A first meeting was held at Ecole de Bonnyville to establish a Credit Union. The goal of the organizers was to create a financial institution to serve the members of St. Louis Parish.

Nearly thirty people were present at the meeting. Rev. Joseph E. Lapointe chaired the meeting while T.E. Lambert acted as secretary. Maurice Biron, Henri Dupre, Lucien Hetu, Romeo Lamothe, Dr. Severin Sabourin and Herve Turcotte formed a research committee.

Following a special meeting held in the vestry, the committee decided to apply to the provincial government for incorporation under the name of St. Louis Savings Credit Union Ltd. Incorporation Certificate No. 29 was presented on May 7, 1940.

The first general meeting was held. The first officers elected were:

• Oscar Nobert – President,
• Dr. Severin Sabourin – Vice-President,
• Arthur Lambert, Rev. J.E. Lapointe, Philippe Gigere – Directors,
• Albert Dargis, Jacques Demers, Herve Turcotte – Credit Committee,
• Maurice Biron, Philias Durocher, Albert Husereau – Supervisory Committee.

Cherry Grove Credit Union was incorporated with George Burgess as President and E.M. Law as Secretary. This was the first Credit Union to be established in the Cold Lake area.

Station Cold Lake Savings and Credit Union was established to serve members on the base.

The St. Louis Savings Credit Union Ltd. name was changed to Caisse Populaire St. Louis Credit Union Ltd. On February 17, 1967, the Memorandum of Association was amended so that the Credit Union could accept as members all residents of the Bonnyville area.

Station Cold Lake Savings and Credit Union changed its name to CFB Cold Lake Savings and Credit Union. This is also the beginning of Mr. Fred Zinks career as manager for 17 years.

With the enormous growth in assets at the Credit Union on the base; Cherry Grove Credit Union decided to move to Grand Center to better serve the community. This meant changing the name to CGCL Credit Union, reflecting the communities of Cherry Grove, Grand Center and Cold Lake.

The Caisse Populaire ST. Louis Credit Union Ltd. name was changed to Caisse Populaire Bonnyville Credit Union Ltd. It was that same year that CFB Cold Lake Savings and Credit Union moved to downtown Grand Center and the existing staff of CGCL joined them to form Cold Lake Credit Union.

Cold Lake Credit Union Ltd. and Caisse Populaire Bonnyville Credit Union Ltd. agreed to amalgamate to form Lakeland Credit Union Ltd.

Without the forethought and commitment of the pioneers to the Credit Union movement in the region, the growth and development of these democratic, locally owned financial organizations would not have occurred.