Business View Magazine l January 2023

138 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 of getting onto the hamster wheel of hypergrowth like others may, it is content to fulfill its members’ mandate, which, if they are good at, will result in natural growth. As Don Nicholls, an OCCU director, is recorded as saying, “At the end of the year, if we’ve made a little bit of money, and we’ve met all our members’ needs, then we have been successful.” OCCU, like other credit unions, is provincially regulated, unlike the federally regulated banks. However, as John Remillard, CEO points out, most regulations that apply to credit unions are like those that banks must meet. “For example, while shock testing is not yet mandated for Ontario credit unions, we have voluntarily mandated the stress test to ensure our borrowers can maintain their payments in an elevated rate environment. “We’re also insured at the Ontario provincial level by our regulator, a unique situation because in other provinces, the insurer and regulator are different.” OCCU’s services include most of those offered by traditional banks, including personal banking products like chequing and savings accounts,