Latest Canada Headlines

All the headlines from our Canada Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Canada Insurer Industrial Alliance Targets C$500 Million Deal for Asset Manager

Jul 24 2013 // Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc., the best-performing Canadian insurer in the past year, plans to acquire a money manager in what would be the company’s biggest takeover.Industrial Alliance...

Travelers’ Q2 Profit Climbs 85% to $925M; Auto Unit Layoffs Planned

Jul 23 2013 // The Travelers Companies today reported net income of $925 million for its 2013 second quarter, an 85 percent jump from $499 million net income posted a year ago. The insurer credited lower catastrophe losses and continued...

Canada’s Intact Financial Sees $454 Mn Flood Losses; $24.2 Mn Train Crash

Jul 23 2013 // Canadian P&C insurer Intact Financial said it expected quarterly results would be hurt by losses from a train derailment and fiery explosion in a Quebec town and storm and flood damage in Canada’s oil capital,...

Canadian Investigators Want Rule Changes after Deadly Rail Crash

Jul 22 2013 // Canadian investigators issued their first recommendations on Friday after a devastating train wreck in Quebec, urging that trains hauling dangerous goods not be left unattended, and pushing for stricter guidelines on...

SCOR Estimates Net Pre-tax Losses from Alberta Floods at $52 Million

Jul 18 2013 // French reinsurer SCOR Group announced that “the June flood event in Alberta, which resulted in mass evacuations of people from their homes and major disruption to the Central Business District of Calgary, may...

Deadly Quebec Train Crash Creates Fertile Ground for Lawsuits

Jul 11 2013 // As investigators try to piece together how a parked oil freight train broke free and demolished the heart of a small Quebec town last weekend, a barrage of litigation could soon be hitting everyone from the U.S. rail...

Guy Carpenter Facilitates Launch of Multi-Peril Crop Insurance in Australia

Jul 10 2013 // Guy Carpenter & Co., LLC, a global risk and reinsurance specialist and member of Marsh & McLennan Cos. has facilitated the launch of a Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) product for Australian grain growers for the...

Oil Tank Cars Like Those in Quebec Rail Tragedy Long Seen as Flawed

Jul 10 2013 // The oil-laden train that derailed and exploded in a small Canadian town on Saturday, possibly killing as many as 50 people, included a class of railcar whose vulnerability to leaks and deadly explosions was well known to...

Flash Flood Triggers Blackouts, Transport Chaos in Toronto: AIR Analysis

Jul 10 2013 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide reports that “after days of heavy precipitation, a torrential thunderstorm on July 8th dropped an additional ten centimeters [app. 4 inches] of rain on Canada’s largest...

How a Runaway Train Devastated Canadian Town; 13 Dead, 37 Missing

Jul 9 2013 // The short length of track, nestled in a dark pine and birch forest in Quebec, is a regular overnight stop for freight trains hauling crude oil and other raw materials across North America.Normally, before retiring for the...

Five Dead, 40 Missing After Crude Oil Freight Train Explosion in Canada

Jul 7 2013 // At least five people died and 40 were missing on Sunday after a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in the center of a small Canadian town in a disaster that raised fresh questions about shipping oil by...

Canada Seeks $1B Clean-Up Fund by Major Oil Pipelines

Jun 27 2013 // Companies operating major crude oil pipelines in Canada will be required to have C$1 billion ($954.97 million) available to fund clean ups from any spills, the Canadian government said on Wednesday.Joe Oliver,...

Calgary Flood Caused Power Outages May Last Months; Insurance Coverage Minimal

Jun 24 2013 // Power outages in the Canadian oil capital of Calgary could last for weeks or even months, city authorities said on Sunday, as record breaking flood waters moved downstream to threaten smaller communities in southeastern...

Analysts: Travelers/Dominion Deal Makes Sense, More U.S.-Canadian M&A May Follow

Jun 18 2013 // The Travelers Companies’ decision to acquire Dominion of Canada General Insurance, a unit of E-L Financial Corp., for $1.1 billion makes strategic sense, according to analysts.The acquisition now allows Travelers to...

Canada’s P&C Insurers to Expand with ‘Receivables Insurance Association’ Launch

Jun 18 2013 // The Canadian property and casualty insurance industry is expanding with the launch of the Receivables Insurance Association of Canada. “Less than 1 percent of Canadian companies currently utilize receivables...

Travelers Eyes Canada Growth with $1.1B Acquisition of The Dominion

Jun 10 2013 // The Travelers Companies Inc. said it has agreed to acquire The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co. from E-L Financial Corp. Limited for approximately $1.1 billion in cash with an eye on expanding its commercial lines...

Canada’s Fairfax to Buy American Safety in $306 Million Cash Deal

Jun 3 2013 // Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., a Canadian insurer, agreed to buy American Safety Insurance Holdings Ltd. for $306 million in an all-cash deal that will bring $480 million of investable assets. American Safety...

Temporary Fix Set For Crumpled I-5 Bridge In Washington

May 28 2013 // Washington state plans to install within weeks a temporary fix for an interstate highway bridge that crumpled after being hit by a truck, tossing cars and people into a chilly river but causing only minor injuries.Gov. Jay...

S&P Applies Revised Insurance Criteria to 22 Reinsurers and Subs

May 24 2013 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has reviewed its ratings on 22 large global reinsurance groups by applying its new ratings criteria for insurers, which were published on May 7, 2013. (See...

EU Considering Action; Pope Comments after Bangladesh Building Disaster

May 2 2013 // The European Union is considering trade action against Bangladesh, which has preferential access to EU markets for its garments, to pressure Dhaka to improve safety standards after a building collapse killed more than 400...