We are very pleased to report a long list of strong results during an exceptional 85^th anniversary year for Southwest Regional Credit Union! We would like to start by extending our gratitude to all the Members who worked with us throughout the year and contributed to the Credit Union’s success. During the 2023-2024 fiscal year we achieved above average asset growth of $20.5 Million, reaching $230 Million in Total Assets! Our off-book wealth management portfolio grew to over $30 Million, putting our Total Assets Under Administration at over $260 Million. We generated $10.96 Million in credit portfolio growth and $18.5 Million in Deposit growth! This accelerated growth resulted in increased revenue and a net income of $987,505, one of the best results in the history of the Credit Union! It also enabled your Board of Directors to declare a Member Dividend of $100,000 that will be distributed to Members under our new Member Dividend Program so that you, the Members, can share in the success and profitability of Southwest.    

Throughout the year we were faced with a challenging economic environment with high levels of inflation, increased food prices, rising unemployment and elevated interest rates. Ontario housing prices and rents climbed to record highs and affordability became a serious concern for everyone. Under these difficult conditions we remained focused on our local communities through programs like the 2^nd annual Southwest Regional Credit Union Citizenship Awards that were presented to deserving graduating students at each of our 6 local high schools. We continued to support the Co-Operative Young Leaders Camp, which develops and recognizes youth leadership, and we awarded 10 Members with $1,000 Student Scholarships to attend post-secondary education. And once again, after making donations to many charities throughout the year, larger one-time donations totaling $20,000 were made to Pathways of Sarnia and the Children’s Treatment Centre in Chatham Kent, to further support critical local organizations in our communities. 

In 2024 we successfully launched our new online and mobile banking platform Forge 2.0, and we will continue to add features and improved functionality to this channel. Members can now open products by themselves directly online and we have added a new High Interest Savings Account to our product suite. We also installed new, state of the art ATM’s at all four branches, adding $US cash to the Exmouth location for cross border needs. Work continues on restructuring Member shares to enable the implementation of Two-Factor Authentication, the new security standard for logging in to online banking. And in our industry of heavy regulation and compliance requirements, we are pleased to report to the membership that Southwest received the best possible audit rating from our Provincial Regulator FSRA in this year’s supervisory assessment. We were complimented on our strong growth, healthy balance sheet and low levels of risk. This was an exceptional accomplishment for the staff and Board of Directors!

Last year’s Member Survey results indicated that Members’ overall satisfaction with our service was rated at 8 out of 10 or better in 99% of the responses received, and that you appreciated our friendly staff, their fast personal service, and competitive rates! 100% of respondents also said they would be happy to refer new Members to Southwest! Thank you for this overwhelmingly positive support! Please take the time to complete this year’s survey which will be available on our website and in the branches. We did not mail them out this year as a result of the postal strike.We hope that you will all continue to consider ‘supporting local’ by referring your friends and family to Southwest so that we may continue to serve our community. The Member Referral Program provides rewards to those who make referrals to Southwest. Ask staff for details!

On behalf of the staff and Board of Directors I would like to thank you for granting Southwest the opportunity to work with you! As Members, this is your Credit Union, and we only succeed as a result of your loyalty and patronage. We look forward to working with you through another promising year in 2025!

-Glenn Wilson, CEO