The members of three Alberta credit unions have voted in favour of amalgamation.

The new credit union, which combines Community Savings, Common Wealth and Servus Credit Unions, will begin operations November 1 with approximately $9 billion in assets.

The merger will create the first credit union in Canada to provide branch access throughout an entire province.

It is unusual to have more than two large credit unions come together at the same time. Servus, Common Wealth and Community are three of the four largest credit unions in Alberta, and are among the largest in Canada.

The approach taken to achieve the merger was unprecedented. It is a merger of “equals of different sizes”. The parties say each organization brings different strengths to the table and this has been recognized by appointing an equal number of directors from each of the founding credit unions.

The amalgamation resolution was voted on by the membership of each credit union. The results were 92% in favour at Servus Credit Union’s annual meeting in Edmonton on March 12, 99% in favour at Common Wealth’s annual meeting in Lloydminster on March 13, and 99% in favour at Community Saving’s special general meeting in Red Deer on March 18.

The 12 new board members, four from each of the founding credit unions, were named in the amalgamation agreement. The new board is: Bill Anhorn, Terry Cooper, Peter Elzinga, Peter Galloway, Doug Hastings, Merv Loewen, Stan Odut, Bob Porozni, Greg Preston, Penny Reeves, Lloyd Robinson, and Alison Starke.

“We are ecstatic that our vision has been enthusiastically endorsed by our members. This is history in the making as creating a province-wide credit union will increase the relevance and uniqueness that a credit union offers to Albertans both today and in the future,” stated the new board.

The board will begin its transition and governance work immediately. The first point of business will be to select a chairman and president and CEO by the beginning of May.

The board will also begin working on a detailed governance process, building a strategic plan, establishing a head office, engaging key stakeholders in further communication and determining a name for the credit union. The board will undertake a name selection and branding strategy review prior to registering the Articles of Incorporation November 1, 2008.

The new credit union will be the third largest in Canada. It will employ 1925 employees and serve approximately 400,000 members in 63 Alberta communities through 92 locations. At fiscal year end of October 31, 2007, the combined credit union assets totalled $8.58 billion with $93 million in income prior to profit sharing and taxes. The members of the three credit unions received $33 million in cash and dividends as a result of 2007 results.