Local Banking Means More - 2021 Annual Report

Business members who thrived in 2021

Local businesses are the backbone of the British Columbia economy, and at Prospera we believe that when local businesses succeed, our communities thrive. Here are just a few of the stories that inspired us in 2021.

Key Results

At the end of 2021, three branches and our Corporate office displayed our new brand and logo, with civic approvals in process and many more coming soon.

You can now access new digital banking features that include viewing credit card balances and transactions, banking system alerts, and access to void cheques in online banking.

Designated a Great Place to Work® for the second year in a row.

Launched new organizational values, including:

Cultivate trusting relationships

Empower and enable others

Lead with curiosity

Embrace change and execute with purpose

Thrive as one team

Lines of Business

To help you reach your financial goals, Prospera has over 650 employees across three lines of business and several corporate support areas.

Business Banking

Business Banking at Prospera supports 14,000 local business owners and includes three divisions: Local Business, Core Commercial, and Real Estate Development.

2021 highlights included:

Streamlining our lending and credit processes, enabling a quicker turnaround and a much better member experience.

Significantly increasing our local business lending limits, allowing us to meet more of our members’ needs.

Ending the year with total assets of more than $1.8 billion in business lending.

With Prospera’s merger, they now have additional lending capacity to support my business, including offering higher loan limits that have allowed us to grow our business and finance larger constructions projects. I’m grateful for their partnership and responsiveness to my business needs.

Bhupinder Johal, Metro-Van Construction Group

Leasing

WSL, Prospera’s Auto Leasing Division, gives us a national presence in consumer and commercial vehicle, equipment, and fleet leasing across Canada. Mercado Capital Corporation is our is our business equipment leasing division that has customers across the country.

2021 highlights included:

Serving more than 4,000 customers.

Funding more than 1,500 vehicle and equipment leases.

Ending the year with a lease portfolio approaching $250 million.

I wanted to increase the rental space on my property and had the option of financing through my mortgage, but I didn’t want to use up the equity. Understanding my business, the Prospera team offered a meeting with their Leasing division, which became available after the merger and we finalize the terms and I’m super excited about this new addition to the property.

Jason Mailhot, Owner, The Lodge on Harrison Lake

Personal Banking

In 2021, a core priority was to ensure that all members could be served across all locations with their most commonly requested transactions, a key commitment arising from the 2020 merger.

2021 highlights included:

Serving more than 100,000 members in 2021.

Full capability to serve all members with their most commonly requested transactions at any of our 26 branches.

Originating $485 million in new mortgages for 1,900 members and an additional refinancing or renewal of a further $860 million in mortgages for 3,300 members across the Lower Mainland through to the Okanagan.

In these days of unrest and increasing difficulties in negotiating the simplest of contracts, it is an absolute joy to work with people such as Prospera. Your whole team was involved in the support and efforts to get my grandchildren their first home. I am not only greatly relieved, but proud to think of you all as truly our financial family!

Anne Hails, a 17-year member

Wealth Planning

Prospera’s dedicated team of wealth management professionals provide expert advice to help clients plan for their future. They help clients and members with financial planning, estate planning, tax planning, income protection, and investment management.

2021 highlights included:

Expanding our Wealth team to 21 certified financial planners.

Serving more than 16,000 members who have an active wealth product.

Finishing 2021 with nearly $1.9 billion in wealth assets under management on behalf of our members.

Although, we’ve only known our advisor for a relatively short time, we feel we have a solid relationship. We trust the advice we’re given and appreciate the way our advisor is able to clearly explain things to us.

Esther & Richard Wheeler

Member Service Centre

In 2021, our two Member Service Centres provided a wide range of banking and lending solutions.

2021 highlights included:

Further enhancing the security of member accounts with the launch of two-factor authentication.

Triaging support with branches to support members affected by natural disasters in the fall.

Enhancing remote support for members through increased staffing and enhanced functionality.

Learn more about our lines of business.

2021 Financial highlights

Community investment 0.7 million; foundation 0.5 million

Operating income 38 million; net incom 23.6 million

Communities and Local Good

The Prospera Foundation’s funding is now extended to support businesses, families, and youth in need across our trade areas, reaching from Metro Vancouver to the Fraser Valley, and into the Okanagan. In 2021, Prospera also launched a new community investment strategy, which identified three new giving areas: local business, preventative health, and education.

Through the Foundation and our direct credit union community programs, we donated over $1 million to our local communities in 2021.

Prospera contributed an additional $500,000 to the Prospera Foundation, now one of the largest credit union endowments in Canada with more than $10 million in assets.

In 2021, Prospera also launched a new community investment strategy, which identified three new giving areas: local business, preventative health, and education.

View the Prospera Foundation Report here

The Prospera Foundation’s generous support is a key piece to delivering meaningful in-person programming to the community of young families in New Westminster.

Paneet Singh, Director of Programs, ArtStarts in Schools

Report of the Board of Directors

From Board Chair Art Van Pelt

At Prospera Credit Union, our mandate is clear: we exist to serve our members. With that in mind, we entered into 2021 with great optimism and the hope of some return to normalcy in service of our membership. With vaccines on the immediate horizon, there were thoughts of a fading pandemic and signs of a recovering economy. It was hard to imagine the year would play out so differently. Multiple climate crises on top of a second year of COVID-19 would again test everyone’s resilience.