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Canadian Credit Union Association
Canadian Credit Union Association

The British Columbia Government Relations initiatives are led by Henry Han, Regional Director Government Relations, and by Khris Singh, Advisor.  Below you will find information on the government relations work specific to British Columbia.

2025 Priorities

2025 priorities are currently being revised by BCFSA and they released their revised roadmap in April removing climate risk and moving other regulatory consultations back. The focus for CCUA going forward will be on supporting the removal of interprovincial trade barriers. BC credit unions met with the Minister of Finance in March 2025 to voice their support for the removal of barriers to internal trade. The second priority will be on credit union strategic plans and competitiveness.

Core regulatory issues that should be on your radar are:

CCUA received notification that the consumer protection branch will be addressing the modernization of the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act with legislation that will cover credit protection. Credit Unions should be aware that as lenders they could be impacted by this potential legislation - specifically around credit alerts, freezing of accounts, identity verification and recording those actions. Federal NSF regulations capping NSF fees at 10 dollars can impact provincially regulated credit unions even though there is no policy or statute putting a cap on fees provincially - the principles of reasonableness, fairness and transparency are a guide in the Financial Institution Act and Consumer Protection Act , and those principles are embedded in the Market Conduct Code that credit unions file annually to BCFSA. If you would like more details please reach out to Khris Singh.

Interprovincial Trade Barriers

CCUA's advocacy in the short term will focus on a number of items that is included in BCFSA's mandate letter, notably: Support the Ministry of Finance in developing and implementing government policy objectives in the financial sector including reducing trade barriers and responding to tariffs. CCUA with full participation from the sector advocated for extra-provincial to Minister of Finance and with BCFSA in March 2025.

  • The momentum for removal of trade barriers for credit unions originated in BC in March where credit unions and CCUA requested the minister to have the discussion with her counterparts as this was the pathway that is in provincial control. As of August 2025 Ontario, Quebec and Alberta are interested in furthering the dialogue, with Ontario requesting a presentation from CCUA on the matter. We will keep this issue on the radar on the radar of government in 2026.

Political Advocacy

CCUA BC will lean into political engagement more in late 2025 and all of 2026 to raise the profile of all credit unions at the provincial level around the role of credit unions in their communities, affordability, indigenous lending and SME support. We have engaged all peer groups and CEOs in the fall of 2025 to please send us their success stories that align with government priorities. There could be an election in the next few months , if there is it could impact our advocacy.

2024 Priorities  

BCFSA Strategic Plans:  On January 9th 2024 the CEO of BCFSA called credit union leaders together to address the stability of the credit union system in BC.

At the Summit, BCFSA’s Superintendent of Financial Institutions along with other BCFSA leaders noted the following:

  • highlighted the importance of the credit union segment as part of B.C.’s Financial Services Sector
    and the need for credit unions to be relevant, resilient, and sustainable;
  • summarized BCFSA’s perspective on the economic forces currently impacting credit unions; and
  • outlined the key challenges facing credit unions that must be addressed.

Capital Modernization: Capital Rule:  BCFSA is currently consulting with the sector on this individually via individual submissions we would encourage credit unions to make a joint submission with CCUA on key issues so our voice is heard- we are stronger when we are united.

Other Regulatory and Policy Issues: Cybersecurity and Board Governance updates are expected to be priorities at the regulatory level over 2026. We also expect indigenous title to be an ongoing discussion at the provincial government level and would encourage credit unions to touch base with CCUA before submitting unsolicited feed back to government and or regulatory bodies because we have resources and insights that can support your credit union from the system.

Natural Catastrophe and Climate Risk (NCCR) Guideline: BCFSA will started their scoping exercise around the Climate Risk Guideline in summer 2023 and this ended with a CCUA submission on November 9th , 2023. CCUA will work with BCFSA and the CCUA Climate Action Working Group to identify cost effective and scalable solutions to identify and report physical risk. The guideline has a target date of 2026 to be drafted.

2023 Priorities

Natural Catastrophe and Climate Risk, World Credit Union Conference, Capital Modernization, Momentum Conference, OSFI B-15 consultation, proposal to the Rental Protection Fund , Ministerial engagements with the Minister of Housing, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation and the Minister of Finance.

BC Regulatory Roadmap 

CCUA has advocated for a regulatory roadmap, which provides predictability and allows credit unions to choose which consultations to participate in, and to allocate their resources accordingly.  

Please find the BCFSA regulatory road map for 2025/2026 here.

Engagement with British Columbia Credit Unions 

BC Community of Practice (BC COP)

The BC COP helps to ensure good coordination among Government Relations practitioners in the credit union sector.  This group meets to discuss regulatory, policy and government relations issues.

Small and Mid-sized Credit Union Committee (SMCUC) 

The SMCUC works to ensure broad representation of the views of small and mid-sized credit unions in provincial advocacy initiatives and it serves as a forum for peer sharing. The group is comprised of CEOs, executives and board of directors.

Open Banking

The Open Banking Collaboration Group’s purpose to identify and to find solutions in Provincial legislative or regulatory barriers for Provincially Regulated Financial Institutions (PRFIs) to participate in Open Banking.

Engagement with the BC Government

The CCUA BC government relations team has engaged the Minister of Finance, Minister of Housing and the Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation around the credit union system role in the BC economy beyond the risk lens that the sector is engaged through.

Market Code of Conduct

The Market Code of Conduct (MCC) is a sector-led initiative to demonstrates Credit Union’s commitment to the fair treatment of all those who their services. In the Province of BC, the MCC came into effect on June 30th, 2022 and the first submission to the regulator happened at the end of January 2023.

The BC Financial Services Authority (“BCFSA”), the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (“OBSI”), and the Canadian Credit Union Association (“CCUA”) are pleased to collaborate to support credit unions through this transition.

Market Code of Conduct Resources

British Columbia

The British Columbia Government Relations initiatives are led by Henry Han, Regional Director Government Relations, and by Khris Singh, Advisor.  Below you will find...

Learn More British Columbia

British Columbia

The British Columbia Government Relations initiatives are led by Henry Han, Regional Director Government Relations, and by Khris Singh, Advisor.  Below you will find...

Learn More British Columbia
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