Canada’s credit unions have been ranked No. 1 in customer service excellence for the fifth year in a row by global market research firm Synovate.

TD Canada Trust holds the crown among the Big 5 banks group, also winning this award five years in a row.

Synovate announced the winners of its 2009 Best Banking Awards on Thursday. The awards are derived from the firm’s Customer Service Index (CSI), an ongoing survey first launched in 1987 covering all aspects of personal banking in Canada.

The awards are based on the combined results of ongoing quarterly CSI surveys ended August 2009, which are conducted among a regionally and demographically representative sample of Canadians. Almost 39,000 household responses in total were received for the 2009 CSI program year, providing the financial sector with extremely robust feedback from their customers and allowing for highly detailed analysis of the survey results nationally and by region.

“The key to loyal customers is a good customer experience. The Synovate Best Banking Award acts like a report card for our local financial institutions, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses as well as how the industry players are performing overall,” said Adrian Murphy, vice president of syndicated research for Synovate in Canada.

Credit Unions achieved the overall Customer Service Excellence award for All Financial Institutions with top ranking in the same six award categories as in 2008.

The Financial Planning & Advice award category had the most winners – all five major banks won in the Big 5 Banks grouping.

TD Canada Trust was a solo or shared winner in all award categories in 2009 among the Big 5 Banks. Online Banking and Telephone Banking Excellence are clear strengths of TD Canada Trust as the company won in both groupings, both within the Big 5 Banks and among All Financial Institutions overall.

BMO Bank of Montreal showed the most improvement in 2009 by winning three awards this year, including Branch Service Excellence; compared to one award in 2008 and none in 2007.

RBC Royal Bank has won in the category of Branch Service Excellence for three years in a row and Financial Planning & Advice for two consecutive years. This year it also won for Values My Business, bringing their total to three awards in 2009.

Bank of Nova Scotia shared five awards this year, including Values My Business and Value For Money, compared to four in the previous year, adding the award for the Products & Services Excellence category this year.

CIBC shared the Financial Planning & Advice award in 2009 among the Big 5 Banks, making their first win since 2007.

IE