Two solitudes no longer divide Canada’s co-operative financial services institutions. Toronto-based Credit Union Central of Canada (CU Central) and Lévis, Que.-based Desjardins Group have united to create a national council that aims to address issues affecting credit unions and caisses populaires in this country.
The time was right for the two leading representatives of Canada’s English and French financial co-operatives to come together, says Suzanne Gendron, managing vice president, co-operation and corporate affairs, with Desjardins: “Historically, we’ve been working together, but in a very unofficial way. With everything that’s happening in the marketplace, we realized we had to work together more closely.”
The national council of Canadian co-operative financial institutions will focus on three areas of mutual concern. The first is federal government policy; and after only one meeting, the council has identified some areas, including tax matters, in which it can make a greater impact.
Technology is another area of shared interest. “We will consider developments together,” Gendron says. “The idea is to share views and perspectives of technology on the marketplace and policy.”
Finally, the council will look at how co-operatives can combine forces to enhance research and share training and development resources in an effort to improve efficiency and avoid duplication. “It’s about finding areas of co-operation,” Gendron says.
The work of the council also is about promoting the co-operative model. Says Gendron: “Working together makes more sense. It will make us more visible to communities, government and regulators.”
The unique model that currently defines credit unions and caisses populaires is unfamiliar to the majority of people in Canada, she adds, including many government officials and regulators. This is despite the reality that one-third of Canadians are members of a financial co-operative and that such co-operatives provide services to more than 2,000 communities across Canada. In 1,100 of those towns, the credit union or caisse populaire is the only financial services institution.
The council will attempt to shine a light on how the co-operative model works and how it benefits Canadians. No option will be overlooked. For example, Gendron notes: “Despite our impact on the economy, business schools still aren’t teaching [students about] our model.”
For financial advisors at these institutions, it will be business as usual. The council’s work will not have a direct impact on day-to-day operations of Canada’s credit unions and caisses populaires.
If the council is successful in its objectives, it will have an impact at the operational level, Gendron believes: “We hope that by promoting our model, it will benefit financial advisors and other employees because it will create greater awareness of what they do.”
Canada’s financial co-operatives are putting some weight behind this awareness campaign, as well as other efforts. The council, which is planning its second meeting, has eight members representing the highest levels of the industry. Both Monique Leroux, Desjardins’ chairwoman, president and CEO, and David Phillips, president and CEO of the CU Central, are council members.
In some ways, Canada’s financial co-operatives are late to the table, despite co-operation being one of their founding values. Joint associations exist in Europe; globally, there’s the World Council of Credit Unions, the leading international trade association and development agency for credit unions.
“That’s a little bit of what we’re trying to do,” says Gendron. “But this is very much a first [step]. We’re sharing our strengths.”
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