FSRA Property and Casualty (P&C) Stakeholder Advisory Committee (Committee) meeting with the Board of Directors
Summary of the meeting of May 9, 2023
25 Sheppard Avenue West and virtually via Teams
Stakeholder Advisory Committee members present:
Brad Neilson – Intact Financial Corporation
Elliot Silverstein – CAA Insurance
Geoffrey Beechey – CADRI
Karin Ots – Aviva Canada Insurance
John Taylor – Ontario Mutual Insurance Association
Greg Smith – Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc.
Stephen Fuller – The Travelers Company Inc.
Fernand Vartanian – Onlia Insurance
George Hardy – Co-operators Insurance
Kim Donaldson – Insurance Bureau of Canada
Board members present:
Joanne De Laurentiis – Chair
Brent Zorgdrager – Director
Kathryn Bouey – Director
Joseph Iannicelli – Director
Lawrence E Ritchie – Director
Management members present:
Mark White – Chief Executive Officer
Huston Loke – Executive Vice President, Market Conduct
Jordan Solway – Executive Vice President, Legal and Enforcement
Erica Hiemstra – Head, Insurance Conduct
Wendy Horrobin – Head, Licensing and Risk Assessment
Chris Georgakopoulos – Director, Auto Policy
Mehrdad Rastan – Executive Vice President, Credit Union & Insurance prudential
Tim Bzowey – Executive Vice President, Auto/ Insurance Product
Heather Greenberg – Corporate Secretary and Deputy General Counsel
Judy Pfeifer – Chief Public Affairs Officer
Jason Harris – Director, Legal for Policy, and Rulemaking
Jonas Schwab Pflug – Senior Manager Auto Reform Policy
Ann MacKenzie – Senior Manager Product and Approval
Paul Reid – Chief Financial Officer
Ivy Ou – Head. Data Science Lab
Paul Shires – Director, Data Science
Beata Morris – Senior Manager Market Conduct P&C Insurance
Cong Wang – Senior Manager Actuarial Sciences P&C Insurance
Michael Tin – Senior Manager Market Conduct P&C Insurance
Chris Zolis – Head, Forensic Analysis, and Investigations
Alston Perianayagam – Chief Risk Officer
Elissa Sinha – Director, Litigation and Enforcement Deputy General Counsel
General comments
The Chair of the Board welcomed the Committee to the meeting and provided introductory remarks about the importance of sector engagement. She acknowledged as part of its governance role the Board would like to better understand the property and casualty insurance environment. The insights provided by the Committee will help the Board discuss with the management team relevant questions when making decisions. The Board values the Committee's advice, and the focus of this meeting is on future issues that may impact the sector.
The Committee highlighted several factors or changes in the sector of specific importance for its members, including: the continuing impact of the pandemic, climate change and increase in natural disasters, impact of inflation, supply chain disruptions, and the shortage of skilled workers. They also mentioned that IFRS 17 implementation has required an additional level of focus and priority.
The Committee expressed support for the establishment of the new Technical Advisory Committee and appreciated FSRA’s focus on reforming auto rates and underwriting regulation, including defining fairness. However, they also noted that fairness is not a well-defined concept, which poses risk and uncertainty for the industry. To successfully implement reform, the industry would like to be regularly informed of direction and given lead time to allow for insurers to adapt to the new system. They also expressed concern that other provinces are not undergoing similar reform, which would create increased complexity for the sector.
The Committee shared their concern about the lack of action on fraud and abuse. Insurers require tools to address or suppress the fraud that currently exists, and the Committee urged the Board to take any opportunity available to bring up the issue to the government. They also underlined the importance of product reform as costs for claims are increasing and an increase in premiums will likely follow.
The Committee was supportive of the principles-based regulatory approach that FSRA has adopted but urged FSRA to coordinate with other regulators and lead harmonization efforts within the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators to reduce regulatory burden. One specific area of focus would be on the harmonization of licensing for brokers/agents, claims licensing, and education credit requirements across Canada.
The Chair thanked the Committee for their comprehensive insights, and the Board commented that they have a better understanding of the current pain points faced by the industry, specifically the challenges associated with fraud and abuse. The Board also understands that cross-regional issues are challenging, and more harmonization within the insurance regulators is necessary.