BANKS OFF OUR CAMPUSES
Since 2016, the Big 5 Banks (RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, and CIBC) have financed over $900 billion in climate wrecking fossil fuel projects including the Coastal Gaslink, Trans Mountain and Line 3 pipelines, all of which violate Indigenous rights.
We believe that the largest financiers of climate disaster in the country have no place on our campuses.
We are calling for our student unions and universities to end their partnerships with the Big 5 by:
Closing accounts with the Big 5 and moving to credit unions
Kicking out ‘RBC On Campus’ kiosks and other on campus bank branches
Ending bank sponsorships of events and awards
Whether sponsoring case competitions, offering scholarships or opening on campus branches, the Big Banks pour millions of dollars every year into buying student support at universities and colleges. They use campuses as recruiting grounds for customers and future workers, and they establish legitimacy by partnering with student unions and universities.
In doing so, they aim to portray themselves as champions of youth and students. For example, RBC’s Future Launch program purportedly aims to empower youth for the future. In the past few years, RBC has set up dozens of on campus centres to improve its brand among students.
Yet the Big 5’s financing decisions run directly in contrast with both their own commitments to young people and our university’s missions to prepare students for our futures. Climate wrecking banks have no place in our education. We need to tell the Big 5 that until they stop financing climate chaos and Indigenous rights violations, they are not welcome on our campuses!