INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

CSIO Announces Standards Certification Ratings
CSIO is pleased to announce a Standards Certification Rating Program that recognizes insurer and BMS vendor achievements in the adoption of CSIO Data Standards to benefit their broker partners and customers. Read more.

Deloitte Taps Google Cloud, Rubrik To Prepare Enterprises For Emerging Cyber Threats
Deloitte is pleased to announce a series of strategic cybersecurity collaborations with Google Cloud and Rubrik to help organizations modernize cybersecurity risk management and prepare for the GenAI-enabled enterprise. Read more.

Driver-Centric Telematics Could Be Secret Weapon In Fight Against Driver Churn For Fleets: Escalent
The number of connected vehicles on the road is projected to more than double over the next three years, but the commoditized nature of telematics solutions presents a mounting challenge for service providers, according to a new report from Escalent's Fleet Advisory Hub™. Read more.

Hub Launches Small Business Benefits Solutions
Hub International Limited is pleased to announce the launch of HUB Small Business Benefits Solutions, a new offering which provides small businesses in Canada with easy, streamlined access to a suite of digitally enabled solutions to help them secure, manage and deliver comprehensive benefits coverage for their employees. Read more.

Auto Insurer Websites, Apps Become Battleground For New Customers: J.D. Power
More than half of auto insurance customers have actively shopped for a new policy in the past year, the highest shopping rate ever recorded by J.D. Power, and that's putting more pressure than ever on digital channels, according to the 2025 U.S. Insurance Digital Experience Study. Read more.

Broker Network Welcomes Newest Member
Canadian Broker Network, Canada's leading network of independent insurance brokers, is pleased to welcome its newest member, Harvard Western Insurance, headquartered in Regina, Saskatchewan. Read more.

John Hancock Marks 10 Years Of Vitality
John Hancock, a unit of Toronto-based Manulife, is marking the ten-year anniversary of its Vitality program, which launched in 2015 to provide education, support, incentives, and rewards to help customers live longer, healthier, better lives. Read more.

Credential Theft Escalates As Tactics Grow Stealthier: IBM X-Force Threat Index
IBM is pleased to announce the release of its 2025 X-Force Threat Intelligence Index, highlighting that cybercriminals continued to pivot to stealthier tactics, with lower-profile credential theft spiking, while ransomware attacks on enterprises declined. IBM X-Force observed an 84% increase in emails delivering infostealers in 2024 compared to the prior year, a method threat actors relied heavily on to scale identity attacks. Read more.

ARAG Partners With Portage To Offer Comprehensive Personal Legal Expense Coverage
ARAG Legal Solutions Inc. is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Portage Mutual Insurance Company, a trusted Canadian insurer known for its commitment to delivering practical and reliable coverage to its policyholders, to offer Personal Legal Expense Coverage, beginning in September. Read more.

Dream Payments Launches Insurance Payment Network Across North America
Dream Payments has launched a two-way insurance payment network, operating seamlessly across North America, so that insurers can accept premiums from policyholders in both the U.S. and Canada and issue claims payments to individuals and businesses of every size, using digital or physical methods, all in one platform. Read more.

Featured job opportunities:

Adjuster, Commercial Property
Gore Mutual Insurance
Vancouver, BC

Bilingual Underwriting Assistant
Aviva Canada
Montreal or Toronto

In the InsurTech Spotlight this week:

Emma
Emma is on a mission to protect as many Canadian families as possible while offering them an accessible and affordable life insurance solution, tailored to their specific needs, thanks to its innovative technology and valuable partnerships. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

From Doug “If this, then do that” logic is the basis of decision-making. Applying automation to decision-making started in insurance even before computers. Computers brought digitalization and more automated decisions, then transformation and broader innovation. More data was required to make better but more complex decisions. Analytics was implemented to help make decisions, but it identified opportunities to improve decisions. AI then helped make decisions; machine learning improved those decisions. When one AI Agent hands off a process directly to another AI Agent, they make an Agentic System. These insurance “AI agents” which process and self-improve are becoming more common: Aviva Canada uses AI to automate auto insurance claims — process claim submissions, estimate repair costs, and assign adjusters. Economical Insurance (Definity) uses AI systems for proactive fraud detection using pattern recognition and anomaly-detection agents. CAA Insurance offers AI chatbots for policy management and claims inquiries. Manulife explored AI agents to pre-screen applications, assess risks, and decide if human review is necessary. AI Agents are now doing tasks which previously required people, but insurance is becoming more complex, requiring more people. Are we improving productivity? Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca