Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

GUS Strengthens Its Presence in Ontario with the Arrival of JFA Contracting Solutions Kitchener, ON (Jan. 28, 2025) – Jaime Smith, Director of Franchise Development at GUS, is proud to announce that JFA Contracting Solutions has joined its network of property restoration professionals, further strengthening the group’s ongoing growth in Ontario. JFA Contracting Solutions specializes in residential, commercial, and industrial restoration. Serving the Waterloo Region, their skilled team offers a full range of property loss services, including fire, smoke, flood, and storm damage restoration, as well as mold remediation and asbestos removal and repair. John Aquino, owner of JFA Contracting Solutions, brings extensive experience to the GUS network. Since 2015, he has worked as a project manager and estimator for a leading regional company specializing in construction and asbestos removal. His skills include project management, estimation, planning, quality control, and regulatory compliance. John also holds certifications in estimation, asbestos removal, mold remediation, and water and fire damage management, and he has contributed to numerous projects in educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and regional developments. Jaime Smith comments: “We are delighted to welcome John and the JFA Contracting Solutions team to the GUS family. Their commitment to helping others, combined with their...

Halifax, NS (Jan. 30, 2025) – QuickFacts, a leader in innovative tools for insurance brokers, is proud to celebrate a record-breaking 2024. With new product launches, significant time savings for brokers, and expanded industry engagement, the company continues to transform how brokers access insurance information. Driving Efficiency With Smarter Tools In 2024, QuickFacts launched three new solutions—High Value, QuickDrive, and Farm—designed to streamline workflows and reduce administrative burdens. To support its growing user base, the company expanded its team by 30%, strengthening its ability to serve brokers across North America. Key Achievements Carrier manual updates completed: 640 Comparison resources built: 89 (28 Retail, 26 Farm, 35 High Value) Documents opened: 222,299 Total sign-ins: 232,876 Pages viewed: 1,295,224 Brokers saved an average of 65 minutes per day, totaling 570,654.3 hours saved in 2024 Strengthening Industry Connections QuickFacts achieved 146% company growth in 2024, with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 65, reflecting strong broker satisfaction. The company actively engaged with the industry through in-person events, attending 11 major tradeshows across North America, including RCCAQ, IBAOcon, and Insurtech Hartford. Its team traveled extensively, visiting 10 provinces and states to connect with brokers and industry leaders. Awards & Industry Recognitions Named a 2024...

Ottawa, ON (Jan. 23, 2025) – Travelling outside Canada is a thrilling experience, and it’s important to be prepared. Whether you’re planning a relaxing beach vacation or an exciting city tour, there are a few key things you need to take care of before you go. Let’s break it down into three simple areas: travel insurance, travel documents and final preparations. Travel insurance: Do you need it? The short answer is yes, always. Imagine getting sick or injured while you’re traveling. Medical bills can add up quickly, easily reaching thousands of dollars, and hospitals abroad may not treat you if you don’t have enough insurance or money to pay. That’s why trip interruption and travel health insurance is so important if you plan to travel outside Canada, even for just a day. It can help cover the cost of medical emergencies, trip cancellations, lost baggage, and other unexpected events. When you’re looking for travel insurance, make sure it covers: Medical evacuations to Canada or the nearest place with medical care Pre-existing conditions Repatriation in case of death Trip cancellations and interruptions Lost or stolen luggage Keep in mind that many travel insurance policies may not cover you if you travel...

By integrating nature into financial reporting, local governments in Canada can plan for sustainable growth and get ahead of new accounting standards that are on the horizon Waterloo, ON (Jan. 29, 2025) – The new guide, Getting Nature into Financial Reporting, authored by the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, and supported by the Standards Council of Canada, KPMG LLP and Natural Assets Initiative, was developed with over 120 experts across the country. The guide outlines how local governments of all sizes can start integrating nature into their financial reports today. Natural assets – such as wetlands, rivers, forests, and coastal dunes – are not just decoration. They are increasingly recognized as infrastructure that provides financially valuable services to Canadian communities. These services include absorbing and storing water to limit floods, reducing temperature to shelter communities from heat waves, and storing carbon to slow climate change. The absence of natural assets from financial reporting often results in undocumented loss and degradation of their critical services. Natural assets remain excluded from financial statements in Canada. However, nature can, and should, be integrated into other sections of financial reports that accompany the financial statements, to avoid costly “surprises” down the...

Whether generative AI is your wildest dream or your worst nightmare depends on how your organization reacts today and prepares for tomorrow — By Christian Bieck, IBM Institute for Business Value, et al — Generative AI has the potential to shake up the way your business has always worked, driving unprecedented productivity and revealing new avenues for growth. But those tremors could also crack the foundation—and send everything you’ve built crashing to the floor. The risk is real, but sticking to the status quo isn’t any safer. As generative AI throws everything into question, CEOs understand that they can’t stay the course and stay in the race. More than two-thirds say the potential productivity gains from automation are so great that they must accept significant risk to remain competitive—and 62% say they’ll take more risk than the competition to maintain their competitive edge. In this high-stakes environment, CEOs must strike the right balance between caution and courage—while moving faster than ever before. 43% say they’ll increase the tempo of their organization’s transformational change in 2024, compared to just 19% that expect to slow down. As CEOs pick up the pace, they need to unite disparate teams to deliver growth while...

TD Insurance Successfully Sponsors $150 Million Cat Bond with Closing of MMIFS Re Ltd. Series 2025-1 Toronto, ON (Jan. 23, 2025) – TD Insurance (TDI) is pleased to announce that it has successfully sponsored its new catastrophe bond (Series 2025-1), which will provide TDI additional reinsurance capacity through a multi-year risk transfer of C$150 million in protection against earthquakes and severe connective storms. The proceeds are invested in CAD denominated European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) notes. The bond represents the first of its kind in Canada. TD Insurance is the first Canadian insurer to sponsor a bond solely focused on catastrophe perils in Canada, which continue to increase across the country. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, last year was Canada’s most-destructive season on record for insured losses due to severe weather. “At TD Insurance, being there for our customers during their time of need remains our most important focus, and the issuance of a cat bond helps ensure we can continue to protect them when it matters most,” said James Russell, President and CEO, TD Insurance. “At a time of increasing costs, we’re always looking for ways to provide the best possible pricing to our customers,...