Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council appoints Gordon M. Nixon and Zabeen Hirji as Co-Chairs

• Press Release
• Source: RBC; TRIEC
• On 7:00 am EDT, Thursday September 10, 2009

RBC top executives bring vision and business leadership to organization

TORONTO, Sept. 10 /CNW/ - The Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) is pleased to announce today's appointment of Gordon M. Nixon, president and chief executive officer of RBC, as Chair, and Zabeen Hirji, chief human resources officer of RBC, as Co-Chair of TRIEC.

Founded in 2003 by Maytree and the Toronto City Summit Alliance, TRIEC creates and champions solutions to better integrate skilled immigrants in the Greater Toronto Region labour market.

"TRIEC has seen the immense progress that can be made when business leaders champion immigrant employment solutions and build them into the everyday workings of their organizations," says Ratna Omidvar, chair of TRIEC's board of directors and president of Maytree.

"As top executives at one of the largest financial institutions in North America, Gord Nixon and Zabeen Hirji are key ambassadors to articulate how Canadian companies can benefit from the international experience and networks, language skills and cultural knowledge that skilled immigrants bring with them to Canada."

Nixon has for years been a champion for promoting diversity in Canadian communities and of leveraging skilled immigrant talent as a driver of Canadian innovation and prosperity. Nixon is chairman of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and chairman of MaRS Discovery District. In 2007, Nixon was invested into the Order of Ontario and was named Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year.

"Canada's future prosperity will be based on the very skills and creativity found in the diverse perspectives of people who are new to our country," says Nixon. "Diversity that comes with international experience, perspectives and credentials. A globally competitive Canadian marketplace means tapping into and investing in the strengths of all of Canada's workforce, including skilled immigrants. "Prior to today's appointment of Nixon and Hirji, Manulife Financial's retired president and CEO, Dominic D'Alessandro and executive vice-president, corporate affairs and human resources, Diane Bean, served as Co-Chairs of TRIEC.

	    Event details/Photo Opportunity:

	    When:     Thursday, September 10, 2009
	              9:00 am - 9:30 am TRIEC co-chair speeches
	              9:30 am - 10:00 am Photo opportunity and media interviews

	    What:     TRIEC press conference to announce new co-chairs and Council
	              meeting

	    Who:      Gordon Nixon, incoming chair, TRIEC Council; president and
	              CEO, RBC
	              Zabeen Hirji, incoming co-chair, TRIEC Council; chief human
	              resources officer, RBC
	              Diane Bean, outgoing co-chair, TRIEC Council; executive vice-
	              president, corporate affairs and human resources, Manulife
	              Financial
	              Ratna Omidvar, chair, TRIEC Board of Directors; president,
	              Maytree

	    Where:    Royal Bank Plaza
	              200 Bay Street, South Tower, 40th Floor
	    

About TRIEC

TRIEC creates and champions solutions to better integrate skilled immigrants into the Greater Toronto Region labour market. Since 2003 TRIEC has launched a GTA-wide mentoring program that has served over 4,000 skilled immigrants; created www.hireimmigrants.ca, a multi-pronged learning platform for employers to become better able to integrate immigrants in their workplace; raised public awareness of employer best practices through its Immigrant Success Awards and; enhanced intergovernmental relations regarding immigrant employment. For more information, please visit www.triec.ca.

About RBC

Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries operate under the master brand name RBC. We are Canada's largest bank as measured by assets and market capitalization, one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies and among the largest banks in the world, as measured by market capitalization. We provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking and transaction processing services on a global basis. We employ approximately 80,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 18 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 53 other countries. For more information, please visit rbc.com.

For further information

For media inquiries: Emily Mills, Media Relations and Communications Specialist, TRIEC, (416) 944-1946 ext. 282, emills@triec.ca
Raquel Ingram, Project Coordinator, TRIEC, (416) 944-1946 ext. 353, ringram@triec.ca
Matt Gierasimczuk, RBC Media Relations, (416) 974-2124, matthew.gierasimczuk@rbc.com

Buzz up!