Three Sask. credit union members approve long-awaited merger

Three Saskatchewan credit unions are banding together to tackle the future as a single force.

Prairie Centre Credit Union, Diamond North Credit Union, and Cypress Credit Union are uniting into an as-yet unnamed new, single credit union.

This merger comes after years of discussions and is set to be official completed by Jan. 1, 2025.

Blair Wingert, the chief executive officer for Prairie Centre Credit Union, is excited for the future after all three credit union member votes were in the majority for the merger.

“What’s gonna happen now is the leadership groups of the three credit unions will start to build an integration plan at bringing our three organizations together,” said Wingert. “Those steps will start fairly quickly.”

Blair Wingert, the chief executive officer for Prairie Centre Credit Union. (Blair Wingert/Supplied)

One of the first things being completed is the rebranding. A name and imaging is in the works through a Regina-based media consultation group. Once that is resolved, members can expect to see changes start appearing in the 30 branches that will exist under the new umbrella.

“What we’re hoping is that our members don’t see any huge significant changes,” said Wingert. “We just continued to offer the high-level service that they’ve come to expect in all three of our organizations.”

The main office for mailing purposes will be based in Rosetown. However, the goal is to operate on a decentralized head office, allowing employees to continue to serve the communities they live in.

“Another thing that’s been really important is that we don’t want to bring all of the jobs to one centre,” said Wingert. “It’s been important that we’re employing people across all of our communities and across rural Saskatchewan.”

The merger will also include two real estate offices and six insurance offices.

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