BCU Financial

BCU Financial is the working name of Buduchnist Credit Union Limited, a member-owned Ukrainian-Canadian credit union that was granted its Ontario provincial charter in 1952. Its own history page sums up the start as “25 dreamers, $22,000, and a mission to build a community-focused credit union.” Today the credit union counts more than 20,000 members and seven branches, gives its members access to more than 3,000 Exchange Network ATMs, and puts one line above everything else on its home page: more than just banking since 1952.

It is a full-service financial institution. On the personal side it offers chequing and savings accounts, credit cards, currency exchange, mortgages, loans and lines of credit, car loans, term deposits, GICs and registered plans including RRSP, TFSA, RESP and the First Home Savings Account, plus insurance and wealth management. On the business side there are business accounts and credit cards, commercial loans and mortgages, and merchant services. As a cooperative, every member is a part-owner with a vote on key decisions, and BCU says it has returned more than $12.6 million in profits to its members over its seventy-plus years.

The Ottawa branch opened in 1990 and sits at 913 Carling Avenue. BCU publishes its hours as Monday to Wednesday 10:00 to 17:00 and Thursday to Friday 10:30 to 18:00, closed Saturday and Sunday, with the branch telephone (613) 722-7075. The credit union states that its team gives consultations in Ukrainian and in Polish, and it keeps a separate route for newcomers, who can open an account with a CUAET document, visa, work permit or study permit alongside photo ID and proof of a Canadian address.

Money going back into the community is a stated part of how BCU works. Since 2013 it says it has contributed over $1.5 million to the Friends of Ukraine Defense Forces Fund and to the BCU Foundation’s Ukraine Humanitarian Aid Fund; it counts over $2 million in aid to Ukraine and 330,000 kg of supplies delivered. In 2024 it allocated over $40,000 to youth organisations, projects and events, and its scholarship programme has awarded more than $185,000 to over 135 students. Between 2022 and 2025 it welcomed more than 3,500 new members, many of them new arrivals from Ukraine.

BCU has written about our festival on its own site: it is “delighted to support the Ukrainian Fest Lanark County” and calls the festival an event that helps preserve and promote Ukrainian heritage in Lanark County. UAFest lists BCU Financial among its supporters. The Ottawa branch is the closest place to walk in and talk to them — every other BCU branch is in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.