Commercial

Co-operators acquires home inspection firm

The Co-operators has entered the home services line of business with the acquisition of the parent company of home inspection firm Carson Dunlop & Associates Ltd. Co-operators Financial Services Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Co-operators Group Limited, announced the acquisition Thursday. It includes the commercial inspection firm Carson Dunlop Weldon & Associated Ltd., the […]

By Jason Contant | February 16, 2024

2 min read

Commercial

Oil and gas drilling sector expects activity to pick up in 2023

CALGARY – The organization representing Canada’s oil and gas drilling sector says it expects more activity in 2023, even as it continues to push the federal government for a new tax credit it says it needs to help the energy sector decarbonize. At its state of the industry conference Wednesday, the Canadian Association of Energy […]

By Jason Contant | November 25, 2022

2 min read

Commercial

Is the commercial insurance market starting to soften?

Premium rate changes in commercial lines in Canada have experienced a slight downturn quarter-over-quarter, indicating that the commercial hard market may be easing up a bit. “While we are still experiencing a hard market, the Q3 index shows a slight reduction of average premium rate increases across most of the major commercial lines, except retail […]

By Jason Contant | November 16, 2021

2 min read

Commercial

The good and bad news for commercial insurance

There’s good and bad news when it comes to commercial lines in the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry. The good news is there’s encouraging signs the commercial market is stabilizing, said Don Forgeron, president and CEO of Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC). But the bad news is that there’s still a long way to […]

By Jason Contant | October 1, 2021

4 min read

Updated tailings code after Mount Polley disaster an improvement: B.C. mines auditor

VICTORIA – A new report says changes to British Columbia’s requirements for tailings storage after the Mount Polley disaster have generally improved the management of mining waste. The mines chief auditor found many of the revisions made in 2016 to how tailings are managed align the province’s regulatory framework with the industry’s best practices, “with […]

2 min read

How commercial premium renewal rates are trending in Canada

Canadian commercial line renewal rates increased at a slower pace across all major lines in Q1 2021 compared to one year ago, according to the latest commercial premium rate index from tech vendor Applied Systems. Overall, the magnitude of rate increases is down across all lines relative to average premium renewals in the same quarter […]

By Jason Contant | April 30, 2021

3 min read

Small businesses move to lock in rental deals amid low vacancy rates

When Sohel Imani went looking for a second location for his bike shop in Toronto’s West End, he knew he’d be able to leverage the city’s current commercial rental market. With dozens of storefronts sitting empty in any given Toronto neighbourhood, Imani says he knew he could throw out lowball offers for rentals spaces because […]

By Adam Malik | April 16, 2021

3 min read

Canada’s hardest-hit commercial lines — and a reason for optimism

Commercial lines market hardening in Canada — and globally — should continue through the early half of 2021, with some possible easing of rate increases during the second half of the year once vaccine rollout is widespread, an Aon report predicts. “There is general optimism that the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine will have a […]

By David Gambrill | February 18, 2021

3 min read

Briefing Note: Prince Edward Island

Since the insurance industry in P.E.I. tends to mirror the insurance markets in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, it’s no surprise that Canada’s smallest province is also experiencing a hard commercial market. “One of the biggest things is capacity,” says David Cooke, president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Prince Edward Island. “Insurance companies aren’t […]

July 12, 2020

2 min read