A history inspired by a very humanistic and universal vision
Driven by his ideal of social justice and solidarity, and inspired by his extensive research on European savings and loan cooperatives, Alphonse Desjardins founded the first caisse in Lévis, Québec, on December 6, 1900. He was hoping not only to improve access to credit for all social classes as one way to fight poverty, but also to provide his fellow citizens with a financial institution that would belong to them, and that they themselves would control. That first caisse inspired the winds of social change that would soon sweep across North America and became a model for other financial cooperatives world-wide. Today, Desjardins Group stands as Canada's largest integrated financial cooperative group.
Desjardins today*
Assets of $152 billion
513 member caisses
915 service centres
5,795,277 members
6,299 elected officers
41,921 employees
2,764 automated teller machines
$78 million in surplus earnings after taxes and before member dividends
$80 million in returns to the community (sponsorships, donations and bursaries)
