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Our educational role

At Desjardins Group, we work to provide people with the means to take their financial futures and quality of life into their own hands, which is why we encourage the cooperative, economic and financial education of members.

Learning how to manage a financial services cooperative

In compliance with cooperative values, the caisses provide their elected officers with a training program based specifically on their responsibilities. Being an elected officer of a caisse today involves dealing with increasingly complex issues. Officers are also subject to unprecedented requirements in terms of governance. Find out more about elected officers.

Desjardins Youth Focus

The Desjardins Youth Focus program is an example of how important young people are to Desjardins. All Desjardins Group components have a part in promoting the social, professional and financial development of young people aged 15 to 30. The program offers four bridges leading to a multitude of initiatives throughout Quebec and Ontario: commercial practices, democracy, knowledge and information, and employment.

School caisses

Since it's never too early to learn about savings, the school caisse is still alive and well in our elementary schools. As the oldest educational activity supported by the Desjardins caisses, it teaches children the value of saving money.

Student caisses

Our high schools are also reaping the rewards of cooperation with the student caisses. Students learn about the importance of making a budget and they learn how to run a financial cooperative.

Financial support for educational institutions and organizations

We provide financial assistance to organizations that work for young people and to educational institutions through sponsorships and donations.

Cooperative education

Desjardins Group has entrusted Fondation Desjardins with a capital fund of $1 million entirely dedicated to coordinating and leading the activities of the Fondation pour l'éducation à la coopération and developing tools for youth and cooperative education. Desjardins Group is translating into action its desire to contribute to the promotion of cooperation, teaching of democracy and support of cooperative entrepreneurship among young people. Find out more about the Fondation pour l'éducation à la coopération.

Chrome@dos program: helping teens reach their goals

The Chrome@dos program contributes to the financial education of teens by teaching good savings habits. Teens can save for a specific goal through automatic transfers into a savings account for a specific period.