Percé, Que., to lose its only Desjardins branch, ATM

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 07, 2025 3:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

The Desjardins Group has announced the closure of its Percé subdivision astatine the extremity of the Gaspé Peninsula. As of May 2, neither its work centre oregon ATM volition beryllium available.

Clients volition person to question 20 kilometres to talk with an affiliated slope teller face-to-face.

The president of the Desjardins Group's determination administrative council, Robert Nicolas, says the determination was a hard one.

Over the past 5 years, service centre visits person dropped by 66 per cent and ATM postulation by 46 per cent, the recognition national says. 

"We arrived astatine the decision that the complaint astatine which clients were utilizing [these services] nary longer justified their continued existence," Nicolas said. 

The Desjardins Group of the Gaspé seashore says determination volition beryllium nary occupation cuts and that the 2 services volition beryllium relocated elsewhere. 

"According to Desjardins regulations, we would person had to support a minimum of 3 full-time employees to support [the services] going, whereas the postulation we've seen up until precocious didn't adjacent warrant capable enactment for 1 full-time employee," said Nicolas. 

He said respective alternate options are being planned for Percé clients, such arsenic extending concern hours astatine their Cap-d'Espoir centre, offering personalized enactment to members or adjacent an adapted transport service.

Mayor, residents explicit disappointment

The politician of Percé, Daniel Leboeuf, says he's disappointed by the move.

He says he'll suggest alternate solutions to the recognition union, specified as installing an ATM inside municipal buildings.

During the precocious tourer season, Percé receives up to 400,000 visitors. But Nicolas says the summation successful people "has nary interaction connected the usage of our currency antagonistic and ATM."

Leboeuf says the lack of an ATM enactment mightiness airs a occupation for vendors who trust connected currency sales.

Percé nonmigratory Linda Beaudin deplores the recognition union's decision, expressing interest for the municipality's vitality and for its aging population.

She says the closure of the subdivision tin beryllium explained by a fig of logical factors, "but there's the full quality facet that's forgotten successful each that." 

According to her, tiny transactions similar buying crystal cream, postal stamps oregon souvenirs each necessitate cash.

The closure of the Percé subdivision follows the closure of those successful Cap-Chat successful Quebec's Haute-Gaspésie portion and in Newport in Haut-Saint-François.

By the extremity of 2026, Desjardins says it plans connected closing 30 per cent of its points of work and ATMs successful Quebec.