Ombudservice

Developing long-term relationships is the foundation of our commitment to delivering high-quality service to our members, and to the general public. It is important that you are happy with the service we provide; however, we recognize that things can sometimes go wrong. As a result, we have implemented a formal complaint resolution process to deal with these situations.

If you have a concern or a complaint about the service we provide or the products that we offer, we want to hear from you. If you are not satisfied with how the credit union is handling your complaint, you can take your complaint to the third party Ombudsperson.

The Ombudsperson seeks satisfactory resolution of complaints with a view to fairness and does not advocate for either the complainant or the credit union when investigating disputes. This service is free of charge to the complainant however, there is no provision for the award of costs for solicitors or other professionals and recommendations are not binding on credit unions.

Complaint Process

1st Level - Supervisor
2nd Level - Branch Manager
3rd Level - CU Manager
4th Level- Ombudsperson

Privacy Complaints - If the complaint refers to a breach of your privacy or use of your personal information, then level 1 is replaced with Privacy Officer and the Privacy Commissioners Office is added as the last level.

Credit Union Action

Action

Step 1:

Determine if complaint is fully or partially justified:
(to be completed by authorized personnel as per chart above)

Step 2:

If complaint is justified:
Credit Union Follow-up

  1. Assess damages caused to complainant
  2. Propose  resolution of damages to complainant
  3. If complainant is satisfied, go to Step 4
  4. If complainant is not satisfied, go to Step 5

Step 3:

If complaint is not justified:
Credit Union Follow-up

  1. Communicate to the complainant the reason(s) the credit union has concluded that the complaint is not justified
  2. If complainant is satisfied, go to Step 4
  3. If complainant is not satisfied, go to Step 5

Step 4:

Complainant accepts resolution proposal or explanation as to why the complaint is denied:
Credit Union Follow-up

  1. Complete any remedial actions agreed to
  2. Determine if future problems can be avoided through process or systems improvement
  3. File in complaints file

Step 5:

Complainant does not accept resolution proposal or explanation as to why the complaint is denied:
Credit Union Follow-up

  1. Determine if further explanation or negotiation can result in favorable outcome
  2. If no further progress is possible the complainant will be advised of the next level of appeal and the associated requirements of that level

Each level of the complaint as noted above, within the credit union, must be resolved within 30 days or moved to the next level.

Credit Union Contacts

Title

Contact

Credit Union

Please contact any branch of your credit union.

Ombudsperson

Mail to:
The Office of the Ombudsperson Atlantic Central
6074 Lady Hammond Road Halifax, NS B3K 2R7

Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Mail to:
Privacy Commissioner 112 Kent Street
Place de Ville Tower B, 3rd Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 1H3

Forms

Complaint forms can be accessed online or at any credit union branch.