West End residents rally in last-ditch effort to stop RBC from shuttering local bank branch

Bryce Hoye · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 03, 2025 5:31 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Residents of Winnipeg's West End are rallying successful a last-ditch effort to halt the looming closure of 1 of the past neighbourhood banks arsenic RBC prepares to adjacent 2 branches successful the metropolis this month.

Community members held a protestation astatine the country of Sargent Avenue and Sherbrook Street connected Thursday, repeating calls connected RBC to halt plans to shutter its subdivision astatine that intersection July 10, a motion connected the branch door says. The slope besides plans to adjacent its subdivision astatine 540 Main St. adjacent City Hall connected July 21.

"We are truly struggling successful this assemblage to support businesses going and to support our bank," said Lynne Somerville, who has lived successful the West End for astir 45 years and relies connected the Sargent branch.

"A batch of radical successful this country are elderly.… They don't person a car, a batch of radical person walkers and wheelchairs and canes, truthful you request to beryllium capable to walk. A batch of radical are connected a fixed income."

The adjacent closest RBC subdivision is simply a 20-minute locomotion away, southbound of Portage Avenue successful the Manitoba Hydro downtown headquarters. Another, connected Ellice Avenue westbound of Empress Street, is simply a 40-minute locomotion oregon 10-minute autobus ride.

A TD subdivision connected Notre Dame Avenue is the lone different full-service slope successful the West End.

The Sargent determination has been Kurtis Mckenzie's location subdivision for years. He works astatine a pawn store connected Sargent that besides uses the subdivision for business.

He is upset the nearest alternate subdivision volition person him driving downtown and paying for parking.

"Also it's important for the pawn shop, due to the fact that we get alteration from the slope … for our customers," helium said. "There's a batch of reasons the slope should enactment here, and I can't truly recognize the reasons wherefore they wouldn't."

An RBC spokesperson sent CBC News a connection Thursday that included immoderate of the nonstop aforesaid phrasing provided to media during June 20 sum of the Sargent closure.

"Our subdivision web continually evolves and changes arsenic we question to service our clients wherever and however they privation to behaviour their banking," the connection says. "In immoderate circumstances, this whitethorn impact combining branches, relocating definite branches, oregon opening caller ones."

The connection suggests the determination to merge its Sargent and Main branches with its Ellice and Portage branches, respectively, came arsenic "consumer banking habits person evolved" to see much of a premix of telephone and online banking connected apical of accepted subdivision services and mobile adept advisors.

Ralph Bryant attended a gathering with the RBC subdivision manager 2 weeks agone astir assemblage concerns.

Bryant is simply a newer nonmigratory of the West End and said the nonaccomplishment of the Sargent RBC branch is efficaciously a "tax connected the poor," due to the fact that it volition mean radical connected choky budgets are spending much to autobus to the Ellice oregon Portage locations.

"When you deliberation astir what makes a community, it's archetypal and foremost the people, but it's besides the resources and entree to the things that they need, truthful they don't consciousness similar they person to permission the neighbourhood," helium said.

"That's a $7 autobus thrust determination and back, which for radical connected fixed incomes, for radical who are disquieted astir their slope accounts and keeping the wealth that they have, spending $7 conscionable to bash their basal banking is simply a lot."

Local municipal, provincial and national representatives — Coun. Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre), MLA Uzoma Asagwara (Union Station) and MP Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre) — each penned letters betwixt the extremity of May and mid-June successful an effort to halt the closure.

Asagwara still hasn't heard backmost from RBC, they said astatine the protestation Thursday.

"Having entree to a section slope is fundamentally important for neighbourhoods. It helps enactment the section businesses successful the assemblage that support our assemblage thriving, and it supports each the folks successful our neighbourhood who, really, banking successful idiosyncratic is the mode they conscionable their fiscal needs," they said.

"The nonaccomplishment of this slope is going to person a immense interaction connected the assemblage arsenic a whole, and truthful I americium hoping RBC listens to the voices of Union Station and reverses their decision."

Gazan said she hasn't heard backmost from federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne since sending him her letter, dated May 26, asking him to intervene.

She said she is adjacent much disappointed with RBC since she learned it volition besides adjacent its Main subdivision location.

"This is simply a crisis, particularly for radical that don't person vehicles, seniors, galore newcomer families, successful fact, that trust connected these banks … to adjacent acceptable up slope accounts successful our community," she said. "It's highly disappointing."