Amidst a global recession, a cooler provincial economy and an extremely competitive financial services industry, Manitoba’s credit unions continued on a path of strong and steady growth in 2009. Across the province, credit unions posted significant gains in deposits, loans, assets and memberships over the course of the year. As a result, the Manitoba credit union system’s total assets are now nearly $16 billion and more than 566,000 Manitobans are credit union members.
The province’s 44 credit unions are also the number one providers of loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises and farmers in Manitoba, reflecting the member and community focus of credit unions.
Credit unions are also increasing their physical presence in the province. There are currently 23 more branches in Manitoba than there were 10 years ago, and in 68 of the 118 communities they serve, credit unions are the sole financial services provider in town.
At the national level, credit unions are also enjoying success in 2009. The combined system assets of the affiliated credit unions and caisses populaires across Canada now equals $121.9 billion, an increase of 7.1 per cent for 2009. Meanwhile, the total number of Canadian credit union and caisse populaire memberships now exceeds five million.

Courtesy CUCM