West End residents worry neighbourhood becoming 'financial desert' as RBC branch set to close

People in Winnipeg's West End fear their neighbourhood is becoming a financial desert, as one of the last banks in the area is set to close in the coming weeks.

The Royal Bank branch at Sargent Avenue and Sherbrook Street will close July 10, and merge with the one on Ellice Avenue near Polo Park.

Ella Hudson has lived in the West End for about 30 years, and does all of her banking in-person at the RBC branch at the corner of Sargent and Sherbrook.

Without a car, she faces a long walk to get to the next nearest bank.

"I know a lot of people that are elders … like myself," she said. "I could get around on bike, but that's besides the point."

Cheryl Martens has also lived in the West End for decades. She says many people in the area don't have vehicles or Internet, and rely on in-person banking services to meet their financial needs.

"Once you start losing your services, it's sort of like a death knell to a community, I think," she said.

The only other full-service bank in the West End is the TD branch on Notre Dame Avenue.

The closest RBC branch is in the Manitoba Hydro building downtown — about a 20-minute walk away.

A spokesperson for RBC told CBC News in an email statement the decision was made after considering how best to serve their clients, as more people use other banking methods like telephone, online and mobile.

"Our branch network continually evolves and changes as we seek to serve our clients where and how they wish to conduct their banking," wrote Robb Ritchie, regional director of communications for Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nunavut, and western Ontario.

"In some circumstances, this may involve combining branches, relocating certain branches, or opening new ones."

Difficult for people with disabilities

Lynne Somerville found out about the bank closing from a neighbour who has a physical disability.

"She has great difficulty even walking from Toronto Street, down Sargent to this bank, and she's looking after an elderly father, so she has to have somebody in her house to look after her dad while she walks down here," Somerville said.

Somerville, Martens and Hudson, along with a few other community members, met with the branch manager on Wednesday to share their concerns, but "it's hard to know if you can stop something once it's in motion," Martens said.

The group also asked for support from the area's municipal, provincial and federal representatives.

Daniel McIntyre Coun. Cindy Gilroy, Union Station MLA Uzoma Asagwara, and Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan all wrote letters urging RBC to reverse course.

"Banks provide very important aspects of community living, and especially in inner-city communities," said Gilroy, noting that they help promote financial literacy, which is important for people seeking to get a mortgage.

There are a number of reasons why people in the neighbourhood choose to bank in person, said Asagwara.

"We already know that that particular area, that community, some folks identify as a food desert. We don't want to see it become also a financial desert."

RBC experts including financial planners, investment and retirement planners, mortgage specialists, commercial bankers and small business advisors will still meet with people wherever it's convenient for them, including in their homes, office or other nearby branches, Ritchie wrote in the statement.

"With our other nearby branch and ATM locations, additional options for clients to be served by RBC, and our ongoing commitment to supporting community organizations through sponsorship, donation, and volunteerism, we will continue to be fully present in this community."

Ralph Bryant, another West End resident, attended the same meeting with the RBC branch manager on Wednesday. He says someone referred to the added costs West End residents face to access financial services as a "tax on poverty."

"You think about the fact that … it's going to cost you a bus ride to get to [the Ellice Avenue location] … That is absolutely a tax on poverty."

Martens says there are more community meetings planned to let people know what is happening with the bank and to organize a response. They will meet at X-Cues at 551 Sargent on June 26 at 12 p.m. and again at 6 p.m.