Crowded House

Canada's relatively attractive economy is contributing to a heated property and casualty insurance market. Canada emerged from the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 in relatively good shape, and with its major financial institutions very much intact. The country's relative attractiveness, however, is creating overcrowding and a hyper-competitive environment among property and casualty carriers. Some new entrants, it would seem, are mistaking this relative stability for growth. Canada is seen as a relatively catastrophe-free environment, providing insurers with an improved spread of risk and the hope of attractive returns in the absence of major losses. Other complex factors at work in Canada will make it difficult for new and old market entrants to successfully employ capital, including: 1. acquisitions by foreign companies, 2. strong currency, and 3. tight corporate budgets. Canada is ultimately a great place in which to do business.