The Conversation: Vancity CEO Wellington Holbrook on moving the credit union forward

Wellington Holbrook has been the CEO of Vancity Credit Union for just over a year. Holbrook grew up in Winnipeg, did a master’s degree at Oxford and has worked for financial institutions across the country. We met at Vancity’s head office to talk about the recent financial challenges the credit union has faced and how it’s paving the path forward.

You were hired in January 2024. How have things been in the last year and a bit?

Well, I think you know this, but Vancity was going through a bit of a difficult time in 2023 and starting into 2024. We had to do a lot of challenging things last year to get the business back on good footing. What I feel good about is that we’ve succeeded in doing that—Vancity was in the black for 2024. We just finished the fiscal year. We’re set up to get back to a good level of profitability in 2025 and start building on that.

In June of last year, Vancity laid off around 200 employees. Do you anticipate that being the end of layoffs for the organization?

Yes, 100 percent. We had to really fix the structure of the organization so that we could be sustainably profitable as we start to grow again. It enabled us to free up investment in areas that are key for us. We know we need to advance digital and technology platforms so that they’re way more competitive. In the fall, the board approved a new strategy that includes tripling our investment in technology over the course of the next three years, with a literal doubling in 2025.

Is that going to be focused on making it easier for customers to access features?

For sure—a truly competitive experience. For years, people said that they appreciate the personal touch of credit unions, but they felt like you had to sacrifice on the convenience side of things and the digital experience. Well, our goal is to let you have your cake and eat it too, and I think we can do that.

In terms of getting back in the black, obviously an improved economy and lower staff costs are going to help with that bottom line. What were some of the other factors?

Inside Vancity we made a concerted effort to deepen our expertise in a lot of areas of our organization, which is really important. In banking in Canada, for a long time it was relatively easy to make money if you just kinda showed up. That’s not true anymore. It’s more volatile out there; there’s more uncertainty in the economy. You have got to be really good. You have to understand how your book of business behaves. We’ve always had that expertise, but we’ve worked on strengthening that over the course of the last year, bringing in a lot more expertise. Several new senior executive leaders have joined us and that’s putting us in a way better position for the next few years. The economy in general isn’t rip roaring, by any means, but we see pockets of real goodness and opportunity out there, especially in B.C. The small and medium business segment is an exciting one—that’s where a lot of growth in the province is probably going to be coming from. We’ll be doubling our efforts in that space.

It does seem to be getting harder and harder to run a small business in the province though, doesn’t it? Do you really see that area growing?

Well, it’s never easy. I’m not going to say that I expect an explosion. But I do think it’s an underserved segment from a banking perspective. There’s a lot that financial institutions like Vancity can do to make it easier. I also think that market is going to be under additional pressure because of the departure of two large financial institutions that used to have a focus in that space in Canadian Western Bank [sold to National Bank of Canada] and HSBC [sold to RBC]. There are going to be a lot more small and mid-sized businesses that are looking for a partner to help them grow.

And that’s where you think your value proposition lies?

I think the big banks do a good job overall, most of the time. But they leave a lot of niches in the market that are underserved, and a lot of little segments that their massive umbrellas don’t pick up. That’s one of the things credit unions have done really well. But in today’s day and age, you can’t be a little credit union because you can’t help growing businesses in a sustainable way. So I think Vancity is almost the perfect size—we’re just big enough to bring the sophistication and capabilities that SMEs need, but small enough that we can pay attention to them individually and understand what makes them unique, what makes them tick and what makes them successful.

Where is the customer growth rate at right now? You mentioned in last year’s annual report that it was growing.

Our membership is stable. We haven’t been ambitiously trying to bring in new members yet. We will be. Later this year, you’re going to see Vancity go loud into the marketplace with our brand. We want to line that up with the new technology experience we want our members to have. We don’t want them to come in excited to join a values-aligned brand and then have them say, “Oh that isn’t exactly what I was hoping for.” We’re going to be launching a much more modern experience in this coming year and we want to line up an aggressive lean into market at that time.

Your last CEO role was in Calgary. You were there for a few months and the company was bought. When you left, did you envision coming back into a CEO role?

It’s a good question. You know, I have a dream. And that’s to build a beautiful company and be a part of a team building a beautiful company. There are not that many companies, in financial services especially, that you can say are beautiful companies or are going to be that. And Vancity is probably that company. Would I have gone to be a CEO of any company? I’m not sure. Literally 15 years ago I was living in Coquitlam and my wife asked me, “If you could have your dream job, what would it be?” She reminded me of this last year: I said I wanted to be the CEO of Vancity Credit Union. For literally 15 years, I was at other organizations saying, we don’t have to do it like everybody else—look at Vancity. There’s nothing that would have stopped me from wanting to be here.

Quick Hits

Pet peeve

Neckties. (Although I do wear them from time to time, I am not a fan—who thought it would be a good idea to tie a rope around your neck and go to work that way?)

Hobbies

When I find the time, my old six string still makes me happy.

Recent TV binge

Slow Horses—love that show!

Most memorable concert

Travis in Vancouver in 2006 and again in 2025. They have a melancholy sound that hits you just right.

Guilty pleasure

Ketchup potato chips and/or Hawkins Cheezies—my weakness.

Last book I read

Good to Great by Jim Collins. I have read this book multiple times and it is a great reminder that the enemy of great is being good enough.

First job

Dishwasher at the amazing restaurant Chi-Chi’s, which introduced me to my lifelong love of Mexican food.

If I had a superpower it would be

To fly. I would do it every day