Duca credit union’s decision to join the Credit Union Central of Ontario could be the beginning of a stream of other credit unions not yet affiliated with the central to make a similar move.

“I’m almost prepared to guarantee it,” says Howard Bogach, president and CEO of the Toronto-based central. Bogach, who is “thrilled” to have Duca in the system, says one other non-central-affiliated credit union has already received approval from its board to join the Ontario central.

“Any credit union worth its salt should at least look at joining the Ontario central,” says Jack Vanderkooy, president and CEO of Toronto-based Duca.

The Ontario central is set to merge with its British Columbia counterpart in October, creating a new entity to be called Central 1 Credit Union.

The hope among many in the industry is that other provincial centrals eventually will join Central 1 to create a powerful national organization. (The Credit Union Central of Canada, the Toronto-based national body for the industry, serves primarily as an industry advocate.)

Duca, the sixth-largest credit union in the province, will leave the smaller, Toronto-based Association of Credit Unions of Ontario to rejoin the Ontario central after a 13-year absence. Ontario is the only province in which credit unions are not required to belong to the provincial central.

Vanderkooy cites several reasons for Duca’s decision, including greater cost savings, the anticipated organizational strength of the merged central and better access to superior technologies through working with other credit unions in the central.

Remaining a non-central affiliated institution is becoming an increasingly difficult proposition, Vanderkooy says: “You wouldn’t have any clout any more in terms of say in the system. It would be virtually impossible to do a merger with a credit union in the system.”

Bogach believes that Duca’s decision to join the central is an acknowledgement that the attractiveness of the proposed merged entity is resonating and that the move will be good for both parties.

“Duca is a strong player in the Greater Toronto Area. That’s an area in which we could use an additional strong player,” he says.

Duca, established 53 years ago as a credit union for Dutch immigrants, had $760 million in assets, 33,573 members and 12 branches as of Dec. 31, 2006. IE