Westland Insurance has outlined how it is directing money and staff time into climate, social and inclusion initiatives across Canada in its 2025 Community Impact Report, as brokers and carriers face increasing scrutiny over how their activities align with the risks they insure.
The report is the fourth such publication from Westland, one of Canada’s largest insurance brokers, and details more than $700,000 in donations, 280 community initiatives and over 3,400 employee volunteer hours – the equivalent of nearly 450 workdays – during 2025.
Westland said its efforts are organized around four “Amplifying Communities” pillars: climate resilience, wellness and mental health, diversity and inclusion, and homelessness and food insecurity. Those themes overlap with some of the industry’s most pressing concerns, including catastrophe‑driven losses, workforce wellbeing and the impact of social pressures on vulnerable communities.
Speaking in the report, president and CEO Jamie Lyons linked the firm’s community activity to its broader positioning in a “riskier” world. “At Westland, we want to connect more deeply with more people and communities across Canada, whether through community support or our advisory services that help better protect them in a world that is getting riskier,” he said.
Under its climate resilience pillar, the broker has backed local projects aimed at flood and wildfire preparedness, which also create opportunities for advisers to engage clients on coverage and mitigation. In wellness and mental health, funding has gone to counseling and crisis‑support organizations, alongside internal efforts to support staff wellbeing.
Westland also reported new and continued partnerships. In 2025 it established a relationship with MentorAbility to support disability inclusion, and contributed to the Urban Native Youth Association and Water First, initiatives focused on Indigenous youth leadership and water science education.
Senior vice president of business enablement and client engagement, Cari Watson, said employees were central to turning corporate commitments into practical support on the ground. “Our people are the heart of Westland’s community impact,” she said. “Their dedication – whether through volunteering, fundraising, or advocacy – creates meaningful, lasting support for organizations addressing critical, local community needs.”
Westland’s report is the latest example of a large broker seeking to align community investment with its core risk portfolio. As climate, mental health and social pressures continue to influence both claims and client expectations, similar disclosure around impact and priorities is likely to remain a live topic for Canadian intermediaries and carriers.
From an insurance perspective, the initiatives also serve a strategic function. Climate‑related projects can feed into more informed discussions around flood and wildfire risk, risk‑mitigation measures and insurability at community level, potentially supporting better underwriting data and loss prevention. Support for mental health and social services aligns with growing employer demand for broader benefits and wellbeing programs, an area where brokers are under pressure to demonstrate advisory value rather than simply place cover. For carriers, working with brokers that have deep local ties and visibility into community vulnerabilities can help refine appetite, product design and ESG narratives at a time when stakeholders are asking tougher questions about how the industry responds to climate and social risk.
