Desjardins Group facts for kids
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The Complexe Desjardins in Montreal
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| Cooperative | |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 6 December 1900 in Lévis, Quebec |
| Headquarters | Lévis, Quebec, Canada |
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Key people
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Guy Cormier, President & chief executive officer |
| Products | Banking, checking accounts, insurance, stock brokerage, investment banking, asset-based lending, consumer finance |
| Revenue |  Can$20.32 billion (2021) |
 Can$3.53 billion (2021) |
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| AUM | Can$91.26 billion (2021) |
| Total assets | Can$397.09 billion (2021) |
| Total equity | Can$33.53 billion (2021) |
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Number of employees
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53,783 (FTE, 2021) |
The Desjardins Group (French: Mouvement Desjardins) is a large Canadian financial organization. It is a cooperative, which means it is owned by its members, not by shareholders. Desjardins is the biggest group of credit unions in North America. A credit union is a financial organization that offers banking services.
It was started in 1900 in Lévis, Quebec, by Alphonse Desjardins. While its official head office is in Lévis, many of its top leaders work in Montreal.
As of 2017, Desjardins Group had 293 local credit unions. They had 1,032 service points and helped over seven million people. Most of these members and clients are in Quebec and Ontario.
Besides regular banking, Desjardins Group has many other companies. These companies offer things like insurance, real estate services, and investment help. Desjardins also helps people in over 30 developing countries. They do this through special programs and investments. In 2020, Desjardins started a fund called Aequitas. This fund aims to help women and young people in developing countries.
How Desjardins Started and Grew
Alphonse Desjardins learned about similar financial groups in Europe. In 1901, he created a new system that worked well for North America. This was the beginning of Desjardins.
In the late 1990s, the number of local credit unions, called caisses, was made smaller. They went from 1275 down to 800.
Between 2008 and 2010, Desjardins Group grew a lot. Its total money managed increased by over 15%. In 2006, Desjardins had over 40,000 employees. It also gave money back to its members and supported many community programs.
In March 2008, Monique Leroux became the head of Desjardins. This was a big moment in Canada's history. She became the first woman to lead such a large company in the country.
In December 2010, Desjardins bought Western Financial. This deal helped Desjardins expand into other Canadian provinces. These included British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
In 2014, Desjardins Group bought the Canadian part of a big American insurance company called State Farm. The insurance policies were then handled by Desjardins Insurance. The State Farm name was still used for a few years. By 2018, State Farm Canada officially became Desjardins Insurance.
Important Event: 2019 Data Issue
On June 20, 2019, Desjardins Group announced a problem with personal information. Data belonging to 4.3 million individual users and 173,000 businesses was affected. This was more than 40% of Desjardins' clients and members in Quebec.
The issue was found in December 2018. It was not caused by a direct cyberattack. Instead, it was linked to an employee who had unauthorized access to banking systems. This person copied customer data over time. Desjardins took steps to protect its members and a police investigation is still ongoing.
See also
- Desjardins (disambiguation)
- Mouvement des caisses populaires acadiennes, New Brunswick, is inspired by Desjardins
- List of banks and credit unions in Canada
