Good morning.
My name is Catharine Robertson, and I'm on the board of directors with the community futures program of B.C.
I'm here today to reinforce what you'll hear when the CF network of Canada meets with you folks in Winnipeg on Thursday. We're encouraging you to consider our recommendations to support the valuable program of community futures in which we serve the economies of rural Canada.
As you may know, the community futures program was started by the federal government 30 years ago. We're a vibrant program that helps keep rural communities strong. We do that in partnership with local governments, provincial governments, and mostly through volunteers who support our organization. In B.C. alone, there are 14,000 hours given by our volunteers who dedicate their time, their expertise and their knowledge to our program because they understand the meaningful impact of community futures.
We're here to support business growth and economic development projects. We get involved in supporting our regional and rural economy, seizing opportunities and sometimes removing barriers for business growth for our traditional business sectors. Primarily through our loans program, we help great businesses grow businesses, which, in turn, create jobs in rural Canada. There are 260 offices across the country. There are 34 in B.C., of which four specifically serve indigenous populations.
We kindly ask that you consider our recommendations.
Thank you.