Ontario’s P&C industry contributes $7.5 billion, directly and indirectly, to the province’s economy: report

Ontario’s property and casualty industry contributed a total of $7.5 billion to the province’s economy either directly or indirectly (through ‘spin-off’ contributions), according to a Conference Board of Canada study released on Nov. 9 by the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).
Ontario’s P&C sector made $4.1 billion in direct contributions to the province’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the report found. In addition, the province’s P&C sector contributed to paying, directly and indirectly, $3.7 billion annually in corporate and personal levies and taxes in Ontario.
The economic impact study is called Insureconomy:An Economic Impact and Future Growth Study of Ontario’s High-Value Insurance Sector.
Overall, the study found the P&C insurance sector employs 22,000 people in rural and urban communities across Ontario, and created another 41,000 ‘spin-off’ jobs indirectly.
The province’s insurance firms are dominated by small and medium sized business, with 95% of firms having fewer than 50 employees.
In terms of future employment, the study identified the greatest growth potential in the following areas: risk management analytics, premium calculation, claim adjudication, fraud analysis, statistical risk calculation and Web/phone/channel customer service or sales.
Ontario’s insurers generally have a positive outlook about the future of the province’s P&C industry, particularly over the long haul, a survey contained in Insureconomy found.
In an online survey of 28 Ontario property and casualty insurance firms undertaken in March and April 2011, companies were asked to rate the outlook of Ontario’s P&C industry over the short, medium and long terms.
Sixty-one per cent of respondents said the sort-term outlook was either good or excellent. Seventy-four per cent said the medium-term outlook was either good or excellent, while 93% rated the long-term outlook as either good or excellent.
The primary factors influencing the rosier longer-term picture included “larger economic forces,” as well as “strategic choices” within the firms. The primary factor attributable to the short-term angst was the perceived effects of the P&C market cycle.