Board Meeting Focus:
The Canadian Credit Union Association (CCUA) Board of Directors met remotely February 9-10, 2022 for Board and Committee meetings. The focus of the Board meeting was to conduct the final review of CCUA’s 2021 corporate performance and approve the incentive pool as well as review and approve the annual audited financial statements
The Board reviewed CCUA’s performance against its 2021 corporate objectives and noted the many achievements during a challenging year in which the pandemic continued to impact some of CCUA’s activities.
The Board received a presentation of the 2021 Member Engagement Survey. The overall engagement score was 75.6%, and all key measures of overall satisfaction continue to increase. 77% now express satisfaction with CCUA at 8 or higher on a 10-point scale, up considerably from 72% in 2020, and 55% in 2016. The perceived value of CCUA membership has increased from 56% in 2016 to 80%. Overall satisfaction with government relations and regulatory matters has also increased in 2021, with highest ratings for CCUA’s Covid-19 advocacy and regulatory compliance matters. Provincial Government Relations performance was rated at 90%, and 93% by CEOs.
Staff from EY, the external auditor, attended the Audit & Risk Management Committee meeting to review the audit findings report. On a recommendation from the Committee, the Board approved the 2021 annual audited financial statements. The Board also approved the recommendation that CCUA members be asked to approve EY as the external auditor for 2022 at CCUA’s AGM on May 9, 2022.
The Board was pleased to approve a recommendation by the Awards Committee for the 2022 Distinguished Credit Union Leader Award. The winner will be announced at CCUA’s AGM with the presentation to take place at the Awards Gala being held on May 10, 2022 in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Other Agenda Items
The Board reviewed the positive results of the Employee Engagement Survey and the annual Board self-evaluation survey. A presentation by the Chair and Vice Chair of the National Young Leaders Committee was well received. Updates were provided by Management on government relations priorities, National Conference and AGM plans, the Bylaw review, and upcoming Peer Group elections. Additionally, the Board received a presentation on CCUA’s Data Strategy and automated member engagement reports.
Directors Linda Bowyer, Jodi Chambers and Ken Shea were appointed to the Credentials Committee for the CCUA AGM being held in Niagara Falls on May 9, 2022, in conjunction with the National Conference for Canada’s Credit Unions.
The Board received the 2022 Workplans for the Legislative & Regulatory Affairs, National Compliance, Professional Development & Education, and Community Impact, Management Advisory Committees.
The Board also reviewed and approved Board Policies #3 – Board Officer Elections & Committee Appointments, #8 – President & CEO Matters and #13 – Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan (SERP) Program as part of the annual Board Policy review process.The CEO’s 2021 performance review was conducted during an in-camera session.
Recent CCUA Activities:
In addition, the Board received updates on current activities underway at CCUA.
Open Banking
CCUA staff met in January with Minister Randy Boissonnault, Associate Minister of Finance, and Minister responsible for implementing a “made-in-Canada” open banking framework. CCUA stressed the importance of hiring a neutral Open Banking lead as soon as possible, and on modeling the federal legislation on the August report which contained all of CCUA’s recommendations. Minister Boissonnault was invited to the National conference in May and CCUA will continue engaging with him and his team and key MPs on this issue in 2022.
Market Conduct Code
Credit unions across the country continue to adopt and implement their market codes of conduct in accordance with regulatory expectations. In Ontario and British Columbia, where new legislative provisions will require credit unions to adopt a code of market conduct, the orders in counsel bringing those provisions into force are expected in Q1 2022.
The vulnerable members policies and procedures developed for Saskatchewan, with input from credit union GMS and CEOs, were finalized at the end of 2021, and CCUA will be working with SaskCentral to update the member facing Market Code documents. This month, CCUA met with representatives from CUDGC to discuss implementation timelines, training and CUDGC’s monitoring of the implementation.
CCUA, along with Cusource, is currently developing an online training module to support implementation of the vulnerable members principles in the Saskatchewan and British Columbia market codes, which is expected to be available in early Q2 2022.
Federal Forum Event
Planning is currently underway for a two (half) day virtual event aimed at providing a forum for discussion and relationship building between federal financial sector regulators and credit unions. The event will be held on March 29 and 30, online. The first day CCUA will invite regulators and government agencies such as OSFI, CDIC and others to present to the sector on their priorities and vision and the second day will enable credit unions to share their experiences, opportunities, and concerns regarding the federal continuance process.
Bank of Canada Consultation on Draft ELA and STLF Legal Documents
Working with the Centrals, comments on the draft ELA and STLF legal documents were filed by CCUA on behalf of the system. The Bank responded to CCUA’s feedback and execution-ready copies of the agreements have been requested once finalized. Centrals are now working with outside counsel to develop a collateral “upstreaming” process and draft supporting agreements.
CCUA will continue to monitor developments regarding this issue and support system stakeholders through engagement and/or advocacy, as appropriate.
Thought Leadership
CCUA hosted the second annual Economic, Policy and Social Outlook webinar in December. Benoit Durocher, Executive Vice President and Chief Economic Strategist at Addenda Capital share his economic forecast. This year’s Social Outlook theme was Reimagining Economic Inclusion in Canada. Jonathan Fowlie, Chief External Relations Officer with Vancity moderated an engaging discussion with panelists that looked at the root causes of cyclical poverty and unemployability within Canada and how governments, businesses and individuals can work together to build a path toward real economic inclusion for all Canadians.
In late December/early January, CCUA mapped out 2022 partnership plans with Deloitte. First, CCUA will turn Deloitte’s strategic planning work into a system-wide webinar on the competitive landscape of Canada’s credit unions that will be accompanied by a deck/white paper summary of the key findings. This is targeted for late February. CCUA will also plan an “ESG 101” system-wide webinar for September.
Professional Development
The Business Professional Development Program, for credit union employees working in the commercial and small business market starts in February. This 10-month long program will introduce a new faculty member, Jim Davison, who recently retired from his role of Senior Manager, Business Banking Channel at Meridian.
Upcoming Events:
The next meeting of the CCUA Board of Directors will be on March 23, 2022.
CCUA Bylaw Review Webinar
February 15 at 1:00 p.m. ET
Register now
National Conference for Canada’s Credit Union – Niagara Falls, Ontario
May 8-11, 2022