Headquarters address: 5450 Explorer Drive, Suite #200, Mississauga Ontario, L4W 5N1, Canada
Year established: 1998
Number of employees: 400+
Gross written premiums: $720 million
Underwriting expertise: Commercial property and casualty insurance, commercial vehicle insurance, long-haul trucking insurance, surety, personal automobile insurance, specialty property insurance
Key people: Robin Joshua (President), Jatinder Bassi (Vice-President, Finance), Joe Colby (Vice-President, Claims Services), Earlene Huntley (Chief Financial Officer), Grace Kemp (Vice-President, Personal Lines), Jennifer Kew (AVP, Marketing and Communications), Jamal Madbak (Vice-President, Commercial Lines), Eric Millaire-Morin (Vice-President and Chief Actuary), Evelyn Peng (Chief Risk Officer), Josée Roy (Vice-President, Long-Haul Trucking and Commercial Automobile), Wayne Schatz (Vice-President Legal, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer), Lenora Shipka (AVP, National Business Development), Carla Spina (Vice-President, Human Resources), Matthew Turack (Group President, Insurance)
About Echelon Insurance
Echelon Insurance is one of Canada’s leading specialty insurers, offering businesses and families a wide range of property and casualty solutions through an experienced network of brokers. The company’s personal lines include:
Its commercial lines, meanwhile, consists of:
Echelon Insurance was established in 1998. It gained membership with the CAA Club Group family in 2019. In a 2022 interview with Insurance Business, president Robin Joshua described Echelon as a company that’s “committed to specialty lines of insurance that other insurers are either ill-equipped or too afraid to touch.”
This business strategy enabled the insurer to achieve almost 80% growth since joining CAA Club Group, increasing its gross written premiums from $400 million to about $720 million during the period.
Echelon is a national company based in Mississauga, Ontario and has an office in Montréal, Québec.
Echelon Insurance in the News
May 2019: Sale of Echelon Insurance to CAA subsidiary gets final approval
August 2019: Echelon Insurance names Robin Joshua as president
December 2019: Echelon president Robin Joshua talks strategy post-CAA acquisition
April 2020: Echelon Insurance introduces financial relief options for auto insurance policyholders amid COVID-19
November 2020: Echelon Insurance expands commercial insurance line to hospitality businesses
February 2022: Echelon Insurance commits to serve as national sponsor of WICC
December 2022: Echelon Insurance: Not your standard ‘specialty’ insurer in Canada
June 2023: WICC secures support from 20 industry organizations
July 2023: WICC lauds industry's fundraising efforts despite event cancellation
Leadership at Echelon Insurance
Robin Joshua – President
Joshua was appointed president of Echelon Insurance in August 2019, bringing more than three decades of industry expertise to the specialty insurer. Prior to joining the company, he served as vice-president of insurance at CAA Club Group. He also served as director of risk management and underwriting at CAA Insurance.
Joshua also held senior leadership roles in underwriting, operations, finance, and distribution for major insurance brands, including Intact, Pembridge Insurance, and Allstate Canada. He holds Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional (FCIP) and Canadian Risk Manager (CRM) designations.
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