everhopeful said
I still use Hubert as my extended emergency fund... l keep about a months worth of expenses liquid in HISAs, and I have about a years worth of expenses in a Hubert quarterly redeemable GIC. I find it comforting that I can redeem it anytime and have the funds in just days, yet still earn interest just below the top earning fixed GIC's (at other FI's) that I have laddered for long term expenses. It uniquely meets this need the best.

What keeps me from investing significantly with Hubert (& other Manitoba CU's) is that they are backed by the DGCM rather than CDIC. If things really went to heck and the DGCM's funds were depleted, there is probably little incentive for the Manitoba government to step in and cover my deposits, since I do not reside (or vote) there.  

While those are valid concerns regarding the inferiority of the DGCM deposit insurance relative to CDIC, for me, that is not my primary concerns.

My main concerns with Hubert are as wells:

* New-to-FI onboarding now requires a mobile phone number and a selfie ID verification, which is a non-starter for me
* Linked account transfers are only available via contact centre representative, via telephone, Monday to Friday during bankers' hours when most people are working. This is severely limiting
* Member share redemptions are currently 'paused', which is concerning. It's a bit of a "hotel California" type situation. You can get in, but can you get out?
* Customer service has gone downhill
* Branches have been closed in rural and suburban areas, despite insistence this would not happen

Cheers,
Doug

What keeps me from investing significantly with Hubert (& other Manitoba CU's) is that they are backed by the DGCM rather than CDIC. If things really went to heck and the DGCM's funds were depleted, there is probably little incentive for the Manitoba government to step in and cover my deposits, since I do not reside (or vote) there.

Briguy said

EQ 30 day notice pays only 2.75 percent and 10 day notice only pays 2.35 percent. So if you have 100K for example that you want to keep liquid, but it turns out you didn't need it for the year, you would earn 550.00 more with Hubert compared to the 30 day notice and 950.00 more compared to the 10 day notice. If you direct deposit your pay into EQ Bank you would earn 2.75 percent and don't even need the notice accounts.

One only earns 2.2 percent on a Scotiabank Series F ISA, and around the same for a Money Market ETF like PSA or CASH , so I think the Hubert quarterly GIC still makes sense if you are trying to maximize your interest rate while keeping funds fairly liquid.  

That's if you hold those funds in there for a full year, in which case, you might as well just go with a 1-year GIC (which Outlook and Achieva both have).

Personally, for managing larger amounts like that in individual GICs, one is better off managing them within their discount brokerage platform. These Manitoba CUs are largely passe, Achieva Financial being a notable exception I'll give a pass to.

Cheers,
Doug

doug said

Quarterly GIC isn't that essential anymore. EQ Bank's Notice Savings Account offers comparable rates to a 1-year quarterly GIC, with less lock-in risk / greater liquidity.   

EQ 30 day notice pays only 2.75 percent and 10 day notice only pays 2.35 percent. So if you have 100K for example that you want to keep liquid, but it turns out you didn't need it for the year, you would earn 550.00 more with Hubert compared to the 30 day notice and 950.00 more compared to the 10 day notice. If you direct deposit your pay into EQ Bank you would earn 2.75 percent and don't even need the notice accounts.

One only earns 2.2 percent on a Scotiabank Series F ISA, and around the same for a Money Market ETF like PSA or CASH , so I think the Hubert quarterly GIC still makes sense if you are trying to maximize your interest rate while keeping funds fairly liquid.

Briguy said

Hubert Financial is still a strong contender due to their excellent customer service and quarterly one year term GIC paying 3.3 percent. If you need to be liquid, that rate is higher than any HISA besides short term promotion HISAs.

Achieva is a great credit union, but doesn't have that quarterly GIC. A personal redeemable 24 month GIC at Scotiabank for eg. only pays 2.55 percent, so the Hubert quarterly GIC is much higher.  

Quarterly GIC isn't that essential anymore. EQ Bank's Notice Savings Account offers comparable rates to a 1-year quarterly GIC, with less lock-in risk / greater liquidity.

doug said

Rail Baron said
Somebody sure seems in a hurry to get MAXA Financial off this site.

I humbly suggest keeping them in place until the integration is actually completed.

Right now, that is proposed to be mid-October of 2026. What's the hurry to boot them now?

Those that are already MAXA Financial members will receive e-mail notifications of GIC promotions. You can count on two hands or less the number of HighInterestSavings.ca users who have current/active MAXA Financial memberships.

A member migration of this nature is very disputive, requiring new membership numbers, new debit cards, new online banking credentials, and the like.

Since the main purpose of this site is for new-to-FI membership sign-ups, there is zero compelling reason for maintaining confirmed "walk of death financial institutions" on the comparison charts.

Anyone that wants to sign up for a Manitoba CU account would be just as well, if not better served by going with Achieva Financial, Outlook Financial, or Hubert Financial.

However, given Outlook is ending support for Me 2 Me Transfers and Hubert EFT transfers are only available via telephone with a CSR, whose hours aren't great for those west of Saskatchewan, I would submit there's really only one viable Manitoba CU now, and that's Achieva Financial (which is also the original one). All others are absolute trash at this point. 🙂  

Hubert Financial is still a strong contender due to their excellent customer service and quarterly one year term GIC paying 3.3 percent. If you need to be liquid, that rate is higher than any HISA besides short term promotion HISAs.

Achieva is a great credit union, but doesn't have that quarterly GIC. A personal redeemable 24 month GIC at Scotiabank for eg. only pays 2.55 percent, so the Hubert quarterly GIC is much higher.

But as a MAXA member since 2021, I have never received any announcements of GIC promotions, or rate adjustments, the way that Hubert or Oaken provide. Thus having MAXA in the rate table on this site is of value to me, and the other users of this site who have an account with them.

And if newcomers to the site are tempted by MAXA's rates, they could easily find news about the consolidation with Assiniboine Credit Union in the MAXA forum before signing up for a new account. Some might still want to do so, because MAXA offers services that some other Manitoba credit unions do not, such as offering LIRAs, for example.

Rail Baron said
Somebody sure seems in a hurry to get MAXA Financial off this site.

I humbly suggest keeping them in place until the integration is actually completed.

Right now, that is proposed to be mid-October of 2026. What's the hurry to boot them now?

Those that are already MAXA Financial members will receive e-mail notifications of GIC promotions. You can count on two hands or less the number of HighInterestSavings.ca users who have current/active MAXA Financial memberships.

A member migration of this nature is very disputive, requiring new membership numbers, new debit cards, new online banking credentials, and the like.

Since the main purpose of this site is for new-to-FI membership sign-ups, there is zero compelling reason for maintaining confirmed "walk of death financial institutions" on the comparison charts.

Anyone that wants to sign up for a Manitoba CU account would be just as well, if not better served by going with Achieva Financial, Outlook Financial, or Hubert Financial.

However, given Outlook is ending support for Me 2 Me Transfers and Hubert EFT transfers are only available via telephone with a CSR, whose hours aren't great for those west of Saskatchewan, I would submit there's really only one viable Manitoba CU now, and that's Achieva Financial (which is also the original one). All others are absolute trash at this point. 🙂

I humbly suggest keeping them in place until the integration is actually completed.

Right now, that is proposed to be mid-October of 2026. What's the hurry to boot them now?

Does anyone else remember Hubert's deadline to revamp its IT and introduce multi-factor authentication? That was supposed to happen in October of 2025, and we are still awaiting word on their new plan to fix the glitches in the system that they were trying to bring online.

So who knows how long the actual integration of MAXA into ACU will take? We'll find out when it happens, not before!

Let's remove MAXA Financial from the comparison chart now. They never attracted more than 1,000 concurrent customers and more than $25-50 million in total deposits assigned to the MAXA Financial branch (based on my best estimates).

Currently, the TFSA funds you have on deposit with our credit union are held under the Westoba Credit Union Tax-Free Savings Account specimen plan, trusteed by Concentra Trust.

At our request, the Trustee has agreed to the transfer of your TFSA contract(s) to another specimen plan, known as the Outlook Financial – A Division of Assiniboine Credit Union Tax Free Savings Account, which is also trusteed by Concentra Trust. All administration and processing continues to be conducted directly at the credit union. Your TFSA contract(s) will be amended effective January 1, 2026, to conform to this new plan..

The Declaration of Trust governing this new plan can be found by visiting Outlook Financial website, by clicking the URL below....

We suggest that you retain this Declaration with your other TFSA documents for reference.

This amendment does not alter the investments held in your TFSA contract in any fashion. Funds remain on deposit at the credit union with interest rates and investment terms remaining unchanged.

Cheers,
Doug