Strong results, solid growth mark Vancity’s 2016 financial results

Sound oversight guides Vancity’s growth as earnings beat expectations and assets plus assets under administration top $25.6 billion

March 13, 2017, Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – Vancity maintained a strong rate of growth in 2016, with assets reaching $21.1 billion, a 6.6-per-cent increase, or $1.3 billion, over the previous year. Total assets plus assets under administration are now $25.6 billion, a 7.1-per-cent increase, or $1.7 billion, over 2015. Net income was also above expectations at $61.7 million and membership increased to 523,902.

Sharing success with its members is a key part of the way Vancity runs its operations. Each year the credit union makes a contribution of 30 per cent of net income through the Vancity Shared Success Program, reaffirming its vision and values as a financial co-operative. Over the course of 2017, Vancity will allocate $18.5 million to members and the communities where they live and work.

Vancity is Canada’s largest community credit union in terms of assets, but its performance is not only measured in terms of financial success. It’s also measured by the impact Vancity’s operations has on members and their communities. The return on members’ equity (ROME) measures how much profit the credit union generates with every dollar of members’ equity. It’s calculated after taking into account taxes and the Shared Success Program. In 2016, ROME was 5.5 per cent, ahead of a target of 5 per cent. Before the distribution to members and communities, ROME was at 6.8 per cent.

In 2016, Vancity developed a new measure called Triple Bottom Line Assets under Administration to gauge its performance in addressing key challenges in the community. This measure shows how much of Vancity’s capital is specifically allocated towards building healthy communities. In 2016, $5.4 billion or 21.1 per cent of Vancity assets and assets under administration met this criteria, ahead of expectations.

In 2016, Vancity was recognized as Canada’s top corporate citizen on the 15th-annual list of Canada’s Best 50 Corporate Citizens (Corporate Knights). Vancity’s member services centre also received a 2016 Highest Customer Service - Banking Industry award from Service Quality Measurement.

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“In 2016, Vancity’s commitment to values-based banking and the economic, social and environmental sustainability of our communities met with considerable success. Our assets continued to grow and we demonstrated yet again that being firmly rooted in local communities can deliver strong financial returns.” Tamara Vrooman, president and CEO of Vancity

“Credit unions like Vancity have the ability to identify community needs and address them in much more creative ways than traditional financial institutions. We’re proud of how we put our values into practice in 2016 and confident that they will continue to serve our members well in the future.”” Anita Braha, chair of Vancity’s board of directors

Vancity by the numbers

About Vancity

Vancity is a values-based financial co-operative serving the needs of its more than 523,000 member-owners and their communities in the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw territories, with 59 branches in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Victoria, Squamish and Alert Bay. With $25.6 billion in assets and assets under administration, Vancity is Canada’s largest community credit union. Vancity uses its assets to help improve the financial well-being of its members while at the same time helping to develop healthy communities that are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.

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For more information:

Brent Shearer | Vancity
T: 778-837-0394
mediarelations@vancity.com