I should have mentioned that my fee-free banking is in fact with one of the major banks in Canada.

As for credit unions, in large measure (at least in my bailiwick) they seem to have gone the way of banks in the States — charging up the wazoo for services and just for the privilege of having an account with them. Fortunately, it was just at the time they started behaving arrogantly that I was able to switch over to a bank that had no problem catering to me. And I had been with credit unions for several decades before that.
C'est la vie/guerre financière.