Calling all grade 12 students! RBC announces more scholarships than ever for RBC Black History Month Student Essay Competition

TORONTO, Oct. 11, 2016 /CNW/ - As part of the celebrations for the upcoming Black History Month, the Royal Bank of Canada today announced a call for submissions for the 2017 RBC Black History Month Student Essay Competition. Now in its eight year, RBC has increased the number of available scholarships from 25 to 30 for eligible students, including three top prizes of $5,000, $2,500 and $1,500.

The competition, open to grade 12 students who are applying to post-secondary school for the 2017/18 academic year, asks students to share what young people can learn from the achievements and contributions of black Canadians over the past 150 years to help shape the future for generations to come.

The competition, which has added an additional five scholarships from last year, celebrates the past, present and future contributions of black Canadians and also helps to offset the climbing costs of post-secondary education in Canada.

"Reading the unique positions taken by the students in their submissions each year is always both empowering and enlightening," said Kim Mason, Regional President, Greater Toronto. "This year will be especially interesting as the question ties into Canada 150, which we will be celebrating as one nation in 2017."

The contest will be judged by a jury from across Canada, and the winners will be announced on February 3, 2017. Essays should be 750 or less and must be submitted by December 9, 2017. Full details can be found online at www.rbc.com/essay.

Winners will be celebrated during Black History Month, when all Canadians are invited to participate in festivities across the country.

ABOUT RBC

Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest bank, and one of the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. We are one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance, investor services and capital markets products and services on a global basis. We have over 80,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 36 other countries. For more information, please visit rbc.com.‎

RBC helps communities prosper, supporting a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments, sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. In 2015, we contributed more than $121 million to causes around the world.

SOURCE RBC Royal Bank - Public Affairs & Community Relations

For more details, contact: Ciaran Dickson, RBC, 416-313-7947