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Scotiabank to shut down Crapaud, Kensington branches in 2023/24

New combined facility planned for Summerside

CODY MCEACHERN SALTWIRE NETWORK Cody.McEachern @saltwire.com @CodyInHiFi

KENSINGTON, P.E.I. - A Canadian banking instution is closing its local branches in two rural P.E.I. communities in the next two years.

Scotiabank will be shutting down branches in Kensington and Crapaud and relocating them to a ‘new, state-of-theart' branch in Summerside, the bank confirmed in an email to SaltWire Network on June 23.

“The new branch will be updated with the latest branch technology and will include a drive-thru and expanded parking stalls,” said a statement sent from Scotiabank.

The statement said the Kensington and Crapaud branches would close sometime during the 2023/24 fiscal year, however, for the time, the automatic banking machines (ABM) will remain.

Scotiabank said the new location, which will be at 485 Granville St. in the empty lot next to Esso, will be an investment into Summerside and allow the bank to grow further in P.E.I.

The bank did not confirm whether the current downtown Summerside location would be closing.

“We look forward to the opportunity to work with customers to understand how we can help make this transition as smooth as possible,” the statement said.

“Scotiabank has a longstanding relationship with the community in Crapaud and Kensington and we want to assure residents that our support of the community will continue.”

RURAL COMMUNITIES NEGLECTED

However, not everyone is feeling that support.

Rowan Caseley, the mayor of Kensington, said he was contacted by Scotiabank to inform him of its decision to close the branch. He said it was disappointing to hear the instution would be pulling out of the community.

“I said to them, ‘Well you obviously are not expecting me to be very pleased with a decision like this,'” he said of a phone interview on June 24.

“No mayor anywhere is going to be pleased with a business leaving a town. I don't know what rationale they used for their decisionmaking. I think this is going to have a big impact on a lot of their customers who live in town and a lot of the farming services and businesses that use them, including the town.”

Caseley said the town has been a customer of Scotiabank for more than 30 years, choosing to use them because they were local to the community. However, with the bank shutting down the local branch, he said that might change.

“It's not something we are necessarily going to be looking at right away, but we've always had other banks looking for our business,” he said.

“We don't take looking at another bank lightly, and Scotiabank has always had our favour because they were right here in town. We want to support what is in town, so if they aren't here, that is one thing they don't have in their favour.”

“I said to them, ‘Well you obviously are not expecting me to be very pleased with a decision like this.”

Rowan Casely

Mayor of Kensington

NO INVOLVEMENT IN DECISION

What's most frustrating to Caseley is not just the bank closing its location, but the lack of communication before the decision was made.

“We didn't even know it was happening, the decision was just made,” he said.

“I kind of understand them having to make a decision, but I don't know if they've looked at all of the factors.”

While seeing businesses leave behind rural communities for larger locations in cities with higher populations isn't new, Caseley said its still disappointing the bank didn't consider a joint location in a rural hub to service the residents and businesses in the surrounding areas.

“It's disappointing, you know? It's another one of those things where I don't understand why everything has to move from rural areas to big city areas. Rural communities just seem to be left in the dust,” he said.

While the Kensington branch will be limited to ABMs, there is still another financial instution in the community for those who rely on in-person banking to potentially fall back on – Provincial Credit Union.

THE ONLY BANK FOR MILES

However, those in Crapaud aren't as lucky - Scotiabank is the only such business in the village.

“It's pretty serious business if they take our bank. That's going to interfere with a lot of seniors,” said Macrena Howatt, a resident in Victoria who banks at the nearby Crapaud Scotiabank.

“They closed (the bank in) Albany, so now everyone from Albany, Borden and all the surrounding areas use the Scotiabank.”

While Howatt counts herself as one of the lucky ones, having worked on computers until she was 80 and understanding how to do banking online, she said many older residents in Crapaud and surrounding areas rely on banking in-person.

“When you go up to the bank the day cheques come in, you'll be waiting in a line up with a lot of older people.

They won't do anything online because it's unfamiliar or they don't consider it safe,” she said.

Once Scotiabank leaves Crapaud, the closest banks will be in either Charlottetown, Hunter River or Summerside, meaning anyone who prefers to bank in person will need to travel.

LACK OF SUPPORT

That's a stark reality from how it used to be in Crapaud. When Howatt moved to P.E.I. in the 1950s, the community had gas stations, stores and other services.

However, Howatt said now it seems like businesses are on their way out of the community more than they are coming to it, noting the community hasn't had a gas station for years.

“We either need to drive to New Haven or to Borden to fill up,” she said.

As for why businesses have been leaving the community over the years, Howatt said it could be due to a lack of support.

“A lot of people in the winter will use (local stores) for bread, milk, cereal and the basics, but when they start working in town in the summer, they will shop at the big stores,” she said.

“If you aren't supporting them year around, you aren't going to have them.”

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2022-06-29T07:00:00.0000000Z

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