Conexus, Cornerstone, and Synergy Credit Unions exploring merger
Trio could form largest credit union in province
November 26, 2024, 10:41 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Three credit unions are exploring a merger which would create the province’s largest credit union if it were to go ahead. On Nov. 20, Conexus Credit Union, Cornerstone Credit Union, and Synergy Credit Union made public their proposed partnership, using the vision statement ‘Together for a Thriving Saskatchewan.’
“We envision a Credit Union that’s really more than a financial institution, and we hope that we can be a catalyst for Saskatchewan prosperity,” said Conexus Board Chair Ken Kosolofski. “We’re going to have an unwavering commitment to our members—both current and future—and we’re going to drive economic growth, empower communities, and support the dreams of individuals, farmers, and businesses across the province. That’s why our tagline is ‘Together for a Thriving Saskatchewan.’ ”
Should the merger happen, the new credit union would serve more than 198,000 members, employ 1,404 people, and manage around $15 billion in assets. While too early for a name—that will likely be selected from the existing credit unions, then finalized as part of their business case development—the resulting credit union would cover the entire province.
“By being able to capture both on the west side of the province through Synergy and on the east through Cornerstone, they’ll just be an extension of our already pretty vast network,” explained Conexus CEO, Celina Philpot. “We’re used to that environment, and we’re looking forward to being able to serve all of our members across the province—from north, south, east, and west.”
Now that the merger announcement has been made public, a due diligence business case process will occur, which will take several months. After that, the individual boards would need to vote on the idea, then if the boards are in favour, the membership will have their chance to vote. That membership vote could happen in June 2025, with the merger possibly taking effect by January 1, 2026.
“In Saskatchewan, we have a continuous dialogue among our credit unions, and that dialogue continued with the board and management of Conexus, Cornerstone and Synergy, and the alignment of these three credit unions really became evident,” Kosolofski said. “We believe the potential partnership is going to benefit all of our stakeholders, members, employees and communities, which was why we decided to move ahead with the business case.”
As Philpot noted, the three entities work well together, and she’s excited about the future prospect of a merger.
“We’re really excited to partner with Cornerstone and Synergy, based on our experience within the province,” Philpot said. “We worked together in the past, so this isn’t new for us, and we get to know each other very well.”
Credit unions are no strangers to mergers, and Philpot believes with the dawn of digital banking, the apprehension around banks joining together does not exist.
“I think as more digitization has come into the sphere, members are used to that and know that they can transact in many ways,” she said. “So still supportive of local, but understand service delivery can be done in many different ways.”
Kosolofski also stressed that an unwavering commitment throughout the merger process.
“We continue to support the communities that we operate in, and that’s the nice thing about a Credit Union,” he said. “We’re a local base, and we support those communities, so this can only expand that community support and empowerment that we actually have as a base value of our business.”
Philpot described Saskatchewan as “a cradle of Credit Unions.”
“Saskatchewan is really supportive of a collaborative, co-operative environment,” she said. “Understanding it’s a very big province, and the people needing to work together in order to make things come to life.”
