Errors and omissions (E&O) insurance exposures are evolving quickly as technology reshapes service delivery, regulatory frameworks tighten around data, and workforce shifts disrupt traditional oversight models.
According to Marianne McKinnon (pictured), underwriting manager for technology, cyber, and E&O at Victor Canada, these three forces are now the dominant drivers of risk across Canada’s professional landscape.
Professionals in fields once defined by traditional liability risks – from lawyers and accountants to engineers and healthcare providers – are now deeply reliant on technology. Telehealth platforms, computer-assisted design tools, and digital service delivery models have become integral to operations.
McKinnon noted that this shift is creating exposures that blur the line between professional liability and technology risk. The more professionals depend on digital tools, the greater the chance that errors, outages, or cyber incidents spill over into E&O claims.
“The reliance on technology is really what is creating evolving exposures for the E&O of those professionals,” she told Insurance Business.
Another challenge, as McKinnon sees it, is the evolving regulatory environment.
Professionals routinely handle sensitive client information and are subject to confidentiality obligations. Privacy regulations are tightening, raising the stakes when data breaches or lapses occur.
McKinnon said the regulatory landscape is forcing professionals to reassess their liability exposures, with privacy-related risks now firmly embedded in the E&O conversation.
“We're seeing an evolution in the regulatory framework, which is creating the need to address that from an E&O perspective,” she added.
Demographic and cultural changes in the workforce are also reshaping E&O exposures. Many industries are seeing an exodus of long-tenured professionals, with decades of accumulated knowledge leaving as experienced staff retire. That institutional memory, McKinnon says, is difficult to replace, and new employees often enter the profession with less grounding in established practices. At the same time, a younger workforce is increasingly demanding flexibility, with remote and hybrid arrangements now a standard expectation rather than an exception.
McKinnon observed that this combination creates supervision and coaching challenges. “Lack of training, lack of oversight, and the difficulties in rolling out risk management strategies” are contributing to E&O exposures, she said.
For employers, the combination means they must accelerate training and upskilling to bring new hires up to speed, while also building systems to maintain accountability across a dispersed workforce. These pressures complicate the rollout of risk management frameworks and employee awareness initiatives, leaving gaps that can heighten the potential for professional missteps.
The result, McKinnon said, is an environment where simple errors, miscommunications, or overlooked procedures are more likely to occur – and more likely to trigger liability claims. For organizations, adapting E&O risk management to these realities is becoming a pressing priority, particularly as the workforce transition shows no signs of slowing.
When it comes to the near-term future, McKinnon said the risks shaping E&O exposures will continue to evolve in step with technology, regulation, and claims complexity.
She said that cyber remains a cross-cutting concern across all professional sectors. Every business now has a cyber exposure, and as professionals use artificial intelligence to streamline legitimate business functions, cybercriminals are also adopting AI to sharpen their own tactics, McKinnon said. Deepfakes and other AI-driven schemes are creating new vulnerabilities.
For carriers, she said, “it’s really important to make sure they are staying on top of it and that they are evolving alongside or as quickly as possible to be able to react to those threats”.
Privacy legislation is also shifting. Quebec has already introduced rules more closely aligned with Europe’s GDPR, and federal changes to PIPEDA are underway.
For professionals, these frameworks create additional liability exposures, not always limited to cyber, McKinnon said. Insurers, in turn, must adapt coverage quickly, ensuring policies reflect intended protections and exclusions. That process places added responsibility on brokers, who must communicate changes effectively to clients, she added.
Finally, claims themselves are growing more complex. Whether in construction, cyber, healthcare, or financial services, today’s E&O claims involve multiple layers of responsibility and heightened costs. The key, McKinnon noted, is a rapid and proactive response – ensuring carriers, brokers, and clients work together to stay ahead of exposures and manage them before they escalate.
