Desjardins General Insurance Group officially opened a new client contact centre in Quebec City today. The 13,800-square-foot centre can accommodate about 100 employees.

Desjardins General also has offices in Lévis, Que., Montreal, Ottawa, Mississauga, Ont. and Calgary, and has insurance agents in the Desjardins caisses network throughout Quebec.

“With this new location, we are now established in Quebec City and it’s giving us additional space to support our growth,” said Desjardins General President Jude Martineau, in opening the centre.

“Our insurance agents who live on the North Shore are the first to benefit; they will have the advantage of working closer to home. Moreover, to support the best quality of life possible and to help balance work and family, we gave our agents living on the North Shore the opportunity of working from the new site.”

“By opening this new office, we expect to attract new employees and retain our existing agents by offering them increased flexibility with regard to their place of work”, added Jean Vaillancourt, senior executive vp, and general manager, Quebec operations.

Desjardins General has grown steadily in recent years. Its business volume has increased from $672 million in 2000 to $1.4 billion in 2005. Incidentally, the year 2000 marked an expansion of their operations outside Quebec. Desjardins General now boasts a workforce of 3,300 employees throughout Canada. There are nearly 2,400 personnel in Quebec.