| Type | Credit Union |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 1908 Ottawa, Ontario 1949 Toronto, Ontario |
| Headquarters | Ottawa / Toronto |
| Key people | John Lahey |
| Products | Savings; checking; consumer loans; mortgages; credit cards; online banking |
| Employees | 500 |
| Website | alterna.ca |
Alterna Savings & Credit Union Ltd. is a Canadian credit union, formed in 2005 by the merger of CS CO-OP and Metro Credit Union, which provides full daily banking services, loans and mortgages, investment services and business banking. At the close of 2006 Alterna Savings had CN$1.7 billion in assets and approximately 150,000 members. It had 24 branches in Ottawa, Kingston, North Bay , Pembroke and Toronto. It also provides service across Canada through its subsidiary, Alterna Bank, which has two branches in Gatineau, Quebec.
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The Civil Service Savings and Loan Society, launched in 1908 with the assistance of Alphonse Desjardins, was the first credit union in Canada outside Quebec. Federal civil servants were prompted by an article in their magazine The Civilian, when it reported on loan sharks charging civil servants up to 200% for payday loans. After the Government of Ontario passed a credit union law in 1928, the Ottawa-based institution was re-chartered as the Civil Service Co-operative Credit Society (CS CO-OP). Although it has always been one of the largest credit unions in Ontario, it never joined Credit Union Central of Ontario.
Metro CU was incorporated in August 1949 as the University of Toronto Employees' Credit Union. Over the years it absorbed a variety of smaller credit unions, primarily ones that served universities, colleges or hospitals. It became a community bond credit union, open to all residents of Toronto, in 1994.
Both CS CO-OP and Metro CU were active participants in the negotiations of 12 credit unions across the country for a national co-operative bank in 1998. Though these negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful, they opened a door for CS CO-OP, under the leadership of Gary Seveny, to secure a bank charter for its subsidiary CS Alterna Bank ('Alterna Bank'). The new bank was launched in October 2000 to offer service across Canada.
Gary H. Gillam, a visionary leader of the credit union until his untimely death in 1993, shaped Metro Credit Union's reputation as a pioneer in social responsibility. The credit union operates a microcredit fund for disadvantaged Toronto entrepreneurs, and was one of the first financial institutions in Canada to perform regular social audits.