CAMROSE, AB, March 1 – Ever dreamed of renovating your
family room and getting rid of that shag carpeting once and for all? Or how about
banishing that olive green toilet and matching sink? Well dreams do come true, especially
for one Camrose woman, Charlotte Borgstrom.
Borgstrom won a $5,000 home renovation as part of a
“Stop Haggling” contest through The Co-operators and Citizens Bank of Canada.
The contest is part of a pilot project in Alberta, where The Co-operators has partnered
with Citizens Bank to offer mortgages through Co-operators offices and agents. By offering
a mortgage rate of up to one full per cent below those posted by the big five banks, customers
were assured of the best rate without the haggling traditionally associated with mortgage lending.
Contest participants applied for a mortgage or submitted
their mortgage renewal date to a Co-operators agent and were automatically entered into
the draw to win a home renovation. Approximately 425 people entered the contest and
Borgstrom was notified January 25. Borgstrom, a Co-operators client, plans to use the
prize to put new siding on her home.
“I was absolutely thrilled that my client won the
contest,” said Agent Mike Kelemen of The Co-operators in Camrose. “Not only can
I offer clients a mortgage solution that saves them money, this contest allowed a
homeowner to make improvements to their home.”
Citizens Bank is the only bank in Canada with an Ethical
Policy that publicly states its position on eight key social and environmental issues.
Wholly owned by VanCity Credit Union, Citizens offers 24 hour, seven-days-a- week service
by telephone, fax, ATM and the Internet.
The Co-operators is a group of wholly Canadian-owned
companies that specialize in insurance and financial products, property development, and
management and investment counselling. The Co-operators group of companies provides
insurance protection to more than two million Canadians and have assets of over $4.7 billion.
