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Sharing Success: A million reasons to bank local
Published 12:33 pm Monday, December 22, 2025
Local credit union returns more than $1 million to members and Kootenay and Boundary communities in 2025
In a year marked by economic uncertainty, StellerVista Credit Union is celebrating a milestone that’s anything but uncertain: more than $1 million has been returned directly to members and local communities in 2025.
With Sharing Success as one of its core values, this year the Board approved more than $800,000 in patronage for members, over $97,000 in dividends on member shares, and more than $200,000 in donations and grants to organizations across the Kootenay and Boundary regions.
This strong result comes almost exactly three years after the merger that created StellerVista.
When members approved that merger, the credit union set out a three-year plan: integrate its systems and teams, stabilize operations, and then use the combined strength of its legacy credit unions to reinvest in technology, people and communities.
Three years later, the outcomes are meeting and surpassing those original expectations.
It’s not been smooth at every step. There were bumps in the road, and some members and staff felt those directly, but the value of bringing several small credit unions together is now clearer than ever.
Internally, this journey has meant long hours modernizing systems, changing processes, negotiating new contracts (and the very challenging five-month strike), while building a new brand and culture across seven branches.
Externally, it has unfolded against a backdrop of high inflation, housing challenges, sector layoffs and the ongoing ripple effects of the pandemic, including high levels of turnover in this industry.
With Sharing Success one of its core values, StellerVista Credit Union has returned more than $1 million directly to members and local communities in 2025. Courtesy StellerVista
At the same time, the credit union system itself has been changing. Across British Columbia, the number of credit unions has dropped by about 50 per cent over the past 20 years, with many independent organizations merging into some of the biggest credit unions in Canada.
StellerVista’s plan has been different from most others, founded in the belief that strong, locally rooted credit unions remain the best option for rural communities like ours. When decisions are made close to home, by people who understand local industries, housing markets, and community dynamics, members get more flexible, practical solutions that fit real life.
That local focus shows clearly from the stories staff are telling this year. They’ve helped many members move into their first homes. They’ve worked with members to consolidate debt and create a clearer, more manageable path forward. And they’ve spent time with families affected by layoffs and slowdowns in forestry, mining and related sectors, helping them bridge uncertain periods and rethink their budgets and goals.
These are the moments where StellerVista’s cooperative model and local decision-making really matter. Team members are not just looking at numbers on a screen; they’re sitting down with people they know, in communities they live in, working through things together.
The fact does remain, however, that the credit union system is very much in flux, and that no one can say exactly what it will look like a decade from now. What can be seen, three years into this merger, is that the approach is doing what StellerVista hoped it would do: it’s giving our region a stronger, more resilient local credit union, while keeping decisions and relationships close to home.
For the rural areas in which we live, local banking and decision-making really matter. If you’re a member of your local credit union – nice work! If you’re not, pick up the phone or stop by your local branch in Cranbrook – 920 Baker St. – and see what sharing success really looks like!