ANNUAL MEMBER LETTER – January 20, 2026

Everyone loves Good News! And this year’s annual report is full of good news for the Members of Southwest Regional Credit Union. Thank you to all the Members who provided us with the opportunity to work with them throughout the year. Your trust in us contributed to the Credit Union’s success. Here are some of the highlights of this year’s results.

During the 2024-2025 fiscal year we achieved strong asset growth of $15.7 Million, reaching $246 Million in Total Assets! Our off-book wealth management portfolio grew to over $33 Million, putting our Total Assets Under Administration at over $279 Million. We generated $20.9 Million in credit portfolio growth and $15.1 Million in Deposit growth! This accelerated growth resulted in increased revenue and a net income of $990,093, slightly better than last year’s excellent results. It also enabled your Board of Directors to declare another Member Dividend of $100,000 that will be distributed to Members under our new Member Dividend Program so that you, the Members, can share in the success and profitability of Southwest once again.    

The economic environment continued to present challenges with stubbornly high levels of inflation, increased food prices, higher than usual unemployment and a complicated political landscape. The threat of US tariffs disrupted the flow of goods and created job uncertainty for many areas of the Canadian economy. Ontario housing prices and rents remain near record highs and affordability continues to be a serious concern for many Canadians.

Yet despite these distractions we were able to remain focused on our local communities through numerous Credit Union programs. We were proud to present the 3^rd annual Southwest Regional Credit Union Citizenship Awards to deserving graduating students at each of our 6 local high schools. Each school’s Awards Committee selected a student who best exemplifies co-operative values and contributes positively to the school environment. We continued to support the Co-Operative Young Leaders Camp, which develops and recognizes youth leadership, and we awarded 13 Members with $1,000 Student Scholarships to attend post-secondary education. And once again, we held our fund-raising Community BBQ’s and made additional donations to a multitude of local charities and community groups throughout the year. 

In 2025 we successfully implemented our Multi-Factor Authentication login process to improve the online banking security for our Members. Work continues on splitting joint Member shares so that each Member has their own membership to properly align our business with requirements of the Privacy Act, the Credit Union system standard of One Member-One Vote, and to ensure that the Mult-Factor Authentication process works the way it is intended. We also launched a new secure document portal for the exchange of sensitive documents with our Members, built an improved searchable IntraNet for all staff communications and information and successfully built the required data exchange system to meet the expectations of our  Regulator FSRA for their Enhanced Data Collection project.     

On the topic of regulation and compliance we are pleased to report to the membership that Southwest continues to maintain the best possible low risk audit rating from our Provincial Regulator FSRA. We also received strong positive results from several internal audits in areas including Fraud, Account Opening, Anti-Money Laundering and a detailed IT audit where we received an above average score when compared to our peers. We continue to show strong growth, a healthy balance sheet and low levels of risk. These are exceptional results and represent a significant accomplishment for the staff and Board of Directors!

Last year’s Member Survey results indicated that Members’ overall satisfaction with our service was rated at 8 out of 10 or better in 96% of the responses received, and that you continued to appreciate our friendly staff, their fast personal service, and competitive rates! 94% of respondents also said they would be happy to refer new Members to Southwest! Thank you for this overwhelmingly positive support! Based on your feedback we are also working on some enhancements to our products and services to ensure that we continue to improve the value of being a Member. Please take the time to complete this year’s survey which was included with your annual statements and is also available on our website and in the branches.

We hope that you will all continue to consider ‘supporting local’ by referring your friends and family to Southwest so that we may continue to serve our community. The more we grow, the stronger we are! The Member Referral Program provides rewards to those who make referrals to Southwest. Ask staff for details!

On behalf of the staff and Board of Directors I would like to thank you for granting Southwest the opportunity to work with you! As Members, this is your Credit Union, and our success is a direct reflection of your support and patronage. We look forward to working with you through another promising year in 2026!

Glenn Wilson

CEO