P&C industry must meet promise to consumers, despite growing complexity of regulatory environment: IBC president

Canada’s property and casualty industry needs to be innovative, but the regulatory enviornment must not grow so complex that it jeopardizes the promise to protect Canadians and pay claims, Don Forgeron, president and CEO of the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), suggested during an industry event on Wednesday. 

“Not only is the regulatory environment complex, but that complexity is growing and at the same time, we’re an industry that makes a very simple promise: to protect Canadians and to pay claims,” Forgeron said during his welcoming remarks for IBC’s 2013 Financial Affairs Symposium in Toronto Wednesday.

There are two long-term, overarching objectives at the core of the P&C industry, Forgeron noted. The first is to provide peace of mind to Canadians that the industry will respond when something happens, including balancing regulatory complexity and managing large risks, such as earthquake and climate change.

The second is to play its role in growing the “Canadian economy through job growth, investment and through innovative products that a growing economy requires,” he told symposium attendees. “Our companies manage more than $98 billion in invested assets that supports economic growth and stability from one end of this country to the other.”

IBC is taking a leadership role on a number of issues, including preparing the country for the inevitability of a major earthquake, climate change and severe weather, helping Canadians adapt and deal with realities, and addressing the Ontario auto situation.

“Our goal there is to create a sustainable and affordable auto insurance system, which is what we as Ontarians deserve and what many other Canadians already take for granted,” Forgeron added.