Royal Bank of Canada

Is RBC safe?

Yes. Royal Bank of Canada is one of the strongest-rated banks in the world, and its retail deposits are insured by the Canada Deposit InsuranceDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary Corporation (CDIC). At 31 July 2026 its CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary capital ratio was 13.5%, comfortably above the 11.1% that Canada's regulator, OSFI, requires. Fitch rates it AA+ and Moody's Aa1. We score it 79/100, a point behind JPMorgan Chase and HSBC at 80. The deductions come from a liquidity buffer that is adequate rather than deep, and a run of mid-sized fines in Canada and the US.

What CDIC covers at RBC

The legal entity for Canadian chequing, savings and GIC accounts is Royal Bank of Canada itself, a CDIC member. The cover works differently from the US or UK schemes. Instead of one limit per person, CDIC insures up to C$100,000 in each of several categories:

Category	Insured up to
Deposits in your own name	C$100,000
Joint deposits	C$100,000
TFSA, RRSP, RRIF, FHSA	C$100,000 each
RESP, RDSP	C$100,000 each
Deposits held in trust	C$100,000 per beneficiary, subject to rules

Canadian and foreign currency deposits and GICs are eligible. Mutual funds, stocks, ETFs and crypto are not, even if you hold them through an RBC account. CDIC says it has handled 43 member failures and that no one has lost an insured dollar.

The headline C$100,000 is lower than the FDICDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary's $250,000 or the EU's €100,000, so a saver with one large ordinary account is less covered here than at a US bank. Someone who spreads money across a TFSA, an RRSP and a joint account is covered well beyond that.

Capital and ratings

Measure (31 July 2026)	RBC
CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary	13.5%
CET1 requirement	11.1%
Leverage ratioLeverage ratioA bank's Tier 1 capital divided by its total exposures, without adjusting for risk. It is a simple backstop to risk-based capital rules.More in the glossary	4.3% (3.5% required)
TLAC ratio	30.9% (24.6% required)
Moody's / S&P / Fitch / DBRS issuer	Aa1 / AA- / AA+ / AA (high)

The 11.1% requirement includes a Domestic Stability Buffer, a Canadian add-on for the six largest banks. OSFI cut it from 3.5% to 3% in June 2026, which lowered the bar without any change at RBC. RBC also counts as a global systemically important bankG-SIBA global systemically important bank: one of the large banks the Financial Stability Board lists each year because its failure could harm the world economy.More in the glossary in the lowest bucket on the Financial Stability Board's 2025 list, which means extra loss-absorbing debt that can be written down before depositors are touched. Its total loss-absorbing capacity was 30.9% of risk-weighted assets.

Liquidity and funding

RBC held C$1.64 trillion of deposits at the end of July 2026, but only C$539 billion of that came from individuals. Business, government and bank deposits make up most of the rest, and they move faster in a crisis than household savings. The average liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary was 125% in the third quarter, a cushion of about C$98 billion of liquid assets above the regulatory minimum. That is sound but thinner than at European banks like HSBC, which runs well above 130%.

How did RBC come through 2008?

Without a government capital injection. Canada's big banks were famously steady in the financial crisis, partly because most Canadian mortgages are insured by the federal housing agency and lending standards were tighter than in the US. They still needed help with funding: a federal programme bought insured mortgage pools from the banks, and central banks lent against collateral. RBC stayed profitable throughout. In March 2024 it bought HSBC's Canadian bank, adding a large block of deposits and customers.

Fines and regulatory orders

RBC has no scandal on the scale of TD Bank's US money laundering case, but its record is not clean.

• December 2023: FINTRAC, Canada's financial intelligence unitFinancial intelligence unitA national government agency that receives reports of suspicious transactions from banks and crypto firms and analyses them for money laundering.More in the glossary, imposed a C$7,475,000 penalty for failing to file suspicious transaction reports and keep its policies current. At the time it was FINTRAC's largest ever fine.
• January 2024: the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency fined City National Bank, RBC's Los Angeles subsidiary, $65 million and issued a cease-and-desist order over weak risk management, Bank Secrecy Act violations and fiduciary failings.
• June 2026: the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada announced a C$4.25 million penalty after RBC failed to move credits to new card accounts after fraud reports, leaving 227,947 accounts with wrong statements. RBC refunded more than C$22.4 million.

None of these put deposits at risk, but the City National order in particular shows control weaknesses in a large subsidiary.

How to keep your money safe at RBC

1. Use the CDIC categories. Holding savings across a TFSA, an RRSP or FHSA and a joint account gives separate C$100,000 limits at the same bank.
2. Remember that HSBC Bank Canada accounts became part of RBC in 2024, so balances at both now share one set of CDIC limits.
3. Keep investments and deposits apart in your head: funds and shares in RBC Direct Investing are not deposits and are not CDIC-insured.
4. Turn on two-step verificationTwo-factor authenticationSigning in with a second proof of identity on top of your password, such as a code from an app, a security key or a passkey.More in the glossary and alerts in the RBC app. Canada has no rule forcing banks to refund scam payments you approve yourself, so hang up on callers asking you to move money or read out a code.

How we scored it

Stability history (86) and capital (85) are RBC's strongest factors, backed by AA-range ratings and a crisis record without state capital. Deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary (84) reflects CDIC's per-category design, which is generous for diversified savers and modest for one large account. Conduct (68) is the weakest, pulled down by the FINTRAC, FCAC and City National penalties.