Innovation Federal Credit Union is a Canadian

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including depo ...

. It was formed on January 1, 2007, through the merger of Southwest Credit Union and BCU Financial (previously Battlefords Credit Union). Innovation is the third largest credit union in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

and the 21st largest credit union in Canada. Deposits are insured by the

Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation The Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC; french: Société d'assurance-dépôts du Canada) is a Canadian federal Crown Corporation created by Parliament in 1967 to provide deposit insurance to depositors in Canadian commercial banks and ...

(CDIC).

History

When Pioneer Credit Union and Western Credit Union merged, they re-branded to Southwest Credit Union in 1993. Southwest Credit Union and BCU Financial merged January 1, 2007 to form Innovation Credit Union. This was the first financial institution in Canada to pilot

Point of sale The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...

. The pilot took place in

Swift Current Swift Current is the fifth largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is situated along the Trans Canada Highway west of Moose Jaw, and east of Medicine Hat, Alberta. Swift Current grew 6.8% between 2011 and 2016, ending up at ...

in 1985, and involved the installation of point of sale systems at 28 Pioneer Co-op outlets. Innovation is the 21st largest credit union in Canada, and the third largest credit union in Saskatchewan. The credit union has over 58,000 member owners and total assets of $4.047 billion CAD (2021). Its services include banking, wealth management, credit products and services through 24 advice centres.

Advice Centre locations

Innovation Credit Union refers to its physical locations as Advice Centres. Innovation has Advice Centres in the Saskatchewan communities of

Buffalo Narrows Buffalo Narrows is a northern village in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a community of 1,110 people. Located at the "Narrows" between Peter Pond Lake and Churchill Lake, tourism and resource extraction (logging, fishing) are its main economic act ...

, Goodsoil, Pierceland, Meadow Lake, Shell Lake, Leoville,

Glaslyn Glaslyn ( cy, Blue lake) is a lake in the Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is found at approximately above sea level in a cwm on the eastern flanks of Snowdon. It is a rough ellipse in shape, about east–west and abo ...

, Meota,

Medstead Medstead is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Alton, which lies northeast of the village. According to the 2011 census, the village had a population of 2,036 people. The parish ...

Hafford Hafford is a town in the RM of Redberry, Saskatchewan, Canada, consisting of 414 residents at the 2021 Canadian census. It is located near Redberry Lake, which consists of only salt water. History The first overseer was T.G. Bavin for the ...

North Battleford North Battleford is a city in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the seventh largest city in the province and is directly across the North Saskatchewan River from the Town of Battleford. Together, the two communities are known as "The Batt ...

Battleford Battleford ( 2011 population 4,065) is a small town located across the North Saskatchewan River from the City of North Battleford, in Saskatchewan, Canada. Battleford and North Battleford are collectively referred to as "The Battlefords" by S ...

, Cut Knife,

Wilke Wilke is a surname of German origin, which is medieval pet form of the personal name Wilhelm.''Dictionary of American Family Names''"Wilke Family History" Oxford University Press, 2013. Retrieved on 15 January 2016. A related English surname is Wil ...

, Gull Lake, Cabri,

Hodgeville Hodgeville ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Lawtonia No. 135 and Census Division No. 7. The village is located approximately 34 km south of the Trans Canada Highway, ...

Gravelbourg Gravelbourg () is a small multicultural town in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located just west of the Wood River at the junction of provincial Highway 43 and Highway 58, approximately 125 kilometres from Moose Jaw, Swift Curre ...

Frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...

Eastend Eastend is a town in south-west part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, situated approximately north of the Montana border and east of the Alberta border. The town is best known for the nearby discovery of a ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' s ...

Lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by Persia, India, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...

Ponteix Ponteix (, ) is a town in southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada, 86 km (53 mi) southeast of Swift Current. It is located on Highway 628 just north of Highway 13. History In 1908, Father Albert-Marie Royer from the Auvergne region in Fr ...

, and Mankota. The Credit Union also has administration offices in Regina, SK and Saskatoon, SK.

Federal Credit Union

In October 2017, Innovation Credit Union provided notice of its intent to apply to become a federal credit union. The following December, Innovation Credit Union members voted in favor of a proposal to become the first federal credit union headquartered in Saskatchewan. Of 17,214 members who voted, 82% voted in favor of the Special Resolution. The Credit Union received approval to begin operating as Innovation Federal Credit Union effective June 23, 2023.This will make Innovation Federal Credit Union the first Saskatchewan credit union to be federally-regulated and the third federally-regulated credit union in Canada, with

UNI Financial Cooperation Caisse populaire acadienne ltée, operating as UNI Financial Cooperation (french: UNI Coopération financière), is a Francophone credit union (french: caisse populaire) based in New Brunswick, Canada whose members are primarily Acadians. UNI's ad ...

being the first, and

Coast Capital Savings Coast Capital Savings Federal Credit Union (formerly Coast Capital Savings Credit Union) is a member-owned financial co-operative headquartered in Surrey, British Columbia. By membership, it is among the largest credit unions in Canada with 535,00 ...

being the second.

Naming rights and sponsorships

The credit union holds the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

to the InnovationPlex in

, a multi-purpose recreation facility mainly used for ice skating and curling. The facility is used by

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

Swift Current Broncos The Swift Current Broncos are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. Founded during 1967 in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, the Broncos played seven seasons before relocating to Lethbridge from 1974 to 1986 as the Lethbridge Broncos ...

. North Battleford's InnovationPlex, opened in 2013, is named for the credit union which donated $1.5 million for lifetime naming rights. The overall facility includes four-components: the Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts, the Northland Power Curling Centre, the NATIONSWEST Field House, and the Battlefords CO-OP Aquatic Centre. As of 2021, Innovation has donated over $7.29 million to the communities it operates in. In 2018, Innovation donated $100,000 to the new

Saskatchewan Hospital Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford (SHNB) is a public psychiatric hospital in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. It is owned by the Government of Saskatchewan and operated by the Saskatchewan Health Authority. The facility has 284 beds in total, ...

. In recognition of this donation, the patient business centre will be named in honour of Innovation Credit Union.

Recognition

Innovation Credit Union was recognized as one of Canada's top 100 employers through the Annual Saskatchewan's Top Employers competition in 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015. In 2017, Innovation won two Achievement in Marketing Excellence (AIME) Awards, one of which was for creating the first mobile branch of any credit union in Canada. The mobile branch served small communities without financial institutions especially in the Northern part of the Province. Innovation is recognized as a Caring Company by Imagine Canada. Imagine Canada gives this designation to companies who lead by example in their community support efforts. In 2018, Innovation Credit Union was recognized as an Employee Recommended Workplace by ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' and Morneau Sheppel.

Supreme Court of Canada case

The credit union was party to the 2010 Bank of Montreal v Innovation Credit Union case.

References

{{Canadian banks 2007 establishments in Saskatchewan Credit unions of Saskatchewan Companies based in Saskatchewan Swift Current