Money That Stays: Financing Small Businesses and Local Economies
Access to financial capital is thinning for small businesses across the country, and the gap is significant in smaller towns and communities across Canada. As commercial lending retreats, the existing financial architecture we’ve built tends to move money away from the very places that need to capture and circulate it.
With its place-based lens, Shorefast has identified that a community’s access to, and retention of, financial capital is one of the five principles of its economic stewardship framework. It’s also what our Founder and CEO, Zita Cobb, presented to the Senate this year in her testimony: that the difficulty local businesses face attracting investment to the places they serve, particularly in securing loans, has to be overcome for Canadian communities to thrive.
In May 2026, Michelle Arnold, Policy Manager at Social Capital Partners, published Built to Exclude: Why Canada’s enterprises need a different kind of financing, where her analysis shows how the current system shuts capable businesses out and how Canada needs institutions designed to serve the enterprises that big, publicly traded, deposit-funded banks cannot structurally reach.
Credit unions are one part of the financial system built to reach differently. Member-owned and rooted in the places they serve, they hold a distinct view of what communities need and of how to close the financing gaps small enterprises run into. Rob Paterson, President and CEO of Alterna Savings and Alterna Bank, joins us to speak to what needs to change, how banks and credit unions differ in the way they work with small business, and the innovative financing solutions credit unions have put into practice.
Join Rob Paterson, Michelle Arnold, and Cynthia Daley, Investment Integration Lead at the Shorefast Institute for Place-Based Economies, on Thursday, October 29 at 2:30 pm (NL) / 1:00 pm (ET) / 10:00 am (PT) for a conversation about where structural change is needed and which organizations it would affect, how models like employee ownership trusts and community stewardship can keep capital and ownership in place, and what it would take to activate local economies so they can hold onto that money in place.
Cynthia Daley
Investment Integration Lead | Shorefast Institute for Place-Based Economies
Cynthia is an electrical engineer and finance professional who, for the past nine years, directed asset allocation and investment management for an Ontario-based single family office. A proud Newfoundlander, she first worked with Shorefast in its formative years, helping to lead the concept development and design of the Fogo Island artist studios and the Fogo Island Inn. She now chairs the board of a private agricultural business in Ottawa and continues to actively support the Ottawa community and Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN). Cynthia rejoins the Shorefast team as the Institute’s Lead for Investment Integration, advancing strategies to attract and anchor capital in place-based economies and stregthening Shorefast’s national network of leaders dedicated to building financially resilient communities.
Michelle Arnold
Policy Manager | Social Capital Partners
Michelle is a Policy Manager at Social Capital Partners, where she has been focusing on policy opportunities to expand the reach of Canada’s financial system. Her professional experience spans the private, public and non-profit sectors, with a focus on social impact, strategy development and change management. She started her career in consulting before moving to the Ontario government, where she spent five years working to cultivate a robust social enterprise ecosystem. Michelle also worked with Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada and Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada facilitating collaboration and mergers within and across both organizations. Most recently, she worked at the City of Toronto, managing technology transformation initiatives. Michelle holds a BA in Arts and Business from the University of Waterloo and a Masters of Global Affairs from the University of Toronto’s Munk School.
Rob Paterson
President & CEO | Alterna Savings and Credit Union, and Alterna Bank
Rob Paterson joined Alterna Savings (Alterna) as President and CEO in 2013, bringing a focus on member experience, a passion for fintech and a global understanding of the financial services industry. Under his leadership, Alterna has grown assets under management to nearly $14 billion and completed nine mergers in ten years. With over 35 years of leadership and consulting experience, including executive roles at CIBC, JP Morgan Chase, McKinsey and Company, and Aon, Rob has worked across all aspects of retail, small business, and commercial banking. A pioneer of emerging digital payment technologies and lending solutions, he championed the first national digital bank offered by a credit union and the first to offer a fully digital, end-to-end mortgage through wholly-owned subsidiary Alterna Bank. A tireless community advocate, Rob gives back through involvement with non-profit and academic organisations. He is a Director and Vice Chair of Enactus Canada. He also sits on the Advisory Board of the University of Western Ontario Arts School and the Advisory Board of Smith’s New Master of Financial Innovation & Technology Program at Queens University. Rob also serves as a director of Alterna Bank. Rob is an Alumnus of the University of Western Ontario and lives in Toronto.
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