Alterna Savings and Credit Union Limited, commonly called Alterna Savings, is a credit union based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In addition to its credit union branches in Ontario, it also operates across Canada through its direct banking subsidiary Alterna Bank. Established as the Civil Service Savings and Loan Society, it was the first Canadian approach to cooperative banking outside Quebec. Alterna Bank, launched in 2000, was one of Canada's first financial institutions to operate primarily through digital access. The parent organization adopted the Alterna name on merging with Toronto's Metro Credit Union in 2005. It is the second-largest credit union in Ontario, with C$10 billion in assets under management, over 217,000 members, and 41 branches.

History

Alterna's major growth event was the 1 April 2005 merger between CS CO-OP and Metro Credit Union. The combined assets were $1.8 billion and the merger was described as the "first of its size to be approved in Ontario history". After merging with Metro, the parent organization adopted the Alterna name. Eight years later, Alterna began absorbing smaller credit unions with seven transactions between 2013, 2020, and 2022.

Civil Service Savings and Loan Society

The Civil Service Savings and Loan Society launched in 1908 with the assistance of Alphonse Desjardins. It 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, which later operated as CS CO-OP.

Metro Credit Union

Metro Credit Union was incorporated 30 August 1949 as the University of Toronto Employees' Credit Union. It became the University and Colleges Credit Union in 1975, which later operated as Unicoll. 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. Gary H. Gillam, a leader of the credit union until his death in 1993, shaped Metro Credit Union's reputation as a pioneer in socially responsible investing. Alterna continues to operate a microcredit fund for disadvantaged Toronto entrepreneurs, and was one of the first financial institutions in Canada to perform regular social audits. CS CO-OP and Metro 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 unsuccessful, they opened a door for CS CO-OP, under the leadership of Gary Seveny, to secure a bank charter for its subsidiary CS Loan Corporation, established as a Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation member in 1992. The new bank was launched as CS Alterna Bank in October 2000 to offer service across Canada.

Expansion

Alterna was one of the first financial institutions to make loans to businesses focusing on cannabis in Canada following its legalization, providing primary banking services for approximately two-thirds of the hundred licensed growers in 2018.

Memberships