Property restoration firm First Onsite has appointed two specialty insurance professionals in Vancouver as it expands its presence in British Columbia's strata and multi-residential claims market.
James Kozak (pictured, left) joins as senior vice president, specialty insurance, bringing nearly 20 years of experience in the insurance and claims industry. His background spans independent adjusting, multi-disciplinary professional services and restoration, with a focus on business development and strategic partnerships across Western Canada. In his new role, Kozak will lead efforts to expand specialty insurance relationships and support complex claims within the strata market.
Emily Szabo (pictured, right) joins as business development manager, specialty insurance. Her background includes working closely with brokers, adjusters and industry stakeholders to build long-term client relationships. She will focus on deepening First Onsite's ties to BC's strata sector, supporting strata councils and property managers with proactive planning and claims response.
Both appointments are based in Vancouver and form part of First Onsite's continued investment in British Columbia, where the company now operates five branches — Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Fort St. John, Victoria and Kelowna — following its November 2025 acquisition of Kelowna-based RBT Restoration By Trades.
The hires come as BC's strata insurance market enters a period of relative stability after several years of significant disruption. Following years of triple-digit premium increases, BC strata premiums were still averaging year-on-year increases of 5.89% in 2025, adding to an already elevated baseline.
According to the BC Financial Services Authority, more than 60% of BC strata corporations now face water damage deductibles exceeding $50,000, with high-risk or older buildings commonly seeing deductibles in the $250,000 to $500,000 range.
Heading into 2026, the market has softened, with multiple insurers competing for business and premium reductions reported for well-maintained properties with clean loss histories. Water damage, however, remains the dominant driver of strata claims, and insurers continue to scrutinize water-related exposures closely at underwriting.
For adjusters and property managers coordinating claims, the quality and speed of the restoration response directly influences claim outcomes and loss severity. Severe weather and localized flooding events across southern British Columbia in late 2025 reinforced insurers' scrutiny of water risk, with site-specific flood exposure, drainage performance and documented mitigation measures all carrying weight in the underwriting process.
BC strata corporations are navigating an evolving legislative environment alongside the insurance market shift. Under rules that took effect in 2024, BC strata corporations with five or more lots must obtain a depreciation report on a five-year cycle, with a compliance deadline of July 1, 2026 for Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and most of the Capital Regional District.
Those reports carry direct insurance implications: accurate replacement cost valuations underpin insured values, and strata corporations whose reported values lag actual construction costs face underinsurance risk at the point of loss, a problem that has become more acute as BC construction costs have risen sharply in recent years.
The Vancouver appointments reflect a broader structural shift in how Canada's restoration industry operates. According to First Onsite senior vice president of large loss Jim Mandeville, M&A activity in the Canadian restoration sector is set to continue as insurer expectations around data reporting, ESG compliance and claims consistency push firms toward national scale. Insurers and underwriters increasingly demand consistent products and service delivery across the country, which smaller, family-owned firms struggle to deliver.
That pressure is reinforced by the loss environment. Severe weather cost Canadian insurers more than $2.4 billion in 2025, making it the 10th costliest year on record for insured catastrophe losses, with December floods linked to an atmospheric river in British Columbia among the contributing events. The pattern of larger, more complex losses places a premium on restoration firms that can mobilize quickly, document thoroughly and maintain the insurer relationships needed to move claims efficiently — capabilities that national scale makes significantly easier to deliver.
First Onsite operates from more than 100 locations across Canada and the US, employing over 2,500 people, and is a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation.
