Westland expands reach into Ontario with recent acquisitions

Westland Insurance Group Ltd. has broadened its place in commercial and personal lines with the recent acquisition of two Ontario-based brokerages: MCR Insurance in Aurora and Walter Roberts Insurance in Richmond Hill. 

Ontario is an area of strategic importance, Westland stated in a press release Friday. 

“Each of these acquisitions adds significant depth and strength to our rapidly expanding footprint in the Ontario market, which remains key to our national strategy,” Jamie Lyons, president and COO of Westland says in the press release.  

“Ontario’s importance to the Canadian insurance marketplace makes it a key part of our national strategy,” Donna Barclay, executive vice president, commercial and eastern Canada operations at Westland says in the release. “The scale and diverse nature of the insurance business in Ontario is attractive as we look to serve more Canadians coast to coast with more product options and advisory based solutions.” 

With offices in Aurora and Muskoka, MCR Insurance deals in high value home, cottage, auto and commercial lines. Walter Roberts Insurance specializes in E&O, standard, niche and high value products across both personal and commercial lines.  

Following Westland’s expanded partnership with asset manager Blackstone Credit earlier this year, Lyons told Canadian Underwriter how Ontario was a part of the brokerage’s acquisition strategy.

“Our ambitions are to continue to grow, expand, to serve as many communities in Canada as we can serve, and it will continue for us in 2022 and beyond,” Lyons told Canadian Underwriter in January. “We’re continuing to look at opportunities to grow, more specifically in the prairie provinces, in Ontario, and Atlantic. And we’ll do that in a number of different ways, including M&A.” 

This news also follows Westland’s acquisition of two Ontario-based brokerages, Stewart Morrison Insurance Brokers Ltd. and Transure Insurance Inc., in March.  

Its first acquisitions of 2022 were in January with Bunnell Hitchon Insurance Brokers in Brantford and Milton, Ont. and Rigby Insurance in Calgary, followed by the acquisition of Campbell, Roy & Eldridge Insurance Services in Markham, Ont. 

With the acquisition of MCR and Walter Roberts, Westland now has over 2,300 employees across the country.  

Feature image by iStock.com/oatawa