Strength in numbers

At the end of the 19th century, borrowing could cost modest families a fortune. In 1897, in the House of Commons, an MP reported cases, mostly in Montreal, where interest equivalent to almost 3,000% a year was being charged. In the gallery, a stenographer from Lévis, Alphonse Desjardins, took a keen interest in the question.

On December 6, 1900, in Lévis, about a hundred citizens met to found, with him, the Caisse populaire de Lévis; 132 people indicated their intention to join. The caisse opened on January 23, 1901. After a month, deposits totalled $242.80, made up of very small sums. In March 1901, a first loan of $50 was granted to a local marble worker. His wife, Dorimène Desjardins, involved in the project from the start, kept the books, received members and, from 1903 to 1906, unofficially ran the caisse. In 2016, she was designated a person of national historic significance.

The idea was simple: people who had almost nothing could, by pooling their savings, lend to one another on fair terms. This Quebec intuition meets that of African tontines and still speaks today to all those whom financial institutions keep at arm's length. Ubuntu and co-operation say the same thing: we only truly grow rich together.