JSMedia – The Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB) was founded in 1998 and is a subsidiary of the Vancity Credit Union. It has over half a million members and over 60 branches. It provides commercial mortgages and personal foreign exchange solutions. Among its services, VCIB offers Shared Interest Gold Visa credit cards, Oxfam Canada Visa cards, Amnesty International Visa cards, and reloadable Visa cards.
The original company’s name was the Vancouver City Savings Credit Union. Today, it serves the Lower Mainland and Victoria region of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. In 1946, 14 local residents signed a charter to establish an open-bond credit union.
The union opened for business on October 11, 1946, with a total of $2966 in assets. In 2012, it was acquired by the Citizens Bank of Canada, which renamed it Vancity Community Investment Bank.
A Mortgage From Vancity Community Investment Bank
Recently, VCIB announced its first-of-its-kind Preserve and Protect Guarantee Program, with the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust. The initiative supports the acquisition of at-risk affordable rental buildings in Parkdale, which will fill a critical housing shortage. With this initiative, the bank has helped fund over a hundred communities and businesses across Canada. While the project is still in its early stages, it has already achieved its $200 million goal in British Columbia.
The partnership between the two organizations is a game changer. VCIB is Canada’s first values-driven bank and committed to driving social and environmental change. The project portfolio also highlights innovative financing models, which are enabling the development of geothermal technology. The parent company of VCIB, Vancity Credit Union, has a long-standing history of green building, having helped to create the green building industry and driven the development of green building code. The bank’s new partnership with NLT is a huge step forward and will help make a difference.
A value-based bank will not only advance community economic development, but it will also promote its values-based investments and services. As an example, it has helped fund a geoexchange project in Toronto and Chilliwack, British Columbia. The project, which uses underground pipes to pump water to the residents of the area, is a unique model for urban development. A values-based bank will help build a more sustainable and resilient community.
The project will save over 40 units of affordable rental housing in the Parkdale area. The funds from VCIB’s anchor investments will be used for ongoing operations and for the NLT’s Rooming House Acquisition Pilot Project. The 15-unit building will be preserved permanently as affordable housing. In addition to this, the project will protect and preserve another 15-unit building. The Vancity Community Investment Bank is proud to support these local communities.