The Co-operators

Last updated

The Co-operators Group Limited
Company type Co-operative
Industry Insurance
Founded1945 (1945)
Headquarters130 Macdonell Street
Guelph, Ontario
N1H 6P8
Key people
Rob Wesseling, President and CEO
Revenue CA$3.8 billion(2016)
CA$234.6 million(2016) [1]
Number of employees
4,850 (2016)
Website www.cooperators.ca
The Co-operators TheCooperatorsMarkham.jpg
The Co-operators

The Co-operators Group Limited is a Canadian insurance co-operative, founded in 1945, owned by 46 members including co-ops, credit union centrals and representative farm organizations. It is one of the leading Canadian-owned multi-line insurers, offering auto, home, life, farm, travel and commercial insurance as well as investments. The company was started by farmers in Saskatchewan, in 1945.

Contents

The Co-operators Group Ltd. is a co-operative headquartered in Guelph, Ontario. That entity owns several operating companies, the largest of which is Co-operators General Insurance Company, which sells property and casualty insurance (i.e., auto, home, farm and commercial), primarily through its network of more than 485 exclusive agents. The second biggest company in the group is Co-operators Life Insurance Company, based in Regina, Saskatchewan, which sells life insurance (i.e., life, health, group benefits). Other member companies are HB Group Insurance of Mississauga, The Sovereign General Insurance Company of Calgary, CUMIS Group Limited based in Burlington, Ontario, and investment firm Addenda Capital of Montreal. As of year-end 2016, the group of companies had more than CA$56.4 billion in assets under administration.

History

The roots of The Co-operators can be traced back to Saskatchewan. The Great Depression, followed by World War II, was a time of great adversity for rural communities as many agricultural families lost their belongings, their savings and their life insurance. In this environment, co-operatives were increasingly appealing as a way for a community to pool its resources to help rebuild lives. [2]

A group of farmers in Saskatchewan dreamed of building a co-operative insurance company to protect their assets for future generations. In 1945, with the support of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and farm-based prairie co-operatives, Co-operative Life Insurance Company was incorporated in Regina. [2]

Similar developments were underway in Ontario, where the Co-operative Union of Ontario and the Ontario Credit Union League established Co-operators Fidelity & Guarantee Association 1946 to support farmers in that province. [2]

The Saskatchewan- and Ontario-based companies expanded significantly over the years, both in terms of geography and product offerings. The two successor companies, Regina-based Co-operative Insurance Services and Co-operators Insurance Associations of Guelph, established closer ties and, in 1975, merged as CI Management Group, which adopted the brand name "The Co-operators." In 1978, the company took its present name. [3]

The group of companies has grown steadily since then. Presently, The Co-operators banner includes Addenda Capital, Co-operators General Insurance Company, Co-operators Life Insurance Company, The CUMIS Group, HB Group Insurance, Federated Agencies Limited, and The Sovereign General Insurance Company. [4]

The company is currently the title sponsor for the radio network of the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Awards and recognition

Consistently ranked among the Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada by Corporate Knights, from 2010 to 2017, including being ranked in first place in 2011 and in the top ten in 2017. [5]

Listed among Aon's Best Employers in Canada for 14 consecutive years, The Co-operators was one of the Platinum Winners in the 2017 report. [6] The company has been on this list for 14 years. [7]

Listed among Hewitt Associates' "Green 30" - a list of Canada's top employers that are highly regarded for their commitment to environmental, social and economic sustainability. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guelph</span> City in Ontario, Canada

Guelph is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly 22 km (14 mi) east of Kitchener and 70 km (43 mi) west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wellington County Road 124. It is the seat of Wellington County, but is politically independent of it.

Bonnie Burnard was a Canadian short story writer and novelist, best known for her 1999 novel, A Good House, which won the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP) is a social democratic political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was founded in 1932 as the Farmer-Labour Group and was known as the Saskatchewan section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) from 1935 until 1967. The NDP currently forms the Official Opposition and is led by Carla Beck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Avery Dunning</span> 3rd Premier of Saskatchewan (1922–1926)

Charles Avery Dunning was the third premier of Saskatchewan. Born in England, he emigrated to Canada at the age of 16. By the age of 36, he was premier. He had a successful career as a farmer, businessman, and politician, both provincially and federally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Melville Martin</span> 2nd Premier of Saskatchewan (1916–1922)

William Melville Martin served as the second premier of Saskatchewan from 1916 to 1922. In 1916, although not a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Martin was elected leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party, succeeding Premier Walter Scott and thus became Premier of Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) is a Canadian insurance company and a Crown corporation wholly owned by the Government of Saskatchewan. SGI's operations consist of the Saskatchewan Auto Fund, the compulsory public auto insurance program for Saskatchewan, and its property and casualty insurance division sells additional automobile and property insurance products in five Canadian provinces under the trade name SGI Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desjardins Group</span> Canadian association of credit unions

The Desjardins Group is a Canadian financial service cooperative and the largest federation of credit unions in North America. It was founded in 1900 in Lévis, Quebec by Alphonse Desjardins. While its legal headquarters remains in Lévis, most of the executive management, including the CEO, is based in Montreal.

Access Communications Co-operative Limited is a Canadian telecom cooperative based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The cooperative provides internet, cable television, telephone, smart home and security services to residential and business customers in 235 Saskatchewan communities. Its primary competitor is the provincial government crown corporation SaskTel; it is one of two cable providers in Saskatchewan, with Rogers primarily serving areas such as Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, and Swift Current.

A mutual insurance company is an insurance company owned entirely by its policyholders. It is a form of consumers' co-operative. Any profits earned by a mutual insurance company are either retained within the company or rebated to policyholders in the form of dividend distributions or reduced future premiums. In contrast, a stock insurance company is owned by investors who have purchased company stock; any profits generated by a stock insurance company are distributed to the investors without necessarily benefiting the policyholders.

Regina is the capital city of Saskatchewan, Canada. Its industry was originally largely confined to activities associated with its agricultural hinterland. Oil and natural gas, potash, kaolin, sodium sulphite and bentonite contribute a great part of the economy of Regina, and the surrounding area. The farm and agricultural component is still a significant part of the economy, but it is no longer the prime driver of the economy; provincially it has slipped to eighth overall, well behind the natural resources sectors. The Innovation Place Research Park near the University of Regina hosts several science and technology companies.

Clarence Melvin Fines was a Canadian politician, teacher and union leader. He was provincial treasurer of the province of Saskatchewan during the Tommy Douglas era, and also served as Deputy Premier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saskatchewan Wheat Pool</span> Canadian grain handling company

The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool was a grain handling, agri-food processing and marketing company based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Pool created a network of marketing alliances in North America and internationally which made it the largest agricultural grain handling operation in the province of Saskatchewan. Before becoming Viterra, SWP had operated 276 retail outlets and more than 100 grain handling and marketing centres. The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool operated under the name of AgPro in the prairie provinces of Manitoba and Alberta. Begun as a co-operative in the 1920s, the company became a publicly traded corporation in the 1990s. After the 2007 takeover of its competitor, Winnipeg-based Agricore United, the Pool name was retired. The merged company operated under the name Viterra until 2013, when it was acquired by Glencore International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialism in Canada</span> Role and influence of socialism in Canada

Socialism in Canada has a long history and along with conservatism and liberalism is a political force in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Saskatchewan</span>

History of Saskatchewan encompasses the study of past human events and activities of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the middle of Canada's three prairie provinces. Archaeological studies give some clues as to the history and lifestyles of the Palaeo-Indian, Taltheilei, and Shield Archaic traditions who were the first occupants of the prehistoric era of this geographical area. They evolved into the history of the First Nations people who kept their history alive in oral tradition. The First Nation bands that were a part of this area were the Chipewyan, Cree, Saulteaux, Assiniboine, Atsina, and Sioux.

Herbert Henry Hannam was a farm leader, editor, educator and a promoter of the co-operative movement. He was general secretary of the United Farmers of Ontario from 1933 to 1942.

Charles William Gibbings (1916-2009) was born on a farm near Rosetown, Saskatchewan, Canada on August 10, 1916. After earning a BSc in Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan, Gibbings taught at the University's School of Agriculture and conducted youth training programs across the province, both while continuing to farm.

The Farmer's Sun was a progressive weekly periodical published in Ontario from 1892 until 1934. It was, at various times, the official organ of several successive political movements: the Patrons of Industry, the Farmers Association of Ontario, and the United Farmers of Ontario, and supporting the idea of a progressive farmers' political party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathy Bardswick</span> Canadian business executive

Kathy Bardswick is a Canadian business executive. From 2002 to 2016, she was the President and CEO of The Co-operators Group Ltd, a Canadian insurance cooperative based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. She is one of a handful of women at the helm of the top 100 companies in Canada.

Harry Llewellyn Fowler was a noted Canadian socialist organizer and key figure in the prairie co-operative movements of Saskatchewan and Western Canada from the 1930s until the 1970s.

References

  1. Co-operators General Insurance Company 2014 Annual Report (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 McPherson, Ian. "The Origins of Cooperative Insurance on the Prairies" (PDF). Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  3. "Timeline of the history - The Co-operators". www.cooperators.ca.
  4. "Corporate overview - Co-operators". www.cooperators.ca.
  5. "2017 Best Corporate Citizens in Canada ranking reveals progress in gender diversity and linking pay to corporate sustainability".
  6. "The Co-operators ranked among the Best Employers in Canada - Nov 10, 2016".
  7. "Canada's Best Employers 2017: The Top 39 Large Companies".
  8. "The Co-operators insurance company in Guelph, ON".