2013 RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 21, 2013) - Canadian Immigrant magazine has kicked off the voting stage for the fifth annual RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards. The program serves to uncover and celebrate the inspiring stories and remarkable achievements of Canadian immigrants from all walks of life who motivate fellow Canadians. The program draws nominations from across Canada and is proudly supported by the title sponsor RBC Royal Bank and associate sponsor Chevrolet.

A call for nominations garnered more than 600 entries over the past two months. The nominations were reviewed by a diverse judging panel, comprised of several past winners and contributors to the magazine. The judges had the difficult task of sorting through hundreds of worthy nominations to determine a short-list of 75 inspiring immigrants who represent a variety of diverse ethnic communities and cultures across Canada.

"It's time to vote!" says Margaret Jetelina, editor of Canadian Immigrant. "For the last five years, we've been amazed by the response our RBC Top 25 program has garnered at both the nominations and voting stage. And the caliber of the shortlisted nominees this year is as impressive as ever. From entrepreneurs to community volunteers to artists, they are all deserving of recognition for inspiring others and making Canada a better place."

Canadians can now vote for their favourite candidates online at www.canadianimmigrant.ca/rbctop25 until May 13, 2013.

"The RBC Top 25 awards recognize individuals from diverse communities who enrich Canada and make it a better place to live. We encourage all Canadians to support and vote for these extraordinary individuals who are making a difference in their country and communities." said Paul Sy, director, Multicultural Markets, RBC.

More than 30,000 Canadians voted in last year's awards program. The winners included: famous rapper K'naan, whose journey from Somalia to Canada is a compelling story; politician Olivia Chow, who has been an example of strength and grace on the political stage in recent years; leading-edge cardiologist Dr. Vivian Rambihar, who has done groundbreaking research on heart health issues among immigrants; and many more!

This year, Associate sponsor Chevrolet will recognize one of the 25 winners with the Chevrolet Ingenuity Award for showing exceptional creativity and skill in their road to success.

"The people recognized by the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards have a true passion for our country, an inventive nature and are an inspiration to many," said Marc Comeau, vice president, sales, service and marketing for General Motors of Canada. "It takes a significant amount of resourcefulness and creativity to come to a new country and break cultural and social barriers to achieve great success. The Chevrolet Ingenuity Award was designed to recognize the efforts of a truly inspirational individual."

All the 25 winners will be announced in June, 2013, and will be recognized on www.canadianimmigrant.ca and in Canadian Immigrant magazine. They will also receive a commemorative plaque and $500 toward a charity of their choice provided by RBC. This year's media partners are the Toronto Star, Metro, Sing Tao and South Asian Focus.

About Canadian Immigrant and canadianimmigrant.ca

Attracting more than 287,000 readers each month and over 60,000 unique visits a month online, Canadian Immigrant is distributed in Toronto and Vancouver and helps new Canadians build a successful life and home in Canada. Its mandate to inform, educate and motivate provides easy-to-access content for newcomers looking for information from careers, education and settling in to culture and business. Our website, www.canadianimmigrant.ca, offers daily editorial, forums, tools and resources to help newcomers across Canada. Canadian Immigrant is a division of Metroland Media Group, a dynamic media company with more than 110 community and daily newspapers in print and online, as well as innovative websites such as www.wheels.ca.

About RBC

Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY)(NYSE:RY) and its subsidiaries operate under the master brand name RBC. We are Canada's largest bank as measured by assets and market capitalization, and are among 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 services, insurance, and investor services and wholesale banking on a global basis. We employ approximately 80,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 15 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 49 other countries. For more information, please visit www.rbc.com.

RBC supports a broad range of community initiatives through donations, sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. In 2012, we contributed more than $95 million to causes worldwide, including donations and community investments of more than $64 million and $31 million in sponsorships.

About Chevrolet in Canada

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world's largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.ca, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/chevroletcanada or by following @ChevroletCanada on Twitter.