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This year’s winners on the importance of giving back and never giving up
The 2024 Insurance Business Canada Awards was a truly memorable celebration, uniting the industry’s top performers to honour outstanding achievements – from exceptional MGAs and brokerages to individual accolades recognizing both rising stars and seasoned professionals.
In addition to celebrating professional achievements, the Insurance Business Canada Awards also shine a spotlight on those who use their success to make a difference.
Among the evening’s highlights was the CNA Canada Award for Excellence in Philanthropy & Community Service, awarded to Northbridge Financial Corporation. Anchored in the ethos of “doing good by doing well,” the firm was awarded for its impressive commitment to corporate social responsibility.
Anchal Kumar, director, employee communications and corporate social responsibility at Northbridge, shared, “We believe our commitment to corporate social responsibility not only helps our communities but also makes us a better organization.”
“By giving back, we aim to make a positive impact that goes beyond our business and supports the causes and communities that matter to our people,” Kumar continued.
The company’s Northbridge Cares program pledged 2 percent of pre-tax profits to transformative causes, contributing $8.4 million in 2023 alone to initiatives spanning social, well-being, educational, and environmental sectors.
CNA Insurance Canada, the proud sponsor of the award, expressed its admiration for this year’s exceptional nominees. Erin Gattoni, senior vice president of human resources and operations, remarked: “The dedication shown by each of the nominees in this category has been above and beyond. We’re very proud to support Insurance Business Canada and this award.”
Resilience and determination were also important themes among the evening’s winners, exemplified by Harnoor Uppal of Amour Insurance Brokers, who received the PAL Insurance Brokers Award for Young Achiever of the Year. Starting her career in 2021, Uppal’s rapid ascent reflects her commitment to excellence. “For all the youth out there, insurance can be a very rewarding career. Once you start, don’t look back – just keep pushing through, and you’ll make it one day,” she advised.
This spirit of perseverance is also evident in the success of brothers CJ and Adam Nolan of Munn Insurance. Winning The Travelers Canada Award for Brokerage of the Year (10–100 staff) for the third time, their journey is a prime example of how persistence and reinvention can lead to remarkable achievement.
Reflecting on their legacy, the brothers shared, “Our company has been in business since 1904. From humble beginnings in a small town in St. John’s, Newfoundland, to being recognized as the best brokerage in the country, it’s taken countless steps to get here.
“We basically took a 100-year-old company and reinvented ourselves to be progressive and challenge how we do business. This award is a testament to our success,” they continued.
For Tyson Peel, vice president at Burns & Wilcox and sponsor of this year’s Big Brokerage of the Year Award (100 staff or more), the Insurance Business Canada Awards provide a special opportunity to celebrate the hard work and unique journeys of top industry professionals. Capturing the spirit of the evening, he said, “We must recognize success. If we don’t, what are we doing this for? We all strive to be the best at what we do, and nights like this celebrate that.”
Key Media would like to extend a special thank you to all of this year’s award sponsors including Allianz Global Assistance, Armour Insurance Brokers, Burns & Wilcox, Cansure, CNA, First Insurance Funding of Canada, PAL Insurance Brokers, Premier, ServiceMaster Restore, Steamatic Canada, and Travelers. A special thank you as well to our champagne sponsor, Specialty Program Group Canada, to our photo booth sponsor, Verisk, and to our social media sponsor, Royal Claims Services.
We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to our media partners for their invaluable support in helping us bring this event to life.
Congratulations to all the winners of the 2024 Insurance Business Canada Awards!
Stage 1 – Nominations
The call for nominations was open to all insurance professionals and organizations – brokers, brokerages, insurers, underwriters, MGAs, risk managers, and service providers – from across Canada.
Nominations were open May 13 – July 19, 2024, at 11:59 pm ET.
To submit a nomination, visitors went to the Nominate page of the website, then provided the nominee’s contact details and a brief reason for nomination within a 300-word limit. There was no fee to submit a nomination.
Stage 2 – Research
The Insurance Business Canada Awards team conducted research and drew on knowledge and information gained through Insurance Business Canada to support and supplement nominations received, ensuring that no one deserving of recognition was missed. Excellence Awardees were determined from both pools of information.
Stage 3 – Excellence Awardees
Once all nominations were considered and research was complete, Excellence Awardees were selected in each category (except the Lifetime Achievement category) and notified via email or phone.
All Excellence Awardees were then invited to complete a detailed submission, which was an opportunity to address the category criteria in more detail. All submissions remained confidential unless otherwise marked and were not shared with any third parties other than the judges.
Excellence Awardees were officially announced in September 2024 on the website and promoted in Insurance Business Canada magazine and online channels. Promo packages to leverage achievements across marketing and promotions were available for purchase.
Stage 4 – Judging
All submissions from our Excellence Awardees were forwarded to the independent judging panel comprising industry leaders and senior representatives. The panel assessed and voted for winners in each category according to the relevant category criteria.
Voting commenced in September 2024, and the judges’ decisions were impartial, balanced, incisive, and fair. Any judge with a conflict of interest in a category recused themselves from judging that category.
Stage 5 – Winners
Using a simple points system to aggregate judges’ votes, the finalist with the top score in a category was named the winner.
Winners were announced at the awards show on November 13, 2024, and on the website. They were also promoted in Insurance Business Canada. Promo packages to leverage achievements across marketing and promotions were available for purchase.