Accreditations & Awards Received by the Credit Counselling Society | External, Independent Reviews
Every organization strives for excellence in its chosen field. At the Credit Counselling Society, we are no different. We aim to provide exceptional service to our clients and the communities we serve, always with an eye to our mission: "To Help. To Educate. To Give Hope". To do this, we hold ourselves to the highest possible standards in our operations, our people and our behaviour. We reach for the highest levels of accreditation and service, and our efforts are frequently recognized and rewarded not only by our industry and other peers, but by our clients and our own employees as well. Here are explanations of our various accreditations, affiliations and awards:
Accredited by the Better Business Bureau
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is an independent agency that recognizes businesses for operating with high levels of trust and integrity in their standards of practice. Affiliate members of the BBB must adhere to the BBB’s Standards of Trust so that consumers can feel confident that they are dealing with an upstanding, trustworthy organization with a clean track record.
The Credit Counselling Society is a nationally accredited member of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and is qualified for national membership as an "Accredited Charity." Through many years of exemplary service, the Credit Counselling Society earned and maintained the BBB’s highest possible rating of A+ until 2012 when the BBB upgraded the Credit Counselling Society's membership to their highest level of accountability (Accredited Charity status). While the Credit Counselling Society has always been a registered, non-profit charity, the BBB is now recognizing the differences between non-profit and for-profit organizations and is holding "Accredited Charities" to a higher standard of accountability and transparency than "Accredited Businesses" by requiring that charities meet 20 standards of accountability rather than just the 16 that are required of businesses.
Accredited by Credit Counselling Canada
National Association of Non Profit Credit Counselling and Debt Payment Programs
The Credit Counselling Society has been an accredited member of Credit Counselling Canada (CCC) since its inception, in 1996. CCC is a national association of non-profit credit counselling agencies and Orderly Payment of Debt programs. Member agencies provide education and guidance in money management, credit counselling and debt payments. CCC also upholds the industry’s strictest standards of accreditation which require a non-profit organization to comply with rigorous standards that measure an organization’s integrity, financial responsibility, risk management, and delivery of programs. The staff of all CCC accredited members must also comply with CCC’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Periodic audits ensure continuous compliance at all levels. Of all the various benchmarks with which CCC members must comply in order to achieve accreditation, two stand out and set their members apart from other credit counselling and debt relief organizations:
- To be accredited and to remain accredited, a member organization must ensure that all of its Credit Counsellors are professionally accredited. New Counsellors have up to 18 months in which to receive this professional accreditation.
- No member is allowed to pay their Credit Counsellors commission of any kind. This standard helps to ensure that the guidance provided by each member's Credit Counsellors is objective and does not favour a service that could generate revenue for the organization.
At the Credit Counselling Society, we go above and beyond to ensure that our staff and practices adhere to CCC’s strict expectations of professionalism. It is important to us to belong to such an organization so our clients can be sure that they are receiving the best possible information and service. We also take comfort in knowing that our fellow members are operating at the highest possible standard, which elevates the industry as a whole.
Affiliate of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling
North America’s Largest Association of Non Profit Credit Counselling Organizations
In 2017, the Credit Counselling Society became the first International Affiliate member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling® (NFCC®), North America’s first and largest non-profit credit counselling organization. A large part of the NFCC’s mission is to support its member organizations in their efforts to deliver the highest-quality financial education and counselling services. We are extremely proud to be the only member of the NFCC outside of the United States, and to be recognized internationally for our outstanding financial education and counselling programs. As with our membership in CCC, our place at the table with other NFCC members allows us to benefit from and participate in industry-wide conversations and professional development. This can only make us a stronger service provider going forward.
All NFCC organizations are accredited by the Council on Accreditation (see below) and are held to the highest standards of excellence by 18 quality standards that are the most rigorous in the industry.
Accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA)
North America’s Highest Standard in Non Profit Accreditation
The Council on Accreditation (COA) is an international not-for-profit accrediting organization. Its mission is to partner with human service organizations worldwide to develop, apply and promote best practice standards to ensure the highest standards of service delivery outcomes. Accreditation by COA is a rigorous vetting process that involves a lengthy and in-depth review of every element of an agency’s practices. The extensive process culminates in a thorough three day audit by a team of independent auditors. On July 2018, we received our COA accreditation. We not only passed the audit, but we received an extremely high score.
To date, COA has accredited over 2,200 organizations and programs serving more than 7 million individuals and families. In addition, COA has separate Accreditation Programs for private organizations, public agencies, Canadian organizations, military family readiness programs, child and youth development programs, and international adoption programs. The Credit Counselling Society is extremely proud to be in such good company and to operate with full confidence that our practices and operations are among the best in North America and beyond.
Named One of Canada's Best Workplaces by Great Place to Work
In 2018, the Credit Counselling Society (CCS) was recognized as one of Canada’s Best Employers by Great Place to Work for the fourth time in seven years. The Great Place to Work program uses detailed employee surveys to assess the culture of an organization, and ranks similar sized companies against their peers. The Great Place to Work Award places a premium on those organizations that emphasize a healthy internal culture that supports employee engagement, quality of work life and high-performance results.
While we are extremely proud of all our external accolades and accomplishments, this award is particularly special to the leadership team of CCS because it comes from within. It is an acknowledgement that the whole team appreciates and understands our agency’s value system and our mission. An organization is only as good as its people – and we have some of the best!
Winner of the Consumer Choice Award in Ottawa, Hamilton, London, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon and Vancouver
The Consumer Choice Awards (CCA) are recognition of the best of the best by consumers themselves. Through a rigorous multi- step process which includes surveying customers in local areas, as well as conducting extensive company research to identify those companies with the highest customer service ratings, Consumer Choice Awards are awarded annually at the local level. The Credit Counselling Society is very proud to be a repeat winner in many of the cities we serve. While it is always rewarding to be recognized by your peers and other professionals, it is incredibly rewarding to be acknowledged publicly by the clients we serve when they are at their most vulnerable.
Licensing & Registration
The Credit Counselling Society is nationally registered with the Canada Revenue Agency as a non-profit, charitable organization. Our registered charity number is 89469 0890 RR0001.
At the provincial level, the Credit Counselling Society is licensed to operate in all of the following provinces:
| Province | Registration Number |
| Alberta | 319758 |
| British Columbia | 17012 |
| Manitoba | 18103 |
| Ontario | 4723742 |
| Saskatchewan | 314609 |
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