After months of work getting a merger in place, the Conexus, Cornerstone, and Synergy credit unions will now be merging following a vote by members of the three credit unions to see if they wanted a merger to go through. The final results place 87.5 per cent of the members voting in favour from Conexus, 86.5 per cent in favour from Cornerstone and 88.7 per cent in favour from Synergy, all above the province-required minimum of 75 per cent.
Ken Kosolofski, the board chair of Conexus Credit Union, thanked their members for delivering a majority that they can work on for the merger.
"We really do want to thank our members for their overwhelming support and for giving us a resounding mandate to create a strong, competitive and community-focused credit union. And it's going to serve members both today and our future generations. We just want to send out a big thank you to all of our members who voted in favour of the merger."
Kosolofski says that there won't be any immediate changes, with the new, combined credit union beginning operations on January 1st, 2026.
There are still a few items that the new credit union is working on before the start of next year.
"We do need to pick a name for the new credit union, and it's going to be one of the three credit unions, and also a CEO for the new credit union. It'll be one of the three CEOs that we actually have. We're starting to create a business integration team, which will start working on some of the integration activities that can happen prior to January 1st, 2026."
Members won't see any immediate changes, as Celina Philpot, the CEO of Conexus Credit Union, details some of the changes people should watch for.
"So that's all about for members really seeing when they can start accessing all the different locations and having the benefits that we've articulated that we would like to move forward and offer to them. We're going to spend some time working through what that integration plan is going to look like. So we're going to take the time to sort through all the details that come along with that."
While the legal date for the new credit union to open is January 1st, Philpot says she expects a few of their firsts to come after the legal date.
She says the credit unions will be open about the process that goes on during the merger.
"We are committed to being open and transparent with our members so that they're aware of the changes that are coming and when they can expect us to deliver on some of those benefits that we had mentioned. So stay tuned. There will be much planning work to do, and we will be communicating those changes well in advance to support our members through a smooth transition."
Philpot says the new, merged credit union will be better able to help out its members across Saskatchewan.
"Very pleased and energized to be able to bring our three partner credit unions together and create this new entity that's committed to serving the people of Saskatchewan. We are committed to seeing our members thrive and, in turn, the province thrive. So we're excited about the mandate and looking forward to being able to support our members through a very prosperous future."
Kosolofski similarly thanked the members for giving the credit unions a strong mandate moving forward.