<PAGE>

                                                                    EXHIBIT 4.33

October 3, 2002

Steelcase Financial Services Ltd.
1 Steelcase Road West
Markham, Ontario
L3R 0T3

Attention: Chief Financial Officer

Dear Sirs:

We refer to the facility agreement dated as of April 5, 2000 between Royal Bank
of Canada (the "Bank") and Steelcase Financial Services Ltd. (the "Borrower"),
as borrower, as amended by an amending letter agreement dated May 24, 2001, and
as further amended by an amending letter agreement dated November 9, 2001,
(collectively, the "Facility Agreement") and to the Guarantee dated as of April
5, 2000, as amended by an amending letter agreement dated May 24, 2001, and as
further amended by an amending letter agreement dated November 9, 2001,
(collectively, the "Guarantee") made by Steelcase Inc. (the "Guarantor") for the
benefit of the Bank relating to the indebtedness of the Borrower to the Bank
under the Facility Agreement. We confirm our agreement to amend the Facility
Agreement, upon and subject to the following terms and conditions.

1.   DEFINITIONS:

     Capitalized terms used and not defined herein have the meanings ascribed to
     such terms in the Facility Agreement.

2.   FACILITY FEE:

     Section 7 of the Facility Agreement entitled Payment Adjustment is deleted
     and replaced with a new section 7 entitled Facility Fee providing as
     follows:

     "Effective for the period from and after October 3, 2002 until the Maturity
     Date, the Borrower shall pay to the Bank quarterly in arrears a
     non-refundable facility fee, calculated on a daily basis on the Net Present
     Value Amount as set forth in Schedule "G", on the basis of the actual
     number of days elapsed and a year of 365 days, the first payment to be
     calculated for the period from and including October 3, 2002 to, but
     excluding, the December 1, 2002 payment date, the second payment to be
     calculated for the period from and including the December 1, 2002 payment
     date to, but excluding, the March 1, 2003

<PAGE>

                                      -2-

     payment date, and, thereafter, in the same manner on a quarterly basis,
     from and including the payment date immediately following the last day of
     the immediately preceding calculation period to, but excluding, the third
     payment date next following the payment date upon which the applicable
     calculation period commenced, until the Maturity Date. Each payment of the
     facility fee shall be payable within 3 Business Days of receipt by the
     Company after the expiry of the applicable calculation period of a written
     notice from the Bank setting out the amount owing and the method of
     calculation. The payment dates referred to above are the dates that
     payments are due under the Credit Facility as set forth in Schedule "B".

     The facility fee shall be calculated as the rate (the "Applicable Rate"),
     expressed in basis points, set out, from time to time, in the following
     matrix for the level of credit ratings assigned by Moody's Investor
     Service, Inc., or any successor thereto, (herein "Moody's") and Standard &
     Poor's Ratings Group, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, or any
     successor thereto, (herein "S & P") to the Guarantor's senior unsecured
     long term debt obligations, provided that in the event of a disparity
     between the levels of the credit ratings of Moody's and S & P, the
     Applicable Rate will be determined based on the rate set out for the level
     immediately higher than the level for the lesser of the credit ratings of
     Moody's or S & P. Each increase or decrease in the Applicable Rate shall be
     effective concurrent with the announcement by Moody's or S & P, as the case
     may be, of the change to the Moody's and/or S & P's credit rating giving
     rise to such increase or decrease in the Applicable Rate as determined
     under the matrix..

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              S & P/     S & P/           S & P/ Moody's   S & P/      S & P/       S & P/
              Moody's    Moody's          Moody's          Moody's     Moody's      Moody's

              A-/A3      BBB+/Baa1        BBB/Baa2         BBB-/Baa3   BB+/Ba1      BB/Ba2

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<S>           <C>        <C>              <C>              <C>         <C>          <C>
Applicable    25 basis   50 basis         75 basis         130 basis   220 basis    325 basis
Rate          points     points           points           points      points       points

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</TABLE>

     The Borrower agrees to provide to the Bank, promptly after the Borrower
     obtains knowledge of any change in the rating established for the Guarantor
     by S & P or Moody's, as applicable, a written notice of such change, which
     notice shall specify the new rating, the date on which such change was
     publicly announced and such other information with respect to such change
     as the Bank may reasonably request."

3.   RESTRUCTURE FEE:

     A restructure fee of $10,488.00 is payable by the Borrower upon acceptance
     of this amending agreement. This fee is non-refundable and is deemed to be
     earned by the Bank upon acceptance of this amending agreement, to
     compensate for time, effort and expense

<PAGE>

                                      -3-

     incurred by the Bank in approving the amendments to the Credit Facility
     provided for herein.

4.   EVENTS OF DEFAULT:

     Section 18 of the Facility Agreement entitled Events of Default is amended
     by adding to Event of Default (l) after the date "May 24, 2001" the
     following: "as amended by amending letter agreements dated November 9, 2001
     and October 3, 2002".

5.   SCHEDULE "D"

     The reference to the "Minimum Interest Coverage Ratio 5.00:1.00" in
     Schedule "D" to the Facility Agreement is hereby deleted in its entirety.

6.   SCHEDULE "G"

     The attached schedule sets forth Net Present Value Amounts for the Credit
     Facility after application of each payment on each payment date for the
     period from October 1, 2002 until the Maturity Date and is hereby
     incorporated into the Facility Agreement by reference as Schedule "G"
     thereto and shall hereafter form a part thereof. The Net Present Value
     Amount set forth for any payment date remains effective until the payment
     on the next following payment date.

7.   CONSENT:

     The Borrower confirms its agreement with and consents to all the terms and
     conditions of this amending agreement and to the amendments to the
     Guarantee made by an amending agreement between the Bank and the Guarantor
     dated the same date hereof (the "Guarantee Amendment").

8.   CONDITIONS:

     This agreement is conditional upon the receipt by the Bank, in form and
     substance satisfactory to the Bank:

     (a) prior to the effectiveness hereof, of duly executed copies of this
         amending agreement and the Guarantee Amendment; and

     (b) subsequent to the effectiveness hereof, of such certificates and
         resolutions in respect of the Borrower as the Bank may reasonably
         require and legal opinions of counsel to the Guarantor in respect of
         the Guarantee Amendment substantially in the form of Exhibits E-1 and
         E-2 of the Facility Agreement, within 22 days of the date of this
         amending agreement.

9.   GENERAL:

<PAGE>

                                      -4-

     (a) The Borrower agrees to take such action and execute and deliver such
         further documents as shall be reasonably required by the Bank in order
         to give effect to and carry out the intentions of this amending
         agreement.

     (b) The Facility Agreement, as amended hereby, is hereby ratified and
         confirmed and remains in full force and effect, binding upon the
         parties in accordance with its terms.

     (c) This amending agreement shall be construed in accordance with and be
         governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and of Canada
         applicable therein.

     (d) This amending agreement may be executed and delivered in counterparts,
         each of which when executed and delivered is an original, but both of
         which together constitute one and the same agreement. This amending
         agreement may be delivered, and be binding on the party so delivering,
         upon the provision of telefaxed execution pages. The party delivering
         such telefaxed execution pages shall as soon as possible thereafter
         (and in any event within 5 days) deliver to other party an originally
         executed copy.

     (e) The date on which this amending agreement becomes effective is the date
         of acceptance hereof.

Please acknowledge your acceptance of the above terms and conditions by signing
the attached copy of this letter in the space provided below and returning it to
the undersigned by no later than October 17, 2002, failing which this agreement
shall be null and void and without effect.

Yours truly,

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA

By:     /s/ B R Baker
    ---------------------
Name/Title:   Barry Baker
              Senior Manager

<PAGE>

                                      -5-

         We acknowledge and accept the terms and conditions of this amending
         agreement as of the    day of October, 2002.

STEELCASE FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD.

 By:    /s/ Gary P. Malburg
     -------------------------

Name/Title:    Gary P. Malburg / President
            ---------------------------------

<PAGE>

Schedule "G" to the Agreement dated as of the 5/th/ day of April, 2000, between
Steelcase Financial Ltd., as Borrower, and Royal Bank of Canada, as the Bank, as
amended to date.

Payment Date                  Payment Amount          Net Present Value Amount *

1-Oct-02                      $844,195.46             $20,976,356.86
1-Nov-02                      $826,002.30             $20,265,374.92
1-Dec-02                      $816,778.87             $19,559,717.85
1-Jan-03                      $804,924.83             $18,862,045.47
1-Feb-03                      $790,670.77             $18,174,801.59
1-Mar-03                      $789,925.74             $17,484,534.34
1-Apr-03                      $769,838.60             $16,810,569.27
1-May-03                      $766,799.00             $16,135,948.23
1-Jun-03                      $757,274.53             $15,467,152.48
1-Jul-03                      $741,020.00             $14,810,944.03
1-Aug-03                      $721,808.35             $14,170,349.03
1-Sep-03                      $720,314.98             $13,527,734.79
1-Oct-03                      $712,195.17             $12,889,716.70
1-Nov-03                      $705,046.84             $12,255,348.48
1-Dec-03                      $704,607.66             $11,617,940.98
1-Jan-04                      $690,476.68             $10,991,169.34
1-Feb-04                      $649,748.10             $10,401,689.48
1-Mar-04                      $645,568.43             $9,813,156.99
1-Apr-04                      $632,368.15             $9,234,597.65
1-May-04                      $623,282.18             $8,661,951.84
1-Jun-04                      $615,631.20             $8,093,817.01
1-Jul-04                      $601,604.71             $7,536,593.40
1-Aug-04                      $592,280.84             $6,985,638.21
1-Sep-04                      $564,907.88             $6,459,034.92
1-Oct-04                      $552,274.74             $5,942,177.22
1-Nov-04                      $544,368.17             $5,430,391.99
1-Dec-04                      $526,778.87             $4,933,389.77
1-Jan-05                      $496,622.70             $4,463,818.49
1-Feb-05                      $459,499.15             $4,028,795.94
1-Mar-05                      $454,992.08             $3,595,895.09
1-Apr-05                      $443,817.32             $3,171,795.26
1-May-05                      $431,473.66             $2,757,713.61
1-Jun-05                      $410,194.90             $2,362,640.18
1-Jul-05                      $389,012.40             $1,986,582.92
1-Aug-05                      $378,330.11             $1,619,145.91
1-Sep-05                      $366,491.98             $1,261,532.24
1-Oct-05                      $191,433.08             $1,077,016.57
1-Nov-05                      $122,032.60             $960,889.61
1-Dec-05                      $113,241.74             $852,916.74
1-Jan-06                      $112,825.51             $744,768.06
1-Feb-06                      $104,141.53             $644,710.34
1-Mar-06                      $101,502.83             $546,742.67
1-Apr-06                      $99,306.03              $450,434.62
1-May-06                      $87,855.96              $365,048.54
1-Jun-06                      $64,326.67              $302,723.55
1-Jul-06                      $63,139.45              $241,244.04
1-Aug-06                      $62,309.32              $180,257.54
1-Sep-06                      $181,245.95             $         -

*"Net Present Value Amount" is a reference amount only and means the net present
value, based on the Interest Rate of 6.58% divided by 12, of the cash flows set
forth in the above Payment Amount Column.