History
Since our founding in 1944, Ukrainian Credit Union Limited has helped tens of thousands of Ukrainian Canadians and others, immigrants and locally born, with their financial needs. The road was not always smooth, but with skill, determination, and sheer hard work, we have built an organization that will continue delivering superior service in the coming decades.
Early Ukrainian settlers in Canada arrived for the most part with few assets, little disposable cash, and often only a rudimentary financial education. Only by organizing and helping each other could they hope to thrive in their adopted homeland. Community-based credit unions in Canada grew out of this need. In 1939 the first Ukrainian credit union, New Community, opened in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The next year the Carpathia opened in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Learning from these pioneers, the first Ontario credit union was founded by the lake in Hamilton in 1943. The Ukrainian National Federation followed suit here in Toronto in 1944 by establishing our first branch: The Ukrainian (Toronto) Credit Union. Initially, 26 UNF members participated in the charter. By the end of the year, membership comprised 91 members with nine outstanding loans totalling $17,600.
Building on this start, UCU's membership and assets increased steadily. Early growth came from post-war settlers, later new deposit and loan products drove growth in the 60s and 70s. We understood the value of technology early on, becoming computerized in 1975, beating some of our larger, more established rivals in the Canadian banking industry to the punch. We were also among the first financial institutions to adopt ATM technology.
Since the 1980s, UCU has welcomed more than a dozen smaller credit unions into our family. In that time we have also expanded our branch network by opening several new locations. A brief history of the growth of our credit union follows:
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1944 |
Members of Ukrainian National Federation Toronto Branch found Ukrainian (Toronto) Credit Union Limited (May 25) Charter No. 197 granted by Ontario Government (July 4) Election of first Board of Directors and Committees (July 12) |
| 1945 |
UNF Toronto along with the Credit Union move from 300 Bathurst Street to 783 College Street First Annual General Meeting (February 11) |
| 1949 | West Toronto, Branch office opens in “the Junction” at UNF West Toronto Branch, 105 Edwin Ave., to serve members living in in the first Toronto neighborhood settled by Ukrainians in the early 1900s |
| 1950 | Operations begin at 297 College St. at the newly erected UNF Toronto Branch community centre |
| 1952 | Membership reaches 1,000 |
| 1955 |
Assets top $1,000,000 Personal chequing introduced |
| 1972 | Safety deposit boxes introduced |
| 1975 | Fully automated banking system installed |
| 1974 | 1974 Edwin branch moves to new home of UNF West Toronto in Bloor West Village |
| 1977 | Mississauga Branch is opened |
| 1978 | Line-of-credit loans and daily interest accounts introduced |
| 1980 | St. Mary's Dormition Parish (Mississauga) Credit Union Limited, founded 1975, merges with UCU |
| 1981 | UCU officially opens its head office in the newly built building at 295 College Street |
| 1984 | Plast (Toronto) Credit Union founded 1969, merges with UCU |
| 1985 | Daily interest chequing accounts introduced |
| 1986 | Etobicoke Branch opens Membership tops 10,000 |
| 1988 |
Ukrainian (London) Credit Union, founded 1955, merges with UCU Ukrainian People's Home Credit Union, founded 1955, merges with UCU St. George's Parish (Oshawa) Credit Union, founded 1959, merges with UCU |
| 1989 |
Ukrainian (Windsor) Credit Union Limited, founded 1946, merges with UCU Name formally changed to Ukrainian Credit Union Limited form Ukrainian (Toronto) Credit union, to reflect our province-wide operations (July 25) UCU MasterCard first introduced |
| 1990 | Telephone banking introduced |
| 1993 |
Member Card® (debit card) introduced Automated Funds Transfers (AFT) introduced Mutual funds through the “Ethical Fund” introduced |
| 1994 | 1994 Thunder Bay Branch is opened |
| 1997 |
Members get access to CUMIS Home and Auto insurance US dollar chequing accounts introduced Internet banking and electronic bill payment introduced |
| 1999 |
Ukrainian (Sudbury) Credit Union Limited, founded 1944, which was earlier joined by two other Sudbury credit unions, St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Church Credit Union and Ukrainian Youth Association Credit Union, merges with UCU St. Demetrius Parish (Etobicoke) Credit Union Limited, founded 1966, merges with UCU. St. Demetrius earlier merged with Holy Eucharist Parish (Toronto) Credit Union |
| 2001 | Wealth Management Centre launched in Etobicoke |
| 2003 |
After operating a Service Point for several years hosted by North York Community CU, UCU North Branch opens at 5799 Yonge on the 6th floor and in 2006 moves to ground floor Head office moves to 145 Evans Ave, Etobicoke Membership tops 20,000 |
| 2006 | ucublu virtual high-interest savings accounts introduced |
| 2007 | UCU joins the Exchange Network giving members surcharge-free access to 2,000 ATMs across Canada allowing for both deposits and withdrawals. |
| 2008 |
Ukrainian (St. Catharines) Credit Union Limited, founded 1946, merges with UCU Thunder Bay Branch moves to new location at Port Arthur Prosvita Mobile web banking introduced |
| 2009 | The 65th Anniversary Special Share Offering is made available to all members. |
| 2010 |
So-Use Credit Union, founded 1950, merges with UCU Assets exceed $500,000,000 |
| 2011 |
Wealth Strategies Group office opens at 2265 Bloor St, Toronto (former So-Use head office) Oshawa Branch moves to a new location at 145 King Street West e-statements are introduced |
| 2012 |
United Ukrainian (Hamilton) Credit Union Limited, founded 1943, merges with UCU. UUCU arose from the merger of three Hamilton Credit Unions, Ukrainian (Hamilton) Credit Union, St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Credit Union, Holy Spirit Ukrainian Catholic Credit Union New ATM and community room opens at St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Oakville Cheque imaging introduced |
| 2013 |
Ottawa Service Point opens at Ottawa Women's Credit Union Interac e-transfers introduced |
| 2014 |
Thunder Bay Branch moves to new location at 697 Red River Rd New Business Services Centre co-located with the UCU Wealth Strategies Group A web mobile application for Android and iOS devices is launched to provide our members with the latest in banking convenience |
| 2017 | Assets surpass $800,000,000 |
| 2018 |
North York Branch moves to 1600 Steeles Ave. West, Vaughan Contactless debit cards introduced |
| 2019 |
Foreign exchange services are enhanced offering purchase and sale of over 80 currencies and home delivery Ottawa Branch opens at new Carling and Holland location |
