this opportunity for prosperity and inclusivity as a country going forward. We have a lot of things to try to manage, a lot of complexity. With that comes, as I said in my speech, enormous opportunity for this country to prosper and build a more inclusive future for everybody.
We have a question in the room, Denise Curran.
Thank you for joining us. Please go ahead.
Hi, Dave. My name is Denise Curran. I'm a retiree, a shareholder, and a client. So as all three of those things, thank you for the results in 2024. Very happy with those. Just not to belabor the tariff issue, but I wanted to ask specifically, how's the bank looking to manage provisions for credit loss over the, like, looking into the future with the volatility we're going through right now?
It's a great question. So we look at a number, and we're very proud of those results. So thanks for calling them out. And hopefully, all our shareholders feel the same way because we are exceptionally proud. So we manage it in a couple of ways. One, there's enormous volatility and uncertainty day to day in the magnitude and direction, directional impact, but also the magnitude of the impact. So as we go through this, we do two things. One, we do have macro models that inform what we call our Stage 1 and 2 provisioning. That's not versus Stage 3 was specific to a given client. So as we have that modeling and we input what our expected scenarios are into that model, we will have a modeling output that we look at and we debate its veracity.
That could inform that process around macro impacts to the portfolio, Stage 1 or 2 and Stage 2 provisioning. We do that quarter by quarter. You've seen that from the pandemic we did that. Then if you don't need them, we release them. That's a process that we're continuing to refine our models with the economic impact. You can see there's going to be volatility to that because our economic modeling is moving quite a bit depending on the direction of travel and the magnitude and the length of these tariffs. That is a component of our disclosures and a component of our provisioning. We will make that determination for Q2 over the coming weeks and months. You'll see us report kind of our best estimate at that point in time.
And then, if the world changes, we'll reestimate in Q3 and Q4 going forward. Also with that, and something that we presented to the board yesterday, we do stress testing around these outcomes and say, okay, while we have a mean provision we have to take, we have to understand, is there tail risk? And how do we think about the various outcomes? And I think that's something that management goes through and the board goes through and oversees. What are some of the different scenarios that could happen, good and bad? And therefore, how do our capital ratios, how does our provisioning look? What is the impact on the organization?
As shareholders, you should give comfort about the governance process around that, the boards involved, but also around management, not just looking at how it impacts financials in the short term, but how it impacts the balance sheet in the long term. Therefore, we make appropriate decisions about that. It affects decisions about the pace of buybacks and the capital levels you want to manage given the uncertainty and everything like that. It's all integrated into an oversight and a prudent management of our balance sheet and our position. You can count on us to take a prudent approach to everything we do.
We have an additional question in the room from Carol e Montour. Thank you for joining us. Please go ahead.
My name is Carol Montour. I'm a proxy holder. I'm Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, and I work for Indigenous Climate Action. I have a question also on environmental policies and want to echo Richard's sentiment on the lack of discussion around climate change today, especially as a young person. According to Environmental Defence's 2023 Banking on Climate Chaos report, RBC funded the fossil fuel industry to the tune of CAD 28.2 billion. Fossil fuel projects are not conducive to a livable future. In addition to violating the inherent rights of Indigenous people, they present clear economic, climate, and reputational risks, which are not consistent with RBC's own environmental, social, and governance policies.
My question then is, will RBC align with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's recommendations to stop financing fossil fuel projects in order to keep global warming well under 1.5 degrees Celsius and instead rapidly scale up financing for clean energy, climate mitigation, and adaptation?
Thank you for your question. The question has been asked. Dave, anything you would like to add?
No, I would just add that I think we have to do both. We have to transition in an inclusive way and bring in Canada 43 million+ people with us in a safe and inclusive way on this transition, which means we're not going to be able to eliminate fossil-based fuel energy in the short term. Having said that, we have to commit to continuing to build renewables and make that shift. And therefore, monitoring the amount of emissions in our economy is really important. But if you saw the speeches made by both our front-running candidates, Prime Minister Carney and Mr. Poilievre, they are both committing to building an energy superpower in Canada and building it in a way that is climate-aligned.
I encourage you to press your points upon the leadership of this country who want to take this country in a different direction and push those agendas forward. We will follow the lead of what the people of Canada decide they want to do and the leaders that have been mandated to do that. Now, they're talking about doing it in an inclusive and balanced way, and we have to support that. I think the policies you talked about today, the commitment to CAD 35 billion in low carbon and renewable funding is part of that and our commitment. You can count on RBC to work closely with our governments who will show the lead on how they want this country to make the transition, but also defend itself, diversify, and prosper globally at the same time.
I think the challenges that we're faced to require us to do both. I think that's the balance that we're all going to have to find. You can count on RBC to support our governments and how they choose to take that journey.
Thank you. We have a further question in the room. Jennifer Sujung Han. Thank you for joining us. Please go ahead.
Thanks for your remarks. With housing affordability being a major concern for many Canadians, I'm wondering how RBC is supporting homebuyers, especially first-time homebuyers, and ensuring prudent lending practices in today's challenging market?
No, thank you for your question. I mean, housing affordability, along with tariffs and climate and a number of other challenges, is a very, very significant challenge. And I do worry about it. Our ability to compete as a nation for top talent and retain top talent and retain youth and provide an inclusive opportunity for new immigrants to come to our country is predicated on being able to provide shelter and housing at an affordable price. And therefore, we're out of sync right now as far as demand for housing and shelter versus the supply that we have. And therefore, we have to solve that in the long term if we're going to continue to build a prosperous and inclusive society and retain the talent that we need to compete in a world.
I think you have strong alignment across every level of government and businesses in our community that this is a challenge and we need to solve for it. What are some of the options to solve for that we're working on? We need to move forward permitting at a much quicker pace. We need to get through that so that we can start launching programs. Now, some of that has happened. Unfortunately, it started in a high-interest rate environment that suppressed some of the demand for housing as the affordability question offset the urgent need question. But as rates have come down in Canada, you started to see demand increase. And therefore, we started at the end of 2024 into 2025, we felt that here we're starting to see demand emerge.
You're going to start to see projects get launched, and we'll start to create that supply that we so need. A lot of that has been suppressed with the uncertainty created by the tariff situation coming to the United States. You can imagine when you're trying to make a large life decision about shelter and committing to a mortgage, and you're concerned about the impact of tariffs on your job that you see demand suppressed. We're in this period after emerging nicely with lower rates. I'm hoping that all corrects in the near term, and they both align with lower rates and a more certain economic environment. It might take some time. That has to happen. I think that's important. That's a macro variable, obviously, out of our control.
Certainly, you can see that we have focused on building a balance sheet that's very strong in funding. So we're the only bank in Canada that has matched funding in Canadian dollars. So we have the liquidity. We have the ability to create and fund those mortgages to a greater degree of that capacity. So that's a competitive advantage for us. And we continue to build out under Erica's leadership. And if you saw the Investor Day today, Erica talked a lot about our mortgage business, how we're building a simpler process, a more automated process to make it easier and quicker for Canadians to get a mortgage. So while we continue to make it easier and more accessible to access a mortgage, we need kind of macro forces to align.
I think with both of those and our very strong balance sheet and liquid balance sheet, we're really well positioned to support what is a critical Canadian issue on housing and affordability.
We have a question online from Jeff Carlson. Why did RBC choose to schedule its AGM on the same day and at the same time as TD Bank?
I mean, we probably need more conversation. Cannot commit to any result on that. I mean, we're...
Evan Smith. Thank you for joining us. Please go ahead.
Where am I looking? I don't see.
We'll move to our next question. In the room is Elizabeth Pearman. Thank you for joining us. Please go ahead.
In light of the increase of fraud and scams across Canada, I'm interested to hear what RBC is doing to help best protect its clients.
Yeah, thank you for that. It is another serious and significant societal issue that we're seeing increased volume and sophistication of fraud attacking all Canadians and all elements, all segments of Canadians, particularly elderly Canadians, which is even more concerning and very, very different and aggressive forms. For us, it's so important to protect our clients. We invest a significant amount of money. We have over 1,000 people in a group that looks at AML and cyber defense. We invest a significant hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollar to ensure that our networks are secure and our customers are protected. We take that very, very seriously. Increasingly, we're working across lines of government and provincially and federally to help share more information about various forms of fraud and various schemes and various areas and perpetrators.
Therefore, I think, as you've seen the announcement from the federal government that that collaboration that's so prevalent in other markets and hasn't been as prevalent here, I think will help Canada defend Canadians against these. Whether it's investing in our own capabilities and technology and generative AI to defend claims, whether it's having a significant group of employees and every branch employee is dedicated to helping our clients at the front line deal with the elements of potential fraud and identity theft, to sharing information and being part of a broader Canadian initiative to protect the country from AML and fraud, all are incredibly important to us in the country. We're proud, actually, of the leadership we've shown. We're chairing a number of these committees. We've been recognized by law enforcement as having kind of helped protect Canadians from some of the elements of this fraud.
A really critical issue for our society and for banks in general.
Thank you. We have time for one last question. We've got a question from online, Kate Symes. With the acquisition of HSBC Canada largely complete, where do you expect the next stage of growth to come from? Are you looking for another acquisition? And if so, in what areas of the business?
Please see our Investor Day presentation that's in our Investor Relations section. We spent five hours two weeks ago articulating in detail, business by business, with every business leader getting up there and talking about where the growth areas were from the capital markets business globally and the global opportunities and transaction banking, investment banking, global markets, equities, right through to Erica, who talked about the consumer bank and the opportunities with core banking accounts, credit cards, and mortgages. It was a very proud moment for RBC. And shareholders, you should have enormous confidence in the organization and how we're investing to do that. So it's probably the best five hours that you'll spend in getting to know our organization. And you probably won't want to own other bank shares once you go through that. And we won't have these conflicts to worry about.
I think I would spend the time to do that. That's probably the best answer to your question.
Thank you, Dave. I can only echo that. I mean, if you look at that Investor Day, you will understand around Dave, there is an exceptional team. So we didn't have any question on talent, but take a bit of time to look at that and to listen to that Investor Day. And that's going to give you confidence, that performance of the bank. It's not by chance. It's because there's a tremendous group of people there. So thank you. So this now concludes our question and answer period. For anyone with outstanding questions or comments, representatives from RBC are available at the information desk located immediately outside the meeting room. And they would be happy to speak to you. As always, we welcome and value your constructive engagement.
And in closing, on behalf of the board and our shareholders, I would like to thank our more than 98,000 RBC employees whose commitment to our clients and communities continues to set RBC apart. I would like to thank Dave and his executive team for their purpose-driven leadership and commitment to delivering value to all our stakeholders. And as well as my colleagues of the board and the corporate secretary team, with special tribute to Karen McCarthy, who is retiring after more than 20 years with the bank, to our shareholders, you all, I mean, thank you all for being with us today. So ladies and gentlemen, that completes our meeting. [Foreign language]. I now declare the meeting adjourned .