Kick RBC and fossil fuel funding banks off our campuses!

Student unions across so-called Canada

Canada’s five biggest banks are financing the climate crisis. RBC, TD, Scotiabank, CIBC and BMO are funneling billions of dollars into fossil fuel expansion, funding projects that will lead to worse emissions and more climate chaos. RBC, the worst of the big 5, was the number one funder of fossil fuel projects in the world in 2022. Many of these projects violate Indigenous rights and sovereignty, like the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline which violates sovereign Wet’suwet’en territory without consent from hereditary leadership.

We have the power to stop them. We’ve already won big on three Canadian campuses, with major wins against RBC and fossil fuel funding banks at the University of Toronto, the University of Ottawa, and York University. Now, it’s spreading country-wide.

Sign our petition to kick #BanksOffCampus until they stop funding fossil fuel companies and violating Indigenous sovereignty.

Add your name to join our campaign to kick fossil fuel banks off our campus!

Dear student leaders across so-called Canada,

We, the undersigned students, call on you to stand up to the Big 5 banks’ climate destruction by ending any relationships between them and your student union.

This past summer, we have seen record-breaking heat waves, wildfires and weather events brought on by the increasingly urgent climate crisis. Meanwhile, Canada’s big five banks continue to finance billions of dollars of fossil fuel expansion. Many of these projects violate Indigenous rights and sovereignty, including the Coastal Gaslink pipeline and the Trans Mountain Expansion.

Allowing banks to occupy space on campus means being complicit in their greenwashing efforts- the banks attempts to co-opt students' support and disguise themselves as environmentally responsible. We refuse to accept false solutions offered to us by the rich and powerful.

We will not be complicit in the destruction of land, water and air, and violence against Indigenous lands and peoples. We call on you as our student leadership to take a principled stance against the big banks, and join the calls for #RBCoffCampus and #BanksoffCampus.

We call on YOUR STUDENT UNION to:
1. Sign onto the national student union statement calling on the Big 5 Banks to divest from fossil fuels
2. End any contracts with RBC that allows them to have an RBC On Campus Branch. If no branch exists, publicly and formally commit to not establishing a branch and to advocating against the university from entering into a contract for such a branch.
3. End banking relationships with RBC or any of Canada’s big five banks (RBC, Scotiabank, CIBC, TD, and Bank of Montreal), which all invest massively in fossil fuels, and move to a financial institution that is rooted in a local community and invests in people, like a credit union.
4. Stop allowing RBC or any of Canada's big five banks from hosting, co-hosting or sponsoring student union events.

Why banks deserve no place on our campus
RBC was the largest funder of fossil fuels in the world in 2022, providing more than $54.7 billion CAD to the industry. All of Canada’s Big Five Banks make significant funding contributions to fossil fuel expansion. In 2022 Scotiabank funded $37 billion CAD in oil and gas. TD funded $31 billion, BMO contributed $324 billion and CIBC funded $22 billion. This brings total contributions from Canada’s big banks to astronomical heights, totaling $1.12 TRILLION Canadian dollars since 2016.

RBC predominantly finances the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline and underwrites the Trans Mountain Pipeline. TD, BMO, CIBC and Scotiabank are also major lenders for these projects which violate the principles of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Coastal Gaslink Pipeline does not have the consent of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who have recognized jurisdiction over part of the territory it would cross. The Trans Mountain pipeline does not have consent from local First Nations including the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh and faces ongoing opposition by the Secwepemc Tiny House Warriors.

The fossil fuel industry relies on the support of banks like RBC, TD, BMO, CIBC and Scotiabank. This financing threatens students' futures, with those who already face systemic oppression being most at risk due to the inequitable distribution of climate impacts and environmental pollution.

RBC uses its partnerships with universities to secure social license for its damaging activities. Despite putting young people’s futures at risk, RBC is attempting to secure their support by opening dozens of RBC On Campus across the country and pouring $500 million into a 10-year program to win over young people’s hearts and minds. By continuing to be a top investor in fossil fuel companies and financing climate-wrecking projects, RBC is clearly showing that they do not care about our long-term future.

How Change Course can help
Change Course has been organizing on Canadian campuses for the past two years, advocating for the end of fossil fuel financing and calling for fossil fuel funding banks to be kicked off campuses. As an organization, we intend to support student advocates and student unions in any way we can. We recognize some of these demands can be logistically challenging. We have resources, materials and are available to support you through this process and to find interim actions that are most feasible. We encourage student unions to take all possible steps against fossil fuel funding on their campuses, and we understand that each campus situation is different.

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Change Course

To: Student unions across so-called Canada
From: [Your Name]

Dear student leaders across so-called Canada,

We, the undersigned students, call on you to stand up to the Big 5 banks’ climate destruction by ending any relationships between them and your student union.

This past summer, we have seen record-breaking heat waves, wildfires and weather events brought on by the increasingly urgent climate crisis. Meanwhile, Canada’s big five banks continue to finance billions of dollars of fossil fuel expansion. Many of these projects violate Indigenous rights and sovereignty, including the Coastal Gaslink pipeline and the Trans Mountain Expansion.

Allowing banks to occupy space on campus means being complicit in their greenwashing efforts- the banks attempts to co-opt students' support and disguise themselves as environmentally responsible. We refuse to accept false solutions offered to us by the rich and powerful.

We will not be complicit in the destruction of land, water and air, and violence against Indigenous lands and peoples. We call on you as our student leadership to take a principled stance against the big banks, and join the calls for #RBCoffCampus and #BanksoffCampus.

We call on YOUR STUDENT UNION to:

1. Sign onto the national student union statement calling on the Big 5 Banks to divest from fossil fuels
2. End any contracts with RBC that allows them to have an RBC On Campus Branch. If no branch exists, publicly and formally commit to not establishing a branch and to advocating against the university from entering into a contract for such a branch.
3. End banking relationships with RBC or any of Canada’s big five banks (RBC, Scotiabank, CIBC, TD, and Bank of Montreal), which all invest massively in fossil fuels, and move to a financial institution that is rooted in a local community and invests in people, like a credit union.
4. Stop allowing RBC or any of Canada's big five banks from hosting, co-hosting or sponsoring student union events.