REGINA – The start of a new year marked a major turning point for three longstanding Saskatchewan credit unions.
January 1 marked the date in which Conexus, Cornerstone and Synergy credit unions legally merged. The three credit unions represent different parts of the province with Conexus based in Regina, Cornerstone in Yorkton serving the east, and Synergy in Lloydminster serving the western portion.
The merger means there is now one single entity, Conexus Credit Union, managing $16 billion in assets. The new entity will serve more than 200,000 members through 57 branches in 50 communities, and have a staff of 1,400 employees, according to their news release.
The three credit unions voted overwhelmingly back in June to merge, with each membership voting over 85 per cent in favour. For the past six months since then, it has been a flurry of activity getting the new combined entity up and ready to go for Jan. 1.
“So we spent a good portion of 2025 getting ready for that legal date,” said Celina Philpot, CEO of Conexus Credit Union, in speaking to Sask Today on Monday.
“So there were legal requirements as well as regulatory requirements that we had to meet, as well as getting our new board ready to govern with the new entity. So that work effort culminated into Jan. 1.”
Among the priorities during 2025 was to get a CEO in place for the new entity. Philpot was confirmed in that post after serving as Conexus CEO prior to the merger with Synergy and Cornerstone.
They also needed to put together a new Board. Heidi Schofer of Melville, who had previously served as board Chair for Cornerstone Credit Union, has been named the new Chair for the new Conexus Credit Union.
“So in essence, the three existing credit unions went through a process to choose directors to go forward to the new integration team or integration group,” Schofer said. “And we worked behind the scenes getting all of the legal requirements ready.
"So a lot of heavy lifting that really the members don't see, to have those legal requirements done, which involves getting policy, looking through, making sure our bylaws are in place, and all of that information that governs the organization from the top down. And so it's important that the members know that that happened, because as Directors, we are members, and through the cooperative principles, we are democratically elected by our members. So while it doesn't impact their day-to-day business, as Celina said, members will carry on doing their financial business as they did in 2025. They do need to be aware, as part of a democratic institution, that things are happening behind the scenes to make sure that this organization will be successful in 2026.”
For now, customers won’t notice much in the way of day to day changes, with no noticeable changes to signage yet.
“What members will have noticed is that we have updated our website to inform our members that we are legally an entity, and there's like a connection there where members can go for more information,” said Philpot. “What they will also notice on our buildings, as well as when they're interacting with us here, the disclaimer that they will sign when there's any kind of document signed, is that basically just alerts them to the fact that they are interacting with a new entity called Conexus, regardless if they notice that the sign on the door has changed. So that legal disclaimer has been made visible on our website and any kind of documentation that the members are signing and they engage with us on their day-to-day business.”
Conexus says in a statement that all accounts, cards, cheques, digital banking, and access to services will stay the same, and members will continue to deal with their legacy credit union while they bring together their teams, systems, products, services and operations .
While Jan. 1 is their legal amalgamation date, there is still much work still to be done.
Philpot said that as far as what changed for members, “it's pretty much business as usual, and we're going to undertake the work to plan the work effort to integrate the reorganization into one. And that's kind of where we're at at this point in time."
As for next steps, the priority right now according to Philpot is working towards system integration, so that members will start to be able to experience the enhanced location access of the new entity across the 57 branches.
“So until those systems integrate, members won't be able to, for instance, transact at a branch in Lloydminster or in Yorkton if there's an issue dealing with Conexus in Regina type of thing," Philpot said. “So those are the activities that we're working through today.”
She said they are committed to informing members along the way and provide them plenty of notice of upcoming changes, “so they're prepared and ready to walk with us through this journey and to kind of minimize as much impact as we possibly can.”
Schofer equates the work done over the past few months as “a lot like planning a big family vacation or a family reunion.”
“Lots of behind-the-scenes work, lots of, you know, a little bit of anxiety, stress, excitement, and then you're just sitting back waiting to kick things off and to be able to get started. And so now that January 1st has come, we can, you know, hit the ground running. We can start the exciting process, and from the board's perspective, we begin the journey of building the strategy and looking at the overall vision and purpose of this new credit union, and we can finally look at that.”
