Members

Caisse d’économie des travailleurs réunis de Québec was created in 1971 by the national federation of trade unions (CSN) of the Quebec region, to extend the union action to the field of consumption and life conditions by taking the control of their savings and thus demonstrating that it was possible to act for another development and thus to manage their own saving in an alternative way as well as to allow the financing of collective projects aiming at improving the living conditions of workers.

On the 1st of October 2004, the Caisse changed its name in Caisse d’économie solidaire Desjardins, aiming to contribute to a fair and bound up Quebec in the perspective of a sustainable development through supporting the development of solidarity economy and collective Entrepreneurship mainly in four fields: trade union initiatives, co-operative, community and, culture.

As of 31 December 2015, the Caisse has a total of 14 794 members, of which some 2 796 are organisations (related to trade unions, the cooperative movement, the community sector, the cultural sector, and some private companies).
To help entrepreneurs to develop their projects, the Caisse has established partnerships with public or semipublic bodies, local funds or networks such as the Social Investment Network in Quebec, RISQ, the Central Caisse Desjardins, FondAction as well as other local development funds and advisers, and offer all services and financial products available on the market which customers have access to via telephone, the network of local branches, ATM and the Desjardins website. The Caisse also has specific products and services for building co-operatives, solidarity savings available for all members, co-op organisations, trade unions and cultural organisations who are in a critical finance situation.
Today, the Caisse has been solicited from everywhere to take part in the globalization of the solidarity.