FAQ – Personal financial products and services – Member dividends

Yes. Members can take part in their caisse's annual general meeting (AGM) to vote on how much of the surplus earnings will be distributed as member dividends.

No, the product dividend is not cumulative. You'll receive 1 fixed amount, as long as you had at least 1 eligible Desjardins product in each of the 4 product lines during the last fiscal year. It doesn't matter how many products you had in total or how many caisses you do business with. Members age 30 and under must have eligible products in 3 of the 4 product lines.

If these are the only products you have, then no. You need at least 1 eligible Desjardins product in 4 different product lines—not just 4 products. Members age 30 and under need a product in only 3 of the 4 product lines. The RRSP, RESP and TFSA are all from the same product line (Savings and investments), while the everyday account is from the Accounts product line. That makes only 2 different product lines.

Yes. Our aim is to reward members for all eligible products they have across Desjardins Group. All eligible Desjardins products you had during the last year will be counted.

The product dividend is based on the number of months over which you had eligible products from all 4 product lines. For example, if you qualified for the product dividend only during the last 6 months of the year, you'll receive half the maximum amount, which, in this case, is $25.

Your volume dividend is calculated using your average monthly balance or insurance premium, pro-rated for the number of months you held these products. For credits cards, the amount is calculated based on the net purchases made with your card during the year. For wealth management investment services, calculations are based on fees and commissions paid for the year.

Yes, you'll both be fully recognized for having a product in this product line. For the product dividend, jointly held products are counted 100% for each person as if they were the only one on the account. Exceptions include credit cards, in-caisse Accord D financing and wealth management investment services, where only the primary product holder is eligible.

For the volume dividend, we split the volume evenly between the product holders. For example, if you have a $200,000 mortgage, you'll each get a dividend based on a volume of $100,000.

Member dividends are calculated by adding up the product dividend and volume dividend amounts.

Product dividend calculation

The maximum amount for the product dividend is $50. The product dividend is based on the number of months over which you had eligible products from all 4 product lines. For example, if you qualified for the product dividend only during the last 6 months of the year, you'll receive half the maximum amount, which, in this case, is $25.

Only personal members are eligible for product dividends.

Volume dividend calculation

The volume dividend is calculated based on your business volume in each product line, except for:

• Credit cards: Calculations are based on net purchases.
• Wealth management investment services: Calculations are based on fees and commissions paid.
• Insurance products: Calculations are based on premiums paid.

We apply a certain rate per $1,000 for every eligible product in each product line.

For jointly held products, we split the volume evenly between the product holders. However, the volume is only paid to the primary product holder for:

• Joint credit cards
• In-caisse Accord D financing
• Part of member dividends that are based on fees and commissions paid for wealth management investment services provided by Desjardins Securities Inc. to the clients of Signature Service, Desjardins Securities and Desjardins Online Brokerage

If you're a member of only 1 caisse or credit union:

Volume and product dividends are deposited into your everyday account. The amounts for both categories are paid out together.

If you're a member of multiple caisses:

Product dividends are deposited into the everyday account at the caisse where you do most of your business. Volume dividends are deposited into the everyday account at the caisses that pay out the volume dividends.

If you have a registered plan:

Volume dividends are deposited into the registered account where you hold the products for which you're receiving dividends. If you don't have a registered account, the volume dividends are deposited into your everyday account and become taxable.

Member dividends are usually taxable, but there are certain exceptions:

• Volume dividends for loans and lines of credit aren't taxable as long as you don't deduct the interest expenses
• Volume dividends linked to a registered account (RRSP) held at the caisse aren't taxable as long as they're deposited into the registered account
• Volume dividends for the Insurance product line aren't taxable.

The taxable portion of your dividends is included in a T5 slip (federal) and Relevé 3 (Quebec) when the total taxable amount (dividends and other taxable amounts paid out by your caisse) exceeds $50.

Note that you need to declare taxable income even if it's not included in a tax slip.

We may send you tax slips for the following dividends and products:

• Product dividends
• Volume dividends for:
  • Accounts
  • Non-registered savings
  • Funds
  • Credit cards
  • Wealth management investment services
  • Any product for which you receive a tax slip

For more information about your taxes, contact an accountant or tax specialist.

Dividends aren't taxable if they're paid into a registered account under the same plan. However, if you no longer have an account associated with that plan, the dividends become taxable if they're deposited into your everyday account or paid by cheque.

Yes. If you don't receive your dividend, contact your former caisse to see if any amounts are owed to you.

There are 2 possible reasons for the discrepancy:

• The amount on AccèsD or in the letter corresponds to your total dividend amount, which includes member dividends from all the caisses you do business with.
• If a portion of your members dividend comes from registered plans, then that portion was deposited in your registered plan account.