About Us

History

Since 1941…
History of Common Wealth Credit Union

» Border Credit Union
» Fairview Credit Union
» Grande Prairie & District Savings & Credit Union
» The Original Common Wealth Credit Union
» Emergency Services Credit Union
» The New Common Wealth Credit Union

History at a glance – Border Credit Union

June 1955

The assets of the two Credit Unions were divided and Border Cooperators Savings & Credit Union, Ltd. was incorporated to serve Alberta residents.

November 1966

Grand opening of new building located at 5009-50 Street on the Alberta side. Assets were $2,580,000. (We sold this building in 1992 and bought it back in 2003. This is currently known as our Resource Centre.)

February 1973

Amalgamation with Dewberry Savings & Credit Union. Assets were $10,600,000.

January 1978

Amalgamated with Provost Savings & Credit Union. Built a new building in Provost and moved to new location. Assets were $37,855,000. Total staff of 30.

July 1981

Grand Opening of a new building in Dewberry. Previous to this, premises were rented from the Village of Dewberry.

October 1981

Opened a second branch in Lloydminster at the Southridge Mall. Assets were $91,785,000. Total staff of 39.

October 1992

Total Assets of $290,912,372 and a total of 61 staff. Relocated the two Lloydminster branches to the Atrium Centre in March 1992. Grand Opening of the new Lloydminster Branch was held May 1992. Peter J. Gulak retires as General Manager on December 31, 1992 after 34 years of service.

April 1995

Opened an Agency in Kitscoty to serve residents of that community. Border Credit Union is the 4th largest Credit Union in Alberta, 23rd largest in Canada.

October 1995

Opened the Southridge Mall ATM jointly with Lloydminster Credit Union.

May 1996

Opened the Automated Cash Machine at Lloydminster Garden Market IGA.

March 1997

Provost branch relocated to new premises and has assets exceeding $50 million.

June 1997

Border Credit Union purchases the Atrium Centre in Lloydminster.

October 1997

Jeff Mulligan appointed General Manager. Assets of $391.6 million. Staff approximately 100.

March 2001

Acquired the assets ($18,000,000) of the Bank of Montreal – Lloydminster Branch.

May 2001

Opened an Automated Cash Machine at the Lloydminster & District Co-op Grocery Store.

July 2001

Formed an alliance with Grande Prairie Credit Union Lending for Commercial & Agricultural Loans.

November 2001

Opened a Drive-Thru Automated Cash Machine at the Rendell Centre in Lloydminster.

March 2003

Members approve the formation of the New Common Wealth Credit Union, with assets of $870,000,000, serving 43,000 members from 10 branches across Northern Alberta, in Lloydminster, Dewberry, Provost, Barrhead, Athabasca, Westlock, Whitecourt, Grande Prairie, Fairview, Grimshaw, and an agency in Kitscoty. The four Credit Unions will officially amalgamate operations on November 1, 2003, with the head office in Lloydminster and Regional Office locations in Grande Prairie and Barrhead. Total staff will be approximately 260.

October 2003

As of October 31, 2003, assets were $656 million. Breakdown by branch: Lloydminster $494 million, Dewberry $26 million, Provost $106 million. The merger that took place on November 1, 2003 was successful.

History at a glance – Fairview Credit Union

June 1956

A Charter was issued at this time for Friedenstal Savings & Credit Union Limited.

August 1956

The elected Executive together with eleven interested parties, each contributing $0.50, launched the Friedenstal Savings & Credit Union Limited. Sieg Walisser was the General Manager at this time. Friedenstal was a small community just a few miles southeast of Fairview. During the first month of operation, the assets were $2,013. There were 22 members, 2 depositors, and 1 borrower.

1965

The rural school at Friedenstal closed, services in the local church were held intermittently only, and the Co-op store and Post Office felt the impact of these developments. This caused a great deal of concern to the Board of Directors as to the future of the Credit Union. The decision was to relocate the Credit Union to Fairview.

November 1969

Property vacated by the Royal Bank became available for purchase. The Board of Directors submitted an offer to purchase at $13,000. The offer was accepted and following minor renovations and cleanup the Credit Union opened for business on November 2, 1969. There followed a name change to Fairview & District Savings & Credit Union.

March 1985

There was a change in management when Sieg Walisser retired after 29 years. Assets at this time were $8,394,361.

March 1997

A purchase was made to build a new building on two lot locations. Fairview & District Savings & Credit Union moved temporarily to a location in the Mall on Main Street.

March 1998

On March 16, 1998, Fairview & District Savings & Credit Union opened for their first day of business in their new branch. Assets at $29,257,300.

2002

Grimshaw Branch was opened. Assets for Fairview & District Savings & Credit Union were at $67,997,500.

February 21, 2003

The Amalgamation Agreement between Fairview & District Savings & Credit Union and Border Credit Union was signed.

September 2003

In the process of building a new branch in Grimshaw. Assets of Fairview Credit Union $67 million, membership 3000, employees 21, branches in Fairview and Grimshaw.

History at a glance – Grande Prairie & District Savings & Credit Union

April 19, 1948

Established Grande Prairie & District Savings & Credit Union with an investment of $23 made by ten shareholders.

April 1956

The Credit Union moved to a little room (approx 15 square feet) in the old CO-OP store.

March 1975

Grande Prairie & District Savings & Credit Union opened a new building.

November 30, 1982

Grande Prairie & District Savings & Credit Union relocated to Richmond Square.

January 16 – 20, 1995

Grand re-opening of Grande Prairie & District Savings & Credit Union on 9902-100th Avenue. Ken Sutherland became General Manager.

February 21, 2003

The Amalgamation Agreement between Grande Prairie & District Savings & Credit Union and Border Credit Union was signed. Assets of Grande Prairie & District Savings & Credit Union $67 million, membership 4,500, employees 25.

History at a glance – The Original Common Wealth Credit Union

1943

Shoal Lake Credit Union was incorporated February 28, 1943.

1950

Name changed to Barrhead Savings & Credit Union Ltd.

1963

The Credit Union located in the Co-op Store at Barrhead.

1974

New Building constructed on Main Street, Barrhead. Assets: $1.9 million.

1977

Westlock Branch opened with a Membership of 2860. Assets: $6.8 million.

1978

Athabasca Branch opened. Assets: $11 million.

1987

Assets: $31.5 million. Member Loans: $24.3 million. First ATM in Barrhead installed at Barrhead Branch.

1999

Name changed to Common Wealth Credit Union Limited. Assets: $67.5 million. Member Loans: $50 million. Total Members: 7500

2000

The credit union purchased the assets of the Bank of Montreal resulting in the opening of the Whitecourt Branch. Assets: $84.5 million. Total Members: 8300.

January 10, 2003

The Amalgamation Agreement between Common Wealth Credit Union and Border Credit Union was signed. Assets of Common Wealth Credit Union $110 million, membership 9,600, employees 50. Branches in Barrhead, Athabasca, Whitecourt and Westlock.

History at a glance – Emergency Services Credit Union

Emergency Services Credit Union was formed in 1998 by the amalgamation of Edmonton Police Credit Union and Edmonton Fire Fighters Credit Union.

Edmonton Police Credit Union:

1942

Edmonton Police Credit Union was incorporated.

1970

The decision was made to recruit a full time Manager who ran the operation as Loan Officer, Teller and Accountant.

1971

The credit union disbursed its first mortgage when the average price of a home was $12,000. The credit union had almost 100% of the police as members and decided to expand the bond of association to allow spouses and immediate family members.

1978

The credit union moved to an empty space in the old Courthouse. Occasionally the presiding judge ordered the credit union closed during court proceedings due to the lack of a proper sound barrier.

1981

The credit union moved into the new Police Headquarters building.

1991

The credit union moved to “outside” quarters (outside the safe confines of police headuarters) leasing the new premises at the corner of 101 Street and 111 Avenue.

Edmonton Firefighters Credit Union:

1941

In the late 1930’s Mr. John Staton served as secretary for the local fireman’s union. A number of employees were approaching the union’s executive for small loans. The idea of starting a credit union came to fruition when Edmonton Firefighters Credit Union was officially chartered on February 5, 1941. The majority of the credit union business was conducted from the second floor living quarters of the Number 5 Fire Hall.

1955

The credit union relocated to a small garage attached to the old Number 2 Fire Hall on 104th and 100 Avenue.

1960

Boasting 665 members, the credit union purchased a building on 95th Street and 117th Avenue for the purchase price of $16,000.

1975

The credit union, now with 8 employees, moved once again to a new building.

1977

The Fire Fighters Social Club was opened and housed in the basement of the credit union building.

1981

Founding member John Staton passed away on October 5th.

1994

Construction of a new building at 14909-121A Avenue was completed. The building’s interior design showcased the tradition and community spirit of the Fire Department.

Emergency Services Credit Union:

1998

November 2, 1998 marked the official merger of Edmonton Firefighters and Edmonton Police Credit Unions. Combined membership was 4800 with assets of $60 million and 2 locations in Edmonton.

2003

The downtown location of the former Police Credit Union was relocated to a new facility on the south side of Edmonton at 7203 Roper Road. This branch showcased its interior design, its history and appreciation of the police force.

2005

At the Annual General Meeting of its membership, agreement was received by way of motion to merge Emergency Services Credit Union (ESCU) with Common Wealth Credit Union. ESCU’s assets totaled $89 million with 6000 members and 29 employees.

History at a glance– The New Common Wealth Credit Union

November 1, 2003

Border Credit Union, Common Wealth Credit Union, Fairview Credit Union and Grande Prairie Credit Union merge to become the new Common Wealth Credit Union.

December 17, 2003

The Common Wealth Resource Centre opens in Lloydminster – 50 seat training room/theatre with video conferencing capacity, computer lab and community room will now be available.

January 5, 2005

CWCU announces merger agreement with Emergency Services Credit Union, with a target date of July 1, 2005. Emergency Services Credit Union, located in Edmonton, has 2 full service branch locations, 29 staff, and nearly 6,000 members, with an asset base of $88.8 million as at October 2004.

July 1, 2005

Emergency Services Credit Union merges with Common Wealth Credit Union adding 2 Edmonton locations to the branch network. Assets of the new credit union exceed $1 billion.