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Desjardins GroupCanada

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Desjardin Group's head office in Levis, Canada. Photo: Kpinard via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY SA 3.0)

Active

This profile is actively maintained
Last update: 2024-11-01 11:56:31
Bank info
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About
Website https://www.desjardins.com
Headquarters
100 Des Commandeurs Street
QC G6V 7N5 Lévis
Canada
CEO/chair Guy Cormier
CEO
Supervisor
Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI)
Ownership

The Desjardins Group is a cooperative bank, comprised of a network of caisses. Every caisse is a cooperative owned by its members. As such, it is not publicly listed on a stock exchange.

The Desjardins Group, founded in 1900, is the largest financial cooperative in Canada. The Group operates a total of 271 caisses: cooperatives that are owned by its members. The Group provides financial services such as consumer banking, asset-based lending and investment banking. Desjardins has its largest presence in Quebec, but is also established in Ontario.

Sustainability
Commitments
Policies
Voluntary standards

Desjardins Group's most important sustainability commitments can be found at the website sections listed below.

Links

Social responsibility

Sustainable development

Sustainable Development Policy

Bank policy
2024-05-31 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Position on the Energy Sector

Bank policy
2023-09-28 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Responsible investment policy

Bank policy
2021-04-13 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Position on coal

Bank policy
2020-12-17 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Supplier code of conduct

Bank policy
2017-12-31 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Anti-money laundering questionnaire

Bank policy
2016-03-10 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group
Desjardins Group has committed itself to the following voluntary standards:
Carbon Disclosure ProjectTags: carbon | climate change | greenhouse gas emissions
Global Reporting InitiativeTags: sustainable development | human rights
Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF)Tags: carbon | corporate social responsibility
Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB)Tags: climate change | corporate social responsibility | finance | sustainable development | United Nations | Voluntary Standards
Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)Tags: corporate social responsibility | sustainable development | United Nations
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)Tags: corporate social responsibility | finance
Dodgy Deals

Desjardins Group is linked to a number of companies and projects that BankTrack considers controversial (so called Dodgy Deals), e.g. as a current or past financier or through an expression of interest. The profiles below provide more details on the nature of Desjardins Group's link to these deals.

Projects / Companies
Finance type
Year
News
BankTrack
Partners
Blog
External
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

As extreme weather rages, RBC extends "sustainability" loan to Enbridge, actively expanding gas and tar sands pipelines

Consortium of banks finance pipeline builder in the lead up to COP 26 climate summit
2021-09-24 | Toronto, Canada | Giniw Collective, Stand.earth
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Groundbreaking research reveals the financiers of the coal industry

Today, Urgewald & partners published an analysis of the financiers & investors behind the entire coal industry for the 1st time. One of the shocking results was that banks provide more money to coal than in 2016.
2021-02-25 | urgewald, Reclaim Finance
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Desjardins adopts a robust coal exit policy

2020-12-18 | Reclaim Finance
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Desjardins becomes the first Canadian financial institution to sign the Principles for Responsible Banking

2019-09-16 | Montréal | Desjardins
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Desjardins adopts policy to combat climate change

2018-01-15 | Coop News
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Indigenous Groups Lead Movement to Call on Banks to Drop Enbridge’s Controversial Line 3 Pipeline

Tribal Nations based in Minnesota oppose the project and the Minnesota Department of Commerce has condemned it
2017-09-21 | Minneapolis, MN | Honor the Earth, Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Desjardins considering withdrawal from Trans Mountain pipeline expansion

2017-09-12 | The Globe and Mail
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Desjardins suspends oil pipes lending

2017-09-11 | Co-operative Press
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Trans Mountain backer Desjardins suspends lending for pipelines over concerns for environment

2017-07-10 | Calgary | Financial Post
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Who's bankrolling TransCanada?

Banking on TransCanada means banking on Keystone XL
2017-03-24 | Alison Kirsch - Rainforest Action Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Rainforest Action Network study ranks financed emissions of Canadian banks

Website lets customers compare carbon footprint of personal accounts
2008-11-19 | San Francisco | Rainforest Action Network
Resources
Documents
Links

CSR report 2023

Annual report
2024-07-16 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Annual report 2023

Annual report
2024-06-10 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Sustainable Development Policy

Bank policy
2024-05-31 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Position on the Energy Sector

Bank policy
2023-09-28 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

CSR report 2022

Annual report
2023-06-13 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Annual report 2022

Annual report
2023-06-13 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

CSR report 2021

Annual report
2022-04-12 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Annual report 2021

Annual report
2022-03-08 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Carbon Footprint Report 2020

Other bank document
2021-11-16 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

CSR Report 2020

Annual report
2021-06-08 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Annual report 2020

Annual report
2021-05-03 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Responsible investment policy

Bank policy
2021-04-13 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Position on coal

Bank policy
2020-12-17 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

2020 Report: Desjardins Group maintains its commitments to sustainable development

Other bank document
2020-12-16 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

CSR report 2019

Annual report
2020-07-01 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Annual report 2019

Annual report
2020-07-01 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Financial institutions leading the coal-to-clean energy transition

The Powering Past Coal Alliance celebrates reaching over 100 members
Other document
2020-06-02 00:00:00 | Powering Past Coal Alliance

Social and cooperative responsibility report 2018

Annual report
2019-06-24 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Annual report 2018

Annual report
2019-04-16 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Annual report 2017

Annual report
2018-03-31 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Social and cooperative responsibility report 2017

Annual report
2018-03-31 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Supplier code of conduct

Bank policy
2017-12-31 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Annual report 2016

Annual report
2017-03-31 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Social and cooperative responsibility report 2016

Annual report
2017-03-31 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group

Anti-money laundering questionnaire

Bank policy
2016-03-10 00:00:00 | Desjardins Group
Accountability
Grievances

Desjardins Group operates a Comments, dissatisfactions and complaints channel, which can be accessed here.

This page evaluates Desjardins Group's responses to instances of alleged human rights violations linked to its finance, raised by civil society organisations. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but covers selected impacts raised by BankTrack and other civil society partners since 2016. For the full scoring methodology, see here. For more information about BankTrack's evaluation of bank responses to human rights impacts, see the 2021 report "Actions speak louder: assessing bank responses to human rights violations".

Impacts reviewed
Responded?
Total score
Response
Action
Monitoring

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Banks and Climate

Banks and Climate

Partner organisation Reclaim Finance tracks the coal, oil and gas policies of financial institutions, including banks, in their Coal Policy Tool (CPT) and the Oil and Gas Policy Tracker (OGPT). BankTrack works closely with Reclaim Finance and endorses their policy assessments. Find further details on their assessment of Desjardins Group’s fossil fuel policy below.

Assessment of Desjardins Group's coal policy in the Coal Policy Tool

Assessment of Desjardins Group's polices in the Oil & Gas Policy Tracker
Good Moves

Good moves

Year:

2020

Desjardins adopts a robust coal exit policy

The Quebec financial group Desjardins has just published the details of its thermal coal policy. This policy covers all the essential exclusion criteria that will allow it to completely phase out coal by 2030 in the OECD and 2040 in the rest of the world. Desjardins becomes the 17th financial institution…