2025 Order of Merit
Glenn Friesen
After a distinguished credit union career spanning 28 years, Glenn Friesen retired in 2025, leaving a legacy that speaks to his commitment to innovation, collaboration and — especially — the people he worked with and the members and community he served.
Following a year on the board of directors, Glenn was appointed CEO of Steinbach Credit Union in 1998. When he took the helm, SCU was a single-branch credit union with $790 million in assets — but it didn’t stay that way for long. Under Glenn’s leadership, SCU broke into the Winnipeg market in 2003, with a new building on McGillivray Boulevard — and, seven years later, opened one of the largest credit union branches in Canada, a 43,000-square-foot facility on Lagimodière Boulevard.
Cementing Glenn’s reputation as a builder, SCU’s head office opened in Steinbach in 2015. Construction of the energy-efficient building employed local contractors and trades, and art by hometown artists is featured throughout the six-story space.
SCU flourished throughout Glenn’s tenure, maintaining top-ten status nationally and topping $10 billion in assets by the time he retired — a remarkable achievement for a three-branch credit union whose growth was unaided by mergers. SCU was named Business of the Year by both the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce (in 2017) and the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce (2019). The credit union also received the Business Building & Acquisition Award from the Canadian Credit Union Association in 2019 and Manitoba Start’s Legacy Award for Excellence in 2018.
Glenn’s energy and vision were not limited to his own credit union. He lent his expertise and devoted significant time to a number of affiliated organizations, through work on their boards and committees — including CUCM, Celero, LCUC, PAYCO, the Prairie Payments Initiative and Project Evolution. His determination to build a stronger credit union system, through collaboration and efficiency, has contributed to millions of dollars in savings for credit unions across Canada.
Those who worked with him appreciate Glenn as a leader who values people as much as numbers. His time at SCU brought both financial success for his credit union and stellar employee satisfaction scores that dwarfed industry norms, year after year.
In his personal life, Glenn has been an active citizen and contributor to life in Steinbach, with more than 25 years of service on the boards of Envision Community Living, Steinbach Fly-In Golf Club and Grace Mennonite Church.
Glenn Young has devoted nearly four decades to strengthening Manitoba’s credit union system through focused leadership, bold vision, and dedication to cooperative values. Over the course of 22 years as an elected director with Cypress River Credit Union and 16 years on the board of Sunrise Credit Union, Glenn has contributed an extraordinary 38 years of service to the cooperative movement.
During his tenure at Cypress River Credit Union, where he served two terms as board chair, Glenn worked closely with regulators, Credit Union Central and local partners to open a new branch in Baldur in 1998 — an achievement that continues to benefit the community today.
His leadership was also instrumental in the 2008 amalgamation that united five credit unions — Cypress River, Tiger Hills, Turtle Mountain, Hartney, and Virden — to form Sunrise Credit Union. Glenn’s cooperative and collaborative spirit contributed significantly to the success of subsequent mergers with Sandy Lake, Grandview, Strathclair and Minnedosa credit unions, further bolstering Sunrise’s strength and presence across western Manitoba. And, for 14 years, he represented credit unions as Manitoba delegate to the Co-operators Group.
In addition to his credit union work, Glenn has been a tireless contributor to the agricultural community in Manitoba for more than 40 years, in a wide variety of roles. He served as district delegate to Manitoba Pool Elevators from 1984 to 1994 and represented Manitoba producers on the Net Income Stabilization Account and Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization national committees. He also spent 13 years on the board of Keystone Agricultural Producers, including four years as vice-chair, in addition to serving on the Manitoba Farm Mediation Board, Manitoba Farmlands Ownership Board, and Aquanty Project Steering Committee. He currently sits on the AgriStability and AgriInvest Appeals Committee.
In retirement, Glenn remains a passionate ambassador for his credit union, proudly sharing the Sunrise story and continuing to foster relationships that support growth and new partnerships to the benefit of the Manitoba system and the greater cooperative movement.
