The Community Futures Network of Canada is an inclusive, interconnected network of 267 offices servicing rural and remote areas of the country from sea to sea to sea.

Each office is deeply embedded within its own community, offering business counselling, training and its own unique suite of financial products to suit the small and medium-sized business needs of each community it serves.

Each shares a common vision to create diverse, sustainable communities by supporting local, community-based economic development and takes pride in encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit of the businesses, the organizations and the people it supports.

In addition to this support, CFDCs and CBDCs work in collaboration with other economic stakeholders to create a favourable socioeconomic environment.

Each member office is a standalone corporation that operates as a nonprofit organization reporting to, and governed by, a board of dedicated community volunteers, and is comprised of business leaders within its own community.

This year has been extraordinary in many ways. Not only was the world gripped by a global pandemic, but small and medium-sized businesses in Canada were hit the hardest, from coast to coast to coast. Various levels of lockdowns and restrictions meant many rural entities had to rethink business models and quickly innovate to offer products and services online. Some struggled to stay open and survive.

But this is where CFDCs and CBDCs shone, rising to this challenge, empowering countless businesses with emergency loans, keeping the lights on and Canada’s rural economies churning. They encouraged innovation and took care of their communities, their organizations and their people. They delivered crucial services but they also delivered hope.

This annual report focuses on a small sample of the many local businesses and initiatives that have benefited from the Community Futures Program and the Regional Relief and Recovery Program across Canada, and the ripple effect realized by investing in rural and remote communities now and in the future, as Canada rebuilds.

Read the full report at https://2020-2021.annualreviewcfnc.ca/