Desjardins Group and Cascades join forces for sustainable development

Both companies to share in a number of initiatives, including business reciprocity agreements.

Montréal (Québec), April 21, 2008 – Desjardins Group and Cascades, two of Québec’s leaders in social responsibility, have negotiated a partnership agreement in which the companies agreed to support each other’s initiatives in matters concerning sustainable development and business reciprocity.

The announcement was made jointly by Mr. Alain Lemaire, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cascades, and Mrs. Pauline D’Amboise, Secretary General of Desjardins Group.

“Obviously we are thrilled with this partnership, which brings our two companies together once again. With our common concerns about sustainable development and the expertise that each of us has developed in our respective fields, this partnership can only be mutually beneficial,” said Mrs. D’Amboise.

"Cascades is happy to forge a partnership with Desjardins Group that looks extremely promising,” stated Alain Lemaire, Cascades' President and Chief Executive Officer. “More than ever, companies must reduce their environmental footprint on the planet. This natural partnership will certainly enable Cascades and Desjardins to remain at the forefront of their industries with regards to sustainable development."

More precisely, the agreement stipulates that the two companies will collaborate in mounting various initiatives such as:

• The development of a general agreement involving a preferred partnership within the context of the Desjardins Paper Challenge and more broadly, within the context of the 12 corporate actions adopted by Desjardins as part of the Change the World, One Step at a Time campaign launched in collaboration with Équiterre.
• The pooling of the energy efficiency expertise developed by Desjardins and Cascades in order to share best practices in this area, as part of the energy efficiency program covering Desjardins Group’s entire building inventory placed under the responsibility of Desjardins Property Management.
• Cascades’ development of a service offer as part of Desjardins Group’s Residual Materials Management program, as either recovery agent/recycler or as an accreditor for Québec’s ICI ON RECYCLE! (Here, we recycle!) program.

Moreover, since the adoption of its sustainable development policy, Desjardins has promoted various initiatives including a transition to the use of ecological paper made of 100% recycled materials and, by December 31, 2008, to paper made of 100% post-consumer fibres. Desjardins has issued a directive to all its components in this regard, inviting them to choose Cascades ecological paper.

As a result of the agreement and the initiatives mentioned above, Cascades will now be Desjardins’ preferred supplier for reprography and commercial printing paper, tissue products and packaging paper.

For its part, Cascades intends to consider Desjardins its preferred supplier of certain financial services that Desjardins is able to offer in order to fulfill Cascades’ various needs, specifically with regard to the areas of financing, group insurance, group RRSPs and payment cards.

About Desjardins Group

Desjardins Group is the largest integrated cooperative financial group in Canada, with overall assets of $144 billion, as at December 31, 2007. It comprises a network of caisses, credit unions and business centres in Québec and Ontario, and some twenty subsidiary companies in life and general insurance, securities brokerage, venture capital and asset management, many of which are active across the country. Drawing on the expertise of its 40,000 employees and the commitment of more than 6,500 elected officers, Desjardins offers its 5.8 million individual and corporate members and clients a full range of financial products and services. Its physical distribution network is complemented by leading-edge virtual access methods.

About Cascades

Founded in 1964, Cascades produces, converts and markets packaging and tissue products. Cascades employs more than 14,000 employees who work in over 100 modern, flexible production units located in North America and Europe.

Cascades' management philosophy, its more than 40 years of experience in recycling, and its continued efforts in research and development are strengths which enable the company to create new products for its customers. The Cascades shares trade on the Toronto stock exchange under the ticker symbol CAS.

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Information: (for journalists only):
André Chapleau
Director Information and Media Relations
Desjardins Group
514-281-7229
1-866-866-7000, ext. 7229

Hubert Bolduc
Cascades
514 912-3790