Managing general agent Burns & Wilcox has welcomed two new associates, who join the company’s Vancouver and Calgary teams.

Cheryl Fortier (pictured) joins the company as Western Canada manager, while Murray Houck has been appointed as senior underwriter.

Based in Vancouver, Fortier will focus on expanding the company’s capacity and product offerings throughout the region, while strengthening its existing business portfolio across Western Canada. She will also oversee the growth strategy of both the Vancouver and Calgary offices and teams. She reports to Burns & Wilcox Canada vice president, director of property & casualty, Tyson Peel.

Fortier has over 45 years of industry experience, specializing in complex, hard-to-place liability – including strata. She most recently served as underwriting manager at Cansure Underwriting. Fortier also previously worked at TransCanada Insurance Marketing.

Houck, who is based in Calgary, has decades of commercial insurance and underwriting expertise, and has a background working for both managing general agents and independent brokerages. He joins Burns & Wilcox from Cansure, where he served as the underwriting manager in the strata & residential realty division. He was also a senior underwriter at TransCanada Insurance Marketing.

In his new role, Houck will report to Fortier.

“Cheryl and Murray bring extensive industry knowledge and insight to our growing teams as we continue to strengthen our presence in Western Canada,” said H.W. Kaufman Group corporate senior vice president and Burns & Wilcox Canada managing director Jodie Kaufman Davis.

Davis added that Burns & Wilcox pulled a double-digit growth increase in 2020, and the company is building on this momentum by hiring top talent to further meet clients’ needs.