4 P.E.I. credit unions vote in favour of merging

Members of four credit unions in P.E.I. have voted in favour of merging.

Members of Évangéline-Central, Malpeque Bay, Provincial and Tignish credit unions approved the union, which will now include a network of 10 branches across the province.

"It's a project we've been working on now for over a year, and we're extremely pleased to be able to have the unanimous support of our four memberships. [There's] a lot of energy around the building today and a lot of energy within the credit unions here on P.E.I. for sure," said Évangéline-Central chief operating officer Craig Noonan.

"We've kind of reached a point where we were ready to formalize that partnership."

The new credit union will now serve more than 35,000 members and hold $1 billion in assets, the release said. It also anticipates being able to offer new products and services to members.

Two-week vote by members

There was a group in Tignish that opposed the merger. The local credit union held a meeting to hear from members, where some were concerned that funds and power would leave their community and centralize in Charlottetown.

In the end, after a two-week voting period in April, members voted to approve the merger. 

"I'm hoping that in the future, as they see things evolve, they will see a whole lot of change," Noonan said.

"There was some voices who had some concern, but I think all of our boards and all of our staff and all of our membership collectively really made their voices heard in terms of showing their support. This is a positive step and that is going to be a historic milestone in terms of credit unions on Prince Edward Island."

The search for a new CEO will begin in the coming days, the release said, as well as the process of determining the name for the new credit union.

"This formalizes us to having a collective vision and working under a single strategic plan instead of four independent entities working under independent strategic plans, so, it really aligns us all in every capacity," Noonan added.

The official date of the merger is Oct. 1.

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