Jay-Ann Gilfoy, CEO of Meridian Credit Union.Kyle Scott/The Globe and Mail
“If you look at the ethos of credit unions—where we come from—the idea was people who didn’t have access to money coming together to form an alliance so they could finance the things they needed. That ethos is still very much needed in Canada and around the world. We believe we need to be financing people who have not been part of the economy that we’ve all benefited from. So, we’re rolling out new products and services around personal banking for newcomers to Canada and access to capital for entrepreneurs who maybe haven’t had the opportunities they need to have. We’ve partnered with Business Development Bank of Canada to provide financing for all entrepreneurs, but with an added focus on women-led businesses, Black-owned businesses, Indigenous-owned businesses, businesses that are being created by LGBTQ+ communities. There are 300,000 to 400,000 entrepreneurs in Canada who come from those communities.
Canadian credit unions have something like 20% of the financing of small businesses. We can get to yeses quicker because we’re different. Since our co-operative values include things like members helping members, we can think longer term, we can think more holistically about that member. It allows us to say yes to things that maybe others wouldn’t say yes to. It’s about how we make sure we’ve got that local economy growing and businesses thriving. And because we’re rooted in community, it helps create that environment where we help you, you help us, and everybody wins.
Our purpose–to help people achieve their best life–also applies to our employees
Our purpose—to help people achieve their best life—also applies to our employees. So, we decided to become a Certified Living Wage Employer—which means we pay our 2,300 employees the living-wage rate for their region. The program makes employees feel like they’re more valued and leads to stronger retention. In fact, I had one employee in a branch a few weeks ago who said, “I tell all my friends, ‘Wow, look what this organization is doing,’ and they all want to come work for us.”
We’re always looking at how can we be a high-performing organization where people feel like they belong. Given the past few years, there’s been a heightened awareness of employees’ mental health and making sure we’re doing all we can for them. Last year, we increased our mental health benefits so people could go to counsellors more often and not have to worry about the cost. We’re also giving all our managers mental health training to help them lead in an environment where people are feeling a higher level of anxiety.
Many people don’t realize Meridian is a full-service financial institution. We have business banking, wealth, retail banking, payment platforms and a credit card. We follow the same rules as other chartered banks, so we’re safe and we’re sound, but we’re different in our design. We’re democratically owned: one member, one vote. The board of directors is elected. Because of all that, we have more flexibility to respond to the unique needs of members than a large international financial institution. I think it’s an important thing for Canadians to have a choice.”
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