After having worked for 47 years at the Bank of Montreal, during which he went from simple cashier at the Rivière-du-Loup branch to president of operations for Quebec, Claude Gagnon will soon embark on a new career as a producer of mini-kiwis. . The one who succeeded Jacques Ménard four years ago as head of Quebec operations looks back on his job and tells us how much he has transformed since his beginnings in 1975.
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“The profession has remained the same, but it has developed with completely new tools. When I started in 1975, there was nothing computerized. We were just beginning to install terminals in certain branches,” explained Claude Gagnon, a few months before his retirement.
The outgoing President, who will be replaced on 1er November by Grégoire Baillargeon, currently Managing Director of BMO Capital Markets, Quebec, began his career as an intern in Rivière-du-Loup in a program to become a branch manager.
“I started my internship at 18 as a cashier in Rivière-du-Loup. During my job interview, I was asked where I did not want to go to work. I had answered them in the Bas-du-Fleuve and in Montreal. I spent a year in Rivière-du-Loup, and in 1976 I was transferred to the Galeries d’Anjou branch. You have to believe that they wanted to test my ambition to work at the bank,” relates Claude Gagnon with amusement.
The cashier’s job was to record deposits and withdrawals by hand on each customer’s cardboard cards. For large commercial customers, the slips had to be indexed daily. The first computer terminals appeared at the end of 1975, then the technological changes were only accelerating.
There was the beginning of inter-branch transactions, then the appearance of automated teller machines in the 1980s and, finally, the standardization of the Canadian banking system which made it possible to carry out transactions between banks.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Claude Gagnon, President of BMO Financial Group Quebec Operations
But still in 1975, we provided cashiers with a weapon. The branch manager lived in the accommodation above the bank and provided security. Today, hold-ups no longer exist.
Claude Gagnon, President of BMO Financial Group Quebec Operations
Claude Gagnon specifies that here too, technological changes have changed the portrait of security in financial institutions, while the Bank of Montreal faces thousands of phishing attempts every day and invests hundreds of millions a year. to protect against computer fraud.
Close to retail and communities
In 47 years at the Bank of Montreal, Claude Gagnon has climbed many levels, but has always remained close to retail activities, those that affect the general public.
“I evolved within the bank. I went from cashier to accounting assistant to administrative manager while I was finishing my MBA. I dealt a lot with human resources, I was responsible for recruitment, assignments, labor relations,” he explains.
Skills that served him well when the pandemic forced the widespread teleworking of bank employees.
We had been trying for years to implement work-study teleworking. We only managed to convince 5% of our employees to take part, whereas our objective was to reach 13%. Then COVID arrived and there, more than 90% of our employees had to be trained and equipped to work from home. We will take positives from this crisis.
Claude Gagnon, President of BMO Financial Group Quebec Operations
Of his four years spent at the head of the Quebec activities of BMO Financial Group, it is obviously the management of the COVID-19 which has been the highlight.
“COVID has occupied a large place in my mandate, but I am also proud to have launched a major tour of the regions in my first year as president. I toured Quebec and insisted on meeting the leaders of the Aboriginal communities in each region,” explains Claude Gagnon.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Our columnist spoke with Claude Gagnon, president of operations of BMO Financial Group in Quebec.
The Bank of Montreal is the first bank for Aboriginal communities, the president reminds me. A historical reality that I was able to verify during a stay in the small community of Wemindji, in James Bay, where a branch of the BMO was clearly visible in the heart of the village of a few hundred inhabitants.
This is one of three BMO branches in Aboriginal communities, while a dozen others are in urban centers adjacent to as many communities in Quebec.
“It was important for me to discuss with community leaders to learn about their aspirations and to build bridges with entrepreneurs in each region. This is part of our legacy,” says Claude Gagnon.
After 47 years at BMO, the outgoing president decided it was time to leave while he still had the health and energy to carry out other projects, including the one he has been pursuing for three years now: culture. of mini kiwis.
“We bought a small farm of about twenty acres in the Lacolle region and we are going to produce mini-kiwis, which look like grapes. We did tests, and the plants are resistant to our cold. We plan to plant next year. It’s our project that will keep us busy for the next few years and allow us to travel during the winter,” says Claude Gagnon with delight.