British Columbia’s premier says a training and education centre for wildfire fighters will be established in response to recommendations by a task force that looked into last year’s catastrophic wildfires. David Eby says the centre at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops will be the first of its kind in North America, offering everything from basic […]
By Jason Contant | April 5, 2024
2 min read
Ontario’s recent 2024 budget proposes expanded choice for auto insurance consumers by offering more optional accident benefit coverages, but that may wind up being a zero-sum game that sends clients down a slippery slope, suggests Adam Mitchell, CEO of Ontario brokerage Mitch Insurance. Mitchell was giving Canadian Underwriter his take on the provincial government’s 2024 […]
By Jason Contant | April 5, 2024
4 min read
A spring storm across Quebec and Ontario on Thursday knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers, closed schools and blanketed the Montreal area with heavy, wet snow. In Quebec, more than 220,000 homes and businesses had no electricity just after noon. The province’s power utility said the affected area ranged from Gatineau, Que., […]
By Jason Contant | April 4, 2024
2 min read
The trend of insurers owning restoration firms and third-party vendors may not continue, particularly since controlling costs remains a priority for carriers, sources tell Canadian Underwriter. It also looks like a national adjusting licensing standard or cross-provincial licensing will not come to fruition anytime soon. Restoration firms have acquired competitors in recent years. Late last […]
By Jason Contant | April 4, 2024
2 min read
A firefighter suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after witnessing the aftermath of a rental van attack killing 10 people in Toronto in April 2018 is not entitled to accident benefits, because he was not involved in an “accident,” an Ontario court has confirmed. The court upheld a decision by the Licence Appeals Tribunal (LAT) […]
By David Gambrill | April 3, 2024
3 min read
Introduction of lithium-ion batteries has introduced new hazards into the everyday lives of Canadians due to their ability to catch fire spontaneously – a phenomenon known as ‘thermal runaway.’ What began as concerns about fires started by cell phone and laptop batteries has recently been amplified by a rise in the number of e-scooter users […]
By Phil | April 3, 2024
3 min read
In Canada, corporate insolvencies have noticeably increased year over year, but brokers can step in to assist their clients with cash flow management and risk mitigation solutions, one expert shares. Insolvencies, defined as a business’s inability to abide by their financial contracts, climbed 20% or more from 2019 to 2024 in Canada, Marsh’s Political Risk […]
By Alyssa DiSabatino | April 2, 2024
3 min read
Canada is not immune to social divisions resulting in damage caused by political protests, and insurance companies can do three things to prepare for political risk, says a new report published by the Insurance Institute of Canada. First, insurance companies should clarify their policy wordings — such as the meaning of the word ‘occurrence’ to […]
By David Gambrill | April 2, 2024
4 min read
A trial opens Tuesday in a class-action lawsuit accusing the Quebec government of wiping out hundreds of millions of dollars in the value of taxi permits by allowing ride-hailing company Uber to operate and then by abolishing the permit system. The government’s negligence led to the disguised expropriation of taxi licences — without proper compensation […]
By Jason Contant | April 2, 2024
3 min read
A former Alberta broker who was suspended for a year last July for submitting a fraudulent auto insurance claim has had her B.C. licence suspended for a year, starting March 2024. B.C.’s insurance council said it was revoking her licence for a similar period, consistent with the disciplinary findings of the Alberta regulator. B.C.’s regulator […]
By David Gambrill | March 28, 2024
4 min read