3 Manitoba credit unions to ask members for approval to merge

Three financial institutions are seeking approval to merge and create a new credit union in Manitoba.

The boards of Westoba Credit Union, Caisse Financial Group and Assiniboine Credit are seeking approval of their members and employees on a merger to strengthen services across the province, they said in an April 17 statement.

According to the boards, they expect their 970 employees and 216,000 members to participate in a vote scheduled for June. If it is approved, the new entity could take effect Jan. 1, 2025. 

"Members can expect more information to come shortly on the opportunity to vote," Westoba Credit Union president and CEO Jim Rediger said, adding the June vote date hasn't been set yet.

The merger would create the only financial co-operative to serve both English and French-speaking communities across Manitoba, he said. 

"I think our members have come to appreciate that we're trying to create a financial co-operative that's strong, sustainable and enduring for the long term. I think they appreciate the fact it's rarely uniquely Manitoban in terms of what we're trying to accomplish," Rediger said.

A merged credit union, with a provincewide network of 50 locations would allow it to support rural communities, the Francophone population, values-based banking and give members digital experiences, competitive rates and cybersecurity measures, he said.

"Mergers have been going on for 20 years in Manitoba and the landscape will continue to change fairly dramatically," Rediger said. "If we don't do it now, the opportunities to do a merger with partners that are very aligned with us will potentially decline." 

Réal Déquier, board chair of Caisse Financial Group, said in a statement that loan decisions would still be made locally with experts who understand the community. 

"In fact, this will enhance financing opportunities as with greater scale comes greater capacity to finance the needs of our members. A merged entity with $10 billion in assets will be much more capable of meeting our business members' needs now and into the future," Déquier said.

The merged credit union would be governed by a 12-member board, which would include six members from Assiniboine and three each from Caisse and Westoba, he said. Future elections will be held on an at-large basis, ensuring a minimum of two directors who meet its definition of a rural individual and a minimum of two directors who meet the entity's definition of a francophone individual.

Crystal Laborero, board chair of Assiniboine Credit Union, said one of reasons for the merger is because there are significant changes going on in the financial services sector and there is a real need for scale. 

"Our members are demanding high security, good digital options and in order to do some of that stuff, scale matters. So coming together with three distinct partners who have strengths, abilities and uniqueness that will really drive change and look different for our members was required." 

Speaking further about serving both the English and the French speaking communities, Laborero said, "as a First Nations Indigenous woman, I feel it's really important that we embrace the values and diversity of all the players in the community." 

She reiterated that a merger of this size is socially purpose driven and will have a significant impact for the members, employees and communities.

"It's really imperative to the financial institution co-operatives because I don't know if people understand how strong credit unions are in Manitoba. This is really taking those unique strengths and abilities of three distinct credit unions and saying we are going to be better for Manitobans."

Benefits of mergers

Kiran Pedada, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Manitoba's Asper School of Business, said one of the biggest benefits of such a merger would be an expanded range of offerings to the customers. 

"The second thing is that when three credit unions come together, there are several complementarities, like increased economies of scale and cost advantages that can actually help them gain a stronger financial position in the province."

However, there are issues to consider, he said.

"If all the merged entities have their goals aligned, it will be a success," he said, adding some mergers fail because of their inability to sort of integrate.

Employee retention is another important aspect to look into after mergers.

"Earlier, each entity was independently operated. Now they have to decide how employees in a merged entity will be managed. That can have a tremendous impact on employee morale."

He said a merger is about giving and taking.

"I think the success of a merger would depend more upon what you can give, right? Therefore your focus is more on creating and enhancing value rather than extracting value."