Canadian Market
Canadian Insurance Brokerage M&A Stabilizes in 2025 After Prior-Year Reset
The Canadian insurance brokerage M&A market in 2025 demonstrated notable resilience amid a challenging and uneven macroeconomic environment. Following a meaningful pullback in transaction activity from 121 deals in 2023 to 100 in 2024, overall deal volume remained largely stable in 2025, with 99 transactions announced for the year. While activity stayed well below the elevated levels seen earlier in the decade, this stabilization marked an important inflection point. After a slow start driven by economic contraction, elevated interest rates, and trade-related uncertainty, transaction momentum improved in the second half of the year, reinforcing that dealmaking did not disappear, but instead became more selective and disciplined.
There were 99 announced insurance brokerage M&A transactions in Canada in 2025. This is in line with the 100 deals announced in 2024.
In 2025, private capital-backed buyers accounted for 50 of the 99 announced transactions (50.5%), reflecting a buyer mix similar to that observed in the U.S. market. Independent brokerage firms were buyers in 28 deals, or 28.3% of the market and bank buyers completed just one transaction in 2025. There were 12 acquisitions of specialty distributors, or 12% of the total announced deals. The top 10 buyers accounted for 72.7% of all announced transactions, while the top three (Brokerlink, Westland Insurance Group, and StoneRidge Insurance Brokers) accounted for 40.4% of the 99 deals.
Top Buyers 2025, Announced Canadian Transactions
Sources: S&P Global Market Intelligence, Canadian Underwriter, and other publicly available sources. Data through 12/31/25.
2025 Acquisition Detail (As December 31, 2025)
Retail vs. Specialty:
Retail: 87 Specialty: 12
What's Being Bought:
Full Service: 11 P&C: 75 Employee Benefits: 13
Who's Buying
Insurance Brokerage: 79 Insurer and Other: 19 Bank & Thrift: 1
Provinces
Alberta: 28 British Columbia: 11 Manitoba: 1 New Brunswick: 1 New Foundland & Labrador: 2 Nova Scotia: 2 Ontario: 38 Prince Edward Island: 0 Quebec: 10 Saskatchewan: 2 Undisclosed: 4
Buyer Countries
Canada: 85 United States: 13 Other: 1
NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS IN 2025
- 1/1/25: La Turquoise, Harmonia Assurance, and DPJL officially merged, forming one of Québec’s largest general insurance firms and a leading Intact Authorized Agency in the province. The alliance brings together over 550 employees, 17 branches, and more than $525 million in premiums, with a service area spanning key regions across Québec. The new entity will be led by La Turquoise President Jean-François Desautels, supported by Harmonia’s Annette Dufour and DPJL’s Diane Joly as Senior Vice-Presidents. The merger strengthens local service capabilities, expands product offerings, and ensures continued community involvement, while maintaining all current jobs and operations.
- 4/2/25: Totalis Program Underwriters, a U.S.-based specialty underwriting platform, acquired CHES Special Risk Inc., a Canadian managing general agent with offices in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Quebec City, and Montreal. CHES, established in 2004, provides specialty underwriting solutions in areas including commercial property, liability, construction, E&O, and more. The deal marks Totalis’ expansion into Canada and enhances its capabilities to serve the North American market. Gary Hirst, CEO of CHES, will join Totalis as a Senior Vice President, reporting to President Tom Gillingham. The acquisition brings new MGA services to complement Totalis’ existing operations in Canada.
- 7/3/25: Oracle Insurance Risk Management Services (Oracle RMS), one of Canada’s largest independent insurance brokerages, received a strategic investment from Boston-based private equity firm Abry Partners. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Ontario, Oracle RMS serves over 60,000 clients through nearly 40 locations and 300 professionals. The firm offers commercial and personal insurance lines with a strong focus on entrepreneurial broker development. The investment will help Oracle RMS scale its operations, enhance producer and branch support, strengthen carrier partnerships, and pursue M&A opportunities across Canada. Abry’s investment marks its entry into the Canadian insurance distribution space. Known for backing high-growth insurance platforms across North America, Abry sees Oracle RMS as a strategic opportunity to build a national brokerage platform.
- 10/28/25: Ryan Specialty acquired Stewart Specialty Risk Underwriting, a Toronto-based managing general underwriter focused on large-account, high-hazard property and casualty risks. Founded in 2016, SSRU built a national Canadian platform with underwriting expertise across sectors including manufacturing, utilities, real estate, construction, and energy, supported by relationships with multiple highly rated carriers and broad distribution reach across all Canadian provinces and territories. The business will be integrated into Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers, expanding Ryan Specialty’s Canadian footprint and specialty underwriting capabilities while increasing its addressable market. MarshBerry served as advisor to Stewart Specialty on this transaction.
- 12/5/25: Navacord acquired Acera Insurance Services in a transaction that will create the largest privately held insurance brokerage, employee benefits, and wealth advisory firm in Canada. This combination expands Navacord’s national footprint to more than 150 locations and approximately 5,000 professionals, with $7.2 billion in insurance and employee benefits premiums and $7.5 billion in retirement assets under management. Acera adds a strong Western Canadian presence and complementary property and casualty and group benefits capabilities. The business will ultimately operate under the Navacord brand.
Outlook 2026
Looking ahead, the underlying drivers of Canadian insurance brokerage M&A remain firmly in place. Stabilizing economic conditions, easing interest rates, and a growing pipeline of succession-driven sellers are expected to support continued transaction activity into 2026. While buyers are likely to remain disciplined, competition for high-quality brokerages is expected to persist, particularly for firms that combine strong financial performance with differentiated expertise and scalable operations.
As a result, consolidation is expected to remain a key strategic pathway for growth, resilience, and long-term value creation across the Canadian brokerage landscape.
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