Farm Credit Canada (FCC) has been working with customers facing devasting losses and financial hardship due to waves of torrential rain and snowmelt that have caused flooding and erosion in parts of British Columbia’s interior and lower mainland over the past few weeks.
“There are people who have lost everything — buildings, equipment, productive land, livestock and livelihoods — and we’re only beginning to understand the full extent of the devastation,” said Don Anderson, senior vice-president for FCC’s western operations. “We want our customers to stay focused on taking care of themselves and their families as we help resolve any short-term financial challenges they may be facing as a result of unprecedented weather event.”
Customer support is a central part of FCC’s business. The Crown corporation will consider additional short-term credit options, deferral of principal payments and/or other loan payment schedule amendments to reduce financial pressures on producers impacted by this disaster. It will also offer flexibility, based on the individual needs of its customers, to help them through this crisis and on the road to recovery.
“The situation is much more complex than any situation we’ve seen before due to the wide variety of operations that have been impacted – farms, orchards, greenhouses and a variety of agriculture and food related businesses throughout the region,” Anderson said. “Many of these operations have taken years of investment and hard work to establish and will take many more years to recover from the devastation, so we are working with our customers to come up with solutions that meet their individual needs.”
“Our customers have invested years of hard work in establishing their operations and to see much — if not all of it — washed away or damaged over the course of a couple of days is absolutely devastating,” Anderson said. “We have been reaching out to our customers and working with them to find solutions that will help them get back on their feet as quickly as possible.”
In addition to ongoing support, FCC has provided a $100,000 donation to the BC Agriculture Council (BCAC) to support relief efforts for the industry. BCAC is a non-profit council of agriculture industry associations that advocates for the interests of the province’s agriculture and food producers.
Source : FCC