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Marsh Canada Limited is in the business of managing risk and offering insurance brokering services to all types of companies across Canada. As a member of MMC—the world’s leading risk and insurance services firm—it was built upon a foundation of strong values and principles and a culture devoted to customer service. That has been a big reason behind the company’s growth and success in the Canadian insurance market for nearly a century. Its story begins in 1914, when Henry R. Marsh and Donald R. McLennan owned an insurance brokerage firm in Boston that won the Canadian Pacific Railway’s (CPR) fire insurance account, which at the time, was quite a coup for an American firm. But part of the deal required them to create a service branch in Montreal, so the partners established their company’s first office outside the United States. The following year, the railroad appointed the Montreal operation as broker for its marine business. Because of their limited experience in this area, Marsh and McLennan acquired Parson & Eggert, a marine specialist firm. Little did they realize that this business decision would pave the way for Marsh Canada Limited to become the world’s largest marine insurance broking operation. As with most companies, setbacks occur. Nearly a decade later, it lost CPR’s business to a competitor. Ironically, as the Montreal office was being closed, another American—John Cochrane, left the company’s Seattle office to open one in Vancouver to service two large pulp and paper accounts. Shortly after, the business climate quickly changed. America’s stock market crashed in 1929 and an economic depression gripped the country. The ripple effects were felt by Canadian lumber, pulp and paper mills, forcing many to close. The Vancouver office limped along until 1937 when it began servicing new accounts. Yet all along, Cochrane encouraged his company to open more Canadian offices. In 1949, it merged with a Canadian brokerage firm, Irish & Maulson, Ltd., after nearly seven years of negotiations. With offices now in Montreal and Toronto, the company had a strong presence in both eastern and western Canada. The merger attracted important clients including Imperial Oil in Toronto and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. During the next 20 years, the company opened additional offices throughout Canada mainly by acquiring more brokerage firms, such as Middleton & Tait, Ltd., Houle, Methot, Bedard & Associes Ltee. and Ottawa’s premier broker, Plant & Anderson Limited. By the 1980s, Marsh & McLennan Companies had added Putnam Investments, Guy Carpenter & Company and William Mercer Consulting to its operations. But it wasn’t until the late 1990s that it became the largest insurance brokerage firm in the world after merging with Johnson & Higgins in 1997 and Sedgwick Group the following year. For the company’s Canadian operation, this has meant a growth in clients, employees and opportunities. Even its service menu expanded to include investment management, reinsurance brokering, benefits consulting and specialty insurance. As demonstrated throughout its history, Marsh Canada Limited will continue to evolve, developing creative solutions for client needs while remaining a vital force in the insurance industry. Our History in Canada - A Timeline - 1905 - Burrows, Marsh & McLennan is formed in Chicago with annual premiums of $3 million. Renamed Marsh & McLennan in 1906.
- 1914 - Marsh & McLennan opens its first office outside of the United States in Montreal to provide service capability to the Canadian Pacific Railway at the request of CPR's President, Thomas George Shaughnessy.
- 1923 - Guy Carpenter & Company was aquired a year after its founding by Guy Carpenter. The Firm evolutionized reinsurance coverage.
- 1949 - Irish & Maulson, which had a strong position in Montreal and Toronto, merged with Marsh & McLennan laying the foundations for Marsh Canada Limited's current operations. New clients included CIBC, Canada Packers, Imperial Oil, Alcan, and E.B. Eddy.
- 1959 - Marsh & McLennan acquired William M. Mercer Limited. William M. Mercer Limited had provided employee benefits consulting in Canada since it's founding in Vancouver in 1945.
- 1970 - Marsh & McLennan became the first national broker to locate the Maritime Provinces and became the first to offer a full range of brokerage services.
- 1986 - Victor O. Schinnerer, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan, acquired Encon Insurance Managers, which is currently Canada's largest professional liability underwriting management company. Encon had been founded in the early 1960s and has offices in Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto.
- 1997 - Marsh & McLennan completed a strategic business combination with Johnson & Higgins, one of the largest insurance brokers in the U.S. The subsidiary is renamed J&H Marsh & McLennan.
- 1998 - Sedgwick Limited, a company with a strong business tradition in Canada dating back to 1892, became a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies and merged resources and expertise with J&H Marsh & McLennan.
- 2000 - Enterprises Canada Insurance Services Limited (ECI), a managing general agency, was established through a partnership of Marsh Canada Limited, Chubb Insurance, CGU Group, and Zurich Canada.
- 2006 - Marsh solidifies its reputation of being the leader in the industry after global scrutinization by the Attorney General of New York.
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