Credit Union Central of Canada - History

History

Following years of preparatory work by the provincial centrals and the Co-operative Union of Canada, in 1953 the Canadian Co-operative Credit Society (CCCS) was incorporated by a special act of Parliament. It was created to provide a national financial intermediary at the federal level to support a growing credit union system. However for the first few years, these functions were seldom used. In addition, trade association functions were performed by two, sometimes competing organizations, the Canadian Section of the US-based Credit Union National Association, which had evolved out of the development of the credit union movement in English-speaking North America, and the National Association of Canadian Credit Unions which was founded in 1958.

Increased sophistication in Canada’s payments system and liquidity demands during the mid-1970s led to a need for credit unions to be represented nationally. In 1977, reflecting “a desire within the Canadian co-operative movement to create a true national liquidity pool”, CCCS was restructured to include nine (up from five) provincial centrals. The increased capitalization that resulted from this, as well as an increasing interest in credit unions from federal policy makers led to CCCS becoming a formidable national organization. As historian Ian MacPherson notes:

“By the late seventies, CCCS was responsible for lobbying with the federal government. It was increasingly more active in providing liquidity for the national system. It was negotiating loans from co-operative banks in Europe and the United States. Thus, for a few years in the late 1970s, 25 years after it had been organized, credit union and co-operative leaders from across the country were giving CCCS the attention it deserved.”.

In 1978, the National Association of Canadian Credit Unions merged with the CCCS.

In 1993 the Canadian Co-operative Credit Society was renamed Credit Union Central of Canada. It has been led by four chief executive officers since that time: Brian F. Downey (1986-1995), Bill Knight (1995-2001), Joanne De Laurentiis (2001-2006) and David Phillips (2006–present).