Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Introducing Coalition Security Awareness Training — By Alok Ojha, Head of Products, Security Business, Coalition Inc. — Coalition is guided by a single mission: protect the unprotected. To meet that mission, we offer both cyber insurance and cybersecurity tools, all focused on tackling cyber risk. Human error is one of the biggest contributors to cyber risk. Cyber criminals use phishing, social engineering, and other human exploit techniques to initiate business email compromise (BEC) attacks, fund transfer fraud, and more. These attacks impose heavy costs: BEC alone lost US businesses $2.9 billion in 2023. That’s why we’re launching Coalition Security Awareness Training, providing small businesses with cybersecurity training and process automation that makes it easy for IT teams to roll out security training, monitor performance, and track compliance. Why security awareness training is essential for SMBs Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report found that 68% of breaches involved a human element. That finding was no surprise to Coalition, as our own 2024 Cyber Claims Report showed that over half of all cyber insurance claims originate in the inbox. Security awareness training empowers employees to identify phishing attempts, help avoid business email compromise and financial fraud, and collaborate with IT to bolster...

Two major private equity buyouts lifted H1’24 total deal value, but broader deal-making activity was still relatively weak, KPMG report shows Toronto, ON (Aug. 15, 2024) – Two large private equity buyouts propelled the total value of investments in Canadian fintechs to a new high in the first six months of the year amidst a broader persistent slump in Canadian and global investment, according to KPMG International’s H1’24 Pulse of Fintech report. A record US$7.8 billion was invested in Canadian fintechs in the first six months of 2024, up more than seven-fold from last year’s full-year total of US$1.1 billion. Private equity investments into two Montréal-based fintechs – Nuvei Corp. and Plusgrade Inc. – accounted for as much as 94 per cent of the total value invested in Canada – and were also among the biggest five deals globally. “These two Canadian deals – among the biggest in the world – reflect the growing fintech ecosystem in Montréal and Quebec more broadly, where the startup scene is thriving thanks to support from institutional investors, and world-class universities are providing a steady stream of talent,” says Georges Pigeon, a partner in KPMG in Canada’s deal advisory practice in Montréal who specializes...

New flood risk study reveals correlation with planned infrastructure projects Toronto, ON (Aug. 28, 2024) – Flooding has become a growing problem in Canada. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), severe weather in 2023 caused over $3.1 billion in insured damage nationwide. This year’s July flash floods in Toronto and southern Ontario alone caused over $940 million in insured damage. These extreme weather events reflect the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters in Canada, putting significant strain on insurers and adjusters alike. Canadian Climate Institute claims that a whopping 10% of households – 1.8 million – are currently at a very high risk of flooding. Moreover, it seems increasingly likely that the flooding trends across the country will not get any better in the next few decades. According to the most recent study from the Journal of Hydrology on flooding projections in Canada all the way into 2080, an increase in the probability of summer flooding was observed, especially in the province of Ontario. In light of this alarming trend, our team at MyChoice, a leading insurance comparison platform in Canada, has conducted a study to identify the areas in Ontario most vulnerable to flooding. Our research...

Alberta’s insurers on the ground helping residents beginning the recovery process Toronto, ON (Aug. 5, 2023) – This summer’s devastating wildfire in the Municipality of Jasper and Jasper National Park resulted in over $880 million in insured damage, according to initial estimates from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ). The sudden and intense wildfire, which began on July 22, damaged or destroyed a third of the community, making it the second most expensive wildfire in Alberta’s history in insured losses. “For thousands of residents in Jasper, this has been a time of hardship and heartbreak — homes and businesses lost, lives uprooted and an iconic community forever changed,” said Aaron Sutherland, Vice-President, Pacific and Western, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC). “Alberta’s insurers have been on the ground assisting customers with financial support and beginning the recovery process. Rebuilding will take time, and our industry will support the community every step of the way.” Given Jasper’s unique location in a federal park, multiple levels of government are overseeing recovery efforts. IBC is calling on all orders of government to adopt an expedited and coordinated approach to decision-making to ensure reconstruction efforts can begin as quickly as possible. “In an era in...