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Three-quarters of survey respondents say extreme weather patterns make winter tires more important than ever Toronto, ON (Nov. 11, 2025) – Three-quarters of Canadian motorists (76 per cent) believe extreme winter weather events related to Canada’s changing climate have made winter tires more important than ever, according to a new Probe Research survey commissioned by the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada. More than four in five (84 per cent) say driving a vehicle equipped with winter tires has saved them from an accident or loss of control. With weather patterns becoming increasingly unpredictable, winter tire usage continues to grow. Across Canada usage now stands at 80 per cent, showing a 2-point increase from last year and a 12-point increase over the last decade. The study also reveals that 81 per cent of drivers believe winter tires are an important investment despite the rising cost of living. However, current financial pressures are having an impact. About one in three drivers (32 per cent) say they are now less likely to buy winter tires because of increased financial burdens. “With climate challenges affecting Canadian winters, drivers are rightfully concerned about safety on the roads,” says Carol Hochu, president and CEO of TRAC....
/ ThinkAdvisor provides financial advisors, registered investment advisors and wealth managers with comprehensive coverage of the products, services and information they need to guide their clients in making critical wealth, health and life decisions.
Article 0 Comments At the recent Target Markets Annual Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona, a gathering of 2,000 MGAs, program administrators and carrier executives, Insurance Journal sat down with Abbie Taylor, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Jacksonville, Florida-based Fortegra. Here is an edited transcript of the conversation. Insurance Journal: What can you tell us about the MGA space in terms of its size and the factors driving its growth? Abbie Taylor Abbie Taylor: It’s always great to be back at Target Markets and get a sense of the MGA market more broadly. The market today is over $110 billion in the U.S. — it’s basically doubled in the last five years — and MGA growth is outpacing that of the broader P&C market. There are more than 1,100 MGAs and program administrators operating at this point, and we’re seeing strong growth of MGAs in the UK and Europe as well. One thing I particularly enjoy about coming to Target Markets is meeting with agents and hearing the deep expertise they bring to their niche markets. Over the years, we’ve seen talented professionals leave large carriers to hang out their own shingle, and there are several reasons for that....
Article 0 Comments California plans to revoke 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses given to immigrants after discovering the expiration dates went past when the drivers were legally allowed to be in the U.S., state officials said. The announcement follows harsh criticism from the Trump administration about California and other states granting licenses to people in the country illegally. The issue was thrust into the public’s consciousness in August, when a tractor-trailer driver not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday that California’s action to revoke these licenses is an admission that the state acted improperly even though it previously defended its licensing standards. California launched its review of commercial driver’s licenses it issued after Duffy raised concerns. “After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed. Now that we’ve exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses are being revoked,” Duffy said, referring to the state’s governor. “This is just the tip of iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semitrucks...
Article 0 Comments A grandfather and his young granddaughter. An electrician with two young children. A woman standing in line at a scrap metal business. They were among the 14 people who died in the fiery crash of a UPS plane in Louisville last week. Their names were released Wednesday as Mayor Craig Greenberg lamented the lives that will “forever be unfinished.” “As we share the names of those who we’ve lost, our city feels the full weight of this unimaginable tragedy,” Greenberg said at a news conference. “Behind every one of these names is a circle of family, friends, stories that will forever be unfinished.” Eight days after the plane plowed into the ground in a massive fireball, the local coroner’s office said it completed the grim tasks of recovering victims’ remains, identifying them and notifying their loved ones. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board remain at the crash site, Greenberg said. Victims included three pilots on board when the crash happened during takeoff at UPS Worldport, the company’s global aviation hub located at Muhammad Ali International Airport. They were Capt. Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt and International Relief Officer Capt. Dana Diamond. Dramatic video captured the...
/ ThinkAdvisor provides financial advisors, registered investment advisors and wealth managers with comprehensive coverage of the products, services and information they need to guide their clients in making critical wealth, health and life decisions.
Smythe Insurance Brokerage Industry Report, 10th edition — By Alex Wong, Advisory Partner, Smythe LLP, et al — For well over a decade now, we at Smythe have endeavored to put together as comprehensive a report as possible on the state of the Canadian property and casualty insurance brokerage industry. In this report, we share an analysis of survey responses and market data to explore current and emerging trends in the industry, as well as a snapshot of the financial performance of various insurance brokerages across the country. For our analysis, we also relied on our own proprietary database, which we believe is one of the largest available databases of independent brokerage financial performance information in Canada. The report also contains a significant amount of editorial opinion based on the collective experience of the Smythe Property & Casualty team, which includes Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA), Chartered Business Valuators (CBV), M&A Advisors and Tax Specialists. As always, we would like to extend our gratitude to all those who chose to participate in this survey. Our goal with this report is to provide practical insight and contribute meaningful research that supports the long-term health of the brokerage industry. None of that would...
Davies inks deal to acquire Canada’s largest claims processing & risk solutions business, SCM Insurance Services, in its biggest strategic M&A to date London, UK (Nov. 10, 2025) – Davies, the leading specialist professional services and technology company serving insurance and highly regulated markets, headquartered in the United Kingdom, is pleased to announce it has signed an agreement to acquire SCM Insurance Services, Canada’s largest claims processing and risk solutions provider. The deal will see SCM’s three operating businesses; ClaimsPro, Canada’s leading claims adjusting firm; IPG, its third-party claims administrator; and Pario, its forensic engineering and consulting business and post-loss appraisal, all join the Davies global platform. Following the deal, Davies will have annual revenues of c.$1.4bn, with a combined team of 9,500 colleagues operating in 22 countries across Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Australasia. The deal represents Davies’ largest strategic M&A addition to date and will allow the fast-growing tech-enabled firm to provide a full nationwide service across Canada, in addition to adding SCM’s U.S. operations to Davies’ existing U.S. footprint. SCM’s 1,500+ strong team of professionals across Canada and the U.S. will join Davies as part of the deal. The addition of ClaimsPro, IPG, and Pario...
Article 0 Comments California is set to be drenched in coming days as heavy rain and snowstorms uncoil off the Pacific Ocean, potentially bringing Los Angeles a month’s worth of rain and prompting evacuation warnings in areas burned by last January’s fires. The first round of rain will arrive starting Thursday and continue through Saturday, said Bob Oravec, a senior branch forecaster with the U.S. Weather Prediction Center. After a brief lull another wave will arrive Sunday into Monday and finally a third coming next week. The storms raise the risk of flooding and landslides, he said. In downtown Los Angeles, 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 centimeters) of rain is forecast. That would far exceed the normal 0.8 inch of rain that typically falls from October 1, the National Weather Service said. “It is setting up to be an early season heavy precipitation pattern for the West,” Oravec said. “Any time you get heavy rains you have to worry about the burn scars.” Areas where wildfires have charred off vegetation leave bare soil that can be washed away, and might also make the land impervious to soaking up the water. In January, devastating fires swept through the area...
