MONTREAL and TORONTO – Desjardins Payroll and Human Resources Services (DPHRS), a division of Desjardins Group, Canada's largest integrated cooperative financial group, and International Time Recorder Company Ltd. (ITR), a leading provider of workforce management systems, today announced a partnership to integrate the services of the two companies. The partnership will enhance the payroll service offering provided to Desjardins business customers by integrating the automated management of employee time and labor activities, creating a seamless, streamlined payroll process.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will mutually refer existing and future customers to add value to each other's products and services. ITR's time management systems control, calculate and manage employee time, and can be easily interfaced with Desjardins' PC Payroll and complement its Phone Payroll and Internet Payroll solutions. ITR's site access control products can also be integrated.

Normand Houle, Vice President of Desjardins Payroll and Human Resources Services, said, "The solutions provided by ITR complement our payroll services. This agreement will enable us to offer our clients a more complete range of services."

ITR CEO Tracy Parzych said, "We see a perfect fit between the two companies. We offer complementary services to virtually the same customer base. This agreement provides us with the opportunity to leverage each company's success in its own area of expertise to create a better solution for the customer. It makes perfect sense and creates a win-win situation not only for ITR and Desjardins, but most importantly, for our customers."

About Desjardins
Desjardins Group is the largest integrated cooperative financial group in Canada, with overall assets of more than $118 billion. It comprises a network of caisses, credit unions and business centers in Québec and Ontario, and some twenty subsidiary companies in life and general insurance, securities brokerage, venture capital and asset management, many of which are active across the country. Drawing on the expertise of its 40,000 employees and the commitment of 7,600 elected officers, Desjardins offers its 5.5 million individual and corporate members and clients a full range of financial products and services. Its physical distribution network is complemented by leading-edge virtual access methods.