Aon has named Brad Lorimer (pictured) as CEO of Canada, effective September 1, filling the leadership vacancy left when Stéphane Lespérance departed in June to become founding CEO of Lockton's new Canadian retail business.
Lorimer will lead Aon's operations across Canada and report to Anne Corona, CEO of North America for Aon, while also joining Aon's North America Executive Committee and remaining on its Canadian Executive Committee. He brings more than 25 years of experience across brokerage, underwriting and client service, including 20 years at Aon itself.
Most recently, Lorimer served as East and Central Region Leader, overseeing the company's Human Capital and Risk Capital business across Eastern and Central Canada. He previously held the roles of Health and Financial Institutions Leader for Canada and National Director of Aon's Financial Services Group in Canada. To ensure continuity through the transition, Lorimer will continue in his regional leadership role until a successor is named.
"Brad is an exceptional leader who has consistently demonstrated the ability to bring teams together, build strong client relationships and create momentum across the business," said Anne Corona, CEO of North America for Aon. "His deep understanding of our business and the Canadian market, combined with his commitment to clients and talent for building high-performing teams, make him well-suited to lead the continued advancement of our Aon United strategy across Canada and North America."
Lorimer said Canadian clients are navigating an increasingly complex risk and workforce environment, and framed his priorities around helping clients respond to that shift.
"Our clients are navigating a rapidly changing environment shaped by increasingly interconnected risk and people challenges," Lorimer said. "I look forward to working alongside our talented colleagues across Canada and North America to help clients make better decisions, strengthen resilience and unlock new opportunities for growth."
Paul Croft, who served as interim leader of Aon's Canadian business following Lespérance's departure, will return to his role as Chief Operating Officer of Canada and remain on the Canadian Executive Committee.
The appointment closes a leadership gap that opened in June, when Lespérance left Aon Canada after nearly three decades at the company, the last year as president and CEO, to join Lockton as the founding CEO of its new Canadian retail brokerage business. That move was widely read as a signal of Lockton's ambitions in the Canadian market and the growing appeal of the independent broker model among executives from the global consolidators. Aon, for its part, has continued to post strong global results in the interim, with its commercial risk segment delivering multiple consecutive quarters of organic growth above 6%.
