Wawanesa Insurance—officially The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company, also known as Wawanesa Mutual or simply Wawanesa —is a Canadian

mutual insurance A mutual insurance company is an insurance company owned entirely by its policyholders. 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 ...

firm, as well as among Canada's ten largest

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

and casualty insurers. The company's head office is located in

Wawanesa, Manitoba Wawanesa is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Oakland – Wawanesa within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held village status before January 1, 2015. Wawanesa is considered to be the Cree word for whippoorwill (Doug ...

, with its executive office in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

and regional offices across Canada; it also operates in the U.S. states of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

and

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

. As of 2020, it has assets of over $11.3 billion and over two million policies in force. Wawanesa Insurance wholly-owns 3 subsidiaries: Wawanesa Life, its

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...

subsidiary; Wawanesa General, its American subsidiary; and Trimont Financial Ltd., which provides direct support to local

brokers A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be conf ...

. Wawanesa Insurance and its subsidiaries compose a

corporate group A corporate group or group of companies is a collection of parent and subsidiary corporations that function as a single economic entity through a common source of control. These types of groups are often managed by an account manager. The concept ...

called The Wawanesa Group of Companies.

History

The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company was established on September 25, 1896, as a farmers'

carrier in

. It was founded by Alonzo Fowler Kempton, who started the company using money invested by local farmers. After two weeks, Charles Kerr, Alonzo's partner, completed the company's first policy, insuring a thresher for $600 at a premium of $24 for three years. A small room was rented above a local drugstore. The staff consisted of Kempton as the secretary-manager, and Charles Kerr as the bookkeeper. Seven of the 20 original investors were named directors. Wawanesa issued its first policies without a

premium Premium may refer to: Marketing * Premium (marketing), a promotional item that can be received for a small fee when redeeming proofs of purchase that come with or on retail products * Premium segment, high-price brands or services in marketin ...

payment because farmers did not have cash until after harvest. In 1901, Wawanesa moved to the

Souris River The Souris River (; french: rivière Souris) or Mouse River (as it is alternatively known in the U.S., a calque of its French name) is a river in central North America. It is about in length and drains about . It rises in the Yellow Grass Mar ...

valley, and the number of employees increased to five. By 1910, the company had become the largest mutual

fire insurance Property insurance provides protection against most risks to property, such as fire, theft and some weather damage. This includes specialized forms of insurance such as fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home insurance, ...

company in the country. Several years later, the company diversified its coverage in 1926 to include private buildings, and in 1928 to

automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

. The company was subsequently granted a Dominion charter on 1 May 1929, allowing it to offer coverage in all provinces of the

Dominion of Canada While a variety of theories have been postulated for the name of Canada, its origin is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word , meaning 'village' or 'settlement'. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec Ci ...

. During the Great Depression, Wawanesa expanded, fuelled by large

cash reserves In financial accounting, reserve always has a credit balance and can refer to a part of shareholders' equity, a liability for estimated claims, or contra-asset for uncollectible accounts. A reserve can appear in any part of shareholders' equity e ...

and new offices in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, and

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces. The city has earned the nickname "Hub City" because o ...

; however, the company was forced to cut director's salaries by 20%, and on corporate visits, the company directors shared beds. Wawanesa Mutual Life Insurance Company was introduced as a

mutual company A mutual organization, or mutual society is an organization (which is often, but not always, a company or business) based on the principle of mutuality and governed by private law. Unlike a true cooperative, members usually do not contribute t ...

in 1961, and sold its first

life insurance policy Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...

. In 1975, Wawanesa's

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

branch was established under the laws of

, making it the first Canadian general insurance company to successfully enter the US. The office was opened in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

in April that year. On 1 October 1993, the Wawanesa Mutual Life Insurance Company was converted from a mutual company to a wholly-owned

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

subsidiary of the general insurance company, with its name changed to ''The'' ''Wawanesa Life Insurance Company''. In the year 2000, Wawanesa began offering

automobile insurance Vehicle insurance (also known as car insurance, motor insurance, or auto insurance) is insurance for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage or bodily injury r ...

in the U.S. state of

. In 2016, Wawanesa Insurance signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey ...

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

, and

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

to become their Official Auto/Home Insurance Company. On July 1, 2017, Wawanesa completed the purchase of Western Financial Group, Inc and Western Life Assurance from Desjardins Financial Corp via its subsidiary, Trimont Financial. Western Financial Group is a full service brokerage, serving most of Western and Northwestern Canada. Western Life Assurance was later rolled into ''The Wawanesa Life Insurance Company''. In 2020, Wawanesa opened a head office for the San Diego location, although they also write automobile policies in the state of

. Also that year, Wawanesa opened a claims office in the state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Wawanesa Life

The Wawanesa Life Insurance Company, or Wawanesa Life, is the

arm of Wawanesa Insurance. It is licensed in all provinces of Canada, as well as in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

. The company was introduced in 1961 as the Wawanesa Mutual Life Insurance Company, a

. On 1 October 1993, the company was converted into a wholly-owned

subsidiary of Wawanesa Insurance, with its name changed to ''The'' ''Wawanesa Life Insurance Company''.

References

External links

* {{official, https://www.wawanesa.com/ Financial services companies established in 1896 Insurance companies of Canada Mutual insurance companies 1896 establishments in Manitoba Companies based in Manitoba Companies based in Winnipeg Financial services companies based in Manitoba