Credit Unions and Community Economic Development

This document favourably reviews the progress of Canadian and Saskatchewan Credit Unions and finds that they:

• Are an exemplification of the role of co-operative innovation to overcome diversity;
• Are financial institutions with a vast experience in lending activities, addressing the lack of financial services from the 1930s depression onwards;
• Keep their roots and ownership in local communities, have the closest and most direct ties with the individual residents of communities and have a support and information infrastructure;
• Enjoy name recognition, which encourages individuals, community groups, or businesses to turn to the local credit union or branch first before approaching any other Community Economic Development (CED) organisation and also increses its lobbying power.

The paper recommends that Credit Unions take further steps towards CED and to extend their impact by:

• Putting nonfinancial resources and expertise at the service of CED;
• Becoming more active in commercial lending;
• Providing new financial tools.

The paper concludes by offering examples of products directions and systems to enhance existing operations in the direction of economic development, such as:

• Credit-Union-Based Venture Capital Funds;
• Specialized Business-Development Credit Unions;
• Community Development Credit Unions.