INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Applied Systems Achieves CSIO Commercial Lines Certification
CSIO is pleased to announce that Applied Systems Canada has achieved Commercial Lines Data Standards Certification for eight business segments across their Applied Epic Brokerage Management System and Applied Policy Works. Read more.

SSRU Expands Partnership With Markel Via New Property Capacity
SSRU is excited to announce a broadening of its partnership with Markel, effective July 1st, through the introduction of Property Capacity. This complements Markel's existing Casualty line capacity with SSRU and brings SSRU's Property Product available capacity to CAD/USD 47.5M. Read more.

kWh Analytics Launches Excess Natural Catastrophe Coverage For Renewable Energy Industry
kWh Analytics, the market leader in Climate Insurance, is pleased to announce the expansion of its insurance solutions with new Excess Natural Catastrophe coverage through its licensed insurance entity, Solar Energy Insurance Services, Inc., specifically addressing the growing need for severe convective storm protection in the renewable energy market. Read more.

CBN Announces Underwriter Award Recipients
Canadian Broker Network, Canada's leading network of independent insurance brokers, is pleased to announce its 2025 Underwriters of the Year. Read more.

PURE Insurance Flips The Script On Teen Driving
Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE), the policyholder-owned insurer designed for successful, responsible families, is pleased to announce the launch of its Teen Driver program, a new initiative designed to address one of the most pressing concerns families face: teen driver risk. Read more.

DIY Homeowners Neglecting To Inform Insurers Of Property Upgrades: LowestRates.ca
A majority of Ontario homeowners have undergone small DIY projects like painting or re-tiling, but a recent survey by LowestRates.ca reveals that less than half notify their insurer after completing major upgrades, leaving many exposed to potential coverage gaps. Read more.

Kayna, Willis Team Up To Provide Markel Bloodstock Solution To vSaaS Platform
Kayna, the award-winning embedded insurance infrastructure platform, is pleased to announce has teamed with Willis to provide an online insurance offering through Equine MediRecord, a leading vertical SaaS platform in equine digital health software and part of Canada-based Inova Group's Business Infusions – the largest equine veterinary software group in the world. EMR simplifies compliance to animal welfare and anti-doping regulations with the only regulator-approved digital medicines register. Read more.

McFarlan Rowlands Welcomes DJE & Associates
McFarlan Rowlands Insurance, a division of McDougall Insurance Brokers Ltd., is pleased to announce it has acquired DJE & Associates Inc. (which operates as Sutherland Elliott Insurance Brokers, Gaiser Elliott Insurance Brokers and Thames Financial – and is known collectively as DJE & Associates). Read more.

CFOs Expect Corporate Cryptocurrency Adoption
Corporate finance leaders are signaling a meaningful shift in their approach to digital assets, with growing openness to integrating cryptocurrency into their operations, according to Deloitte's "Q2 2025 North American Signals™" survey, which reveals only 1% of CFOs do not envision using stablecoin in the long-term. More immediately, nearly one-quarter said their treasury department is likely to accept cryptocurrency as payment or purchase it as an investment within the next two years. Read more.

Featured job opportunities:

Commercial Auto Underwriter
SGI
Edmonton or Calgary, AB

Financial Security Advisor
RBC Insurance
Montreal, QC

In the InsurTech Spotlight this week:

Samos Insurance Solutions
Samos is an InsurTech company that creates data-driven niche insurance solutions with the belief that everyone has a right to protect themselves and their loved ones in critical moments of their lives. Samos was founded around a single mission: to provide security to folks having surgery. Samos is proud to offer a quick, simple and modern way for patients and their loved ones to get peace of mind and insurance coverage when they need it, how they need it.
Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

From Doug AI Learning Agents A learning agent improves over time by adapting to new experiences and data, by updating its behavior based on feedback. A learning agent has 4 main components: • Performance element: Makes decisions based on a knowledge base. • Learning element: Improves the agent's knowledge based on feedback. • Critic: Evaluates the agent's actions and provides feedback. • Problem generator: Suggests exploratory actions to help the agent discover new strategies and improve its learning. Learning agents are flexible and can handle complex, ever-changing environments such as autonomous driving, robotics and virtual assistants helping human agents in customer support. Example: Water Leak Prevention Agent Role: Reduces water-damage claims. • Sensors in the home track water flow, humidity, and temperature. • The AI agent monitors this data. • At first, it uses a generic risk model (what counts as “abnormal flow”). • Over time, it learns each home's patterns (e.g., long showers at 7 a.m., dishwasher cycle at night). • If it detects a deviation (e.g., continuous flow when nobody's home), it alerts the homeowner or triggers a shutoff. • The learning element improves detection by reducing false alarms and catching real leaks faster. Where are insurance businesses in Canada deploying learning agents today? Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca