2025 Executive Outlook | Fabian Richenberger, Definity

Editor’s Note: This piece has been updated with the correct picture of Fabian Richenberger. Canadian Underwriter apologizes for posting an incorrect picture in the original post.

Canada’s P&C insurance industry faces unprecedented shifts in climate-related risks and rapidly evolving customer expectations driven by technological advances. Insurers and brokers must adapt to stay resilient and relevant in a dynamic marketplace.

Climate change and extreme weather events such as droughts, storms, floods and wildfires are the biggest challenges facing the Canadian insurance industry. Insurers need comprehensive strategies to mitigate increasing risk from climate-related events, also driven by the rising value of assets and growing frequency of natural catastrophic events.

To successfully address climate risk, insurers will need to expand their risk management capabilities — including investments in geographical information systems to manage risk accumulation; advanced perils modelling to refine underwriting appetites and pricing models; and enhanced strategic partnerships with reinsurers.

To ensure quick responsiveness to the increasing impact of natural perils, insurers are enhancing claims catastrophe team capabilities to make sure customers receive timely and effective support when they need it most. In addition, proactive engagement between regulators and all industry stakeholders is essential for shaping climate-related legislation to help build resilient communities and protect the assets and well-being of customers.

Customer and broker preferences are also continuously evolving. There is an increasing demand for fast, customizable, and fully digital services. Insurers must prioritize digital transformation to keep up with these evolving expectations and adapt the core functions of underwriting, claims, and customer and broker interactions.

Over the coming year, we anticipate continued acceleration in the digitization of commercial lines to mirror personal lines market capabilities. We expect the fastest adoption to take place with small and low-complexity business customers. There are about 1.3 million small businesses in Canada and ease of doing business is very important to success in the small business space. This customer group wants to continue to work with a broker who can offer great advice, low-touch, low-cost digital solutions and flexible coverage options that meet their needs.

Pursuit of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to deliver business strategy is accelerating as well. The insurance value chain presents us with plenty of opportunities to apply generative AI’s automation, communication and personalization capabilities to improve productivity, efficiency and customer experiences.