Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation holds its Annual Public Meeting in Halifax

Halifax, October 6, 2009 — The Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) held its 2009 Annual Public Meeting today at the Cunard Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. CDIC holds the annual event in a different part of Canada each year. Well attended by Haligonians and others from the surrounding region, the meeting included presentations by CDIC’s Chair, Bryan P. Davies and its President and CEO, Guy L. Saint-Pierre.

“Our efforts to meet directly with Canadians to present and to discuss information about CDIC deposit insurance are paying off,” commented Chair Bryan P. Davies following the meeting. “More Canadians than ever before know about CDIC and the $100,000 deposit insurance limit—valuable information to Canadians as they make financial plans and decisions.”

During the meeting, Guy L. Saint-Pierre provided an overview of CDIC deposit insurance, including some examples to explain what’s covered and what’s not covered. He reinforced that “savings eligible for CDIC coverage include such everyday savings as chequing accounts, and GICs and other term deposits that mature in 5 years or less, but they do not include, for example, mutual funds and stocks.” He added that eligible deposits in tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs) are covered by CDIC.

Canadians can check to see if their deposits are covered by CDIC by asking at their financial institution, and by visiting CDIC’s website at www.cdic.ca or calling 1-800-461-2342 (CDIC).

CDIC is a federal Crown corporation that provides deposit insurance against the loss of deposits with its member institutions in the event of their failure. Eligible deposits are automatically insured from $1 to $100,000 per person at each member institution. The deposit insurance coverage limit is set by Parliament. CDIC members include Canadian banks, loan companies and trust companies that take deposits, as well as retail associations governed by the Cooperative Credit Associations Act that take deposits. CDIC is funded by premiums assessed on its member institutions and does not receive federal tax dollars. As at April 30, 2009, CDIC insured $590 billion in deposits at its member institutions.