The Insurance Brokers Association of Saskatchewan (IBAS) and SGI CANADA (SGI) are proud to announce the launch of a two-year pilot program to support insurance brokerages in the recruitment, onboarding, and training of property and casualty (P&C) insurance brokers of First Nations, Métis, or Inuit heritage.

Administered by IBAS with the financial backing of SGI, the new Indigenous Broker Development Program will reimburse Saskatchewan brokerages up to $25,000 in eligible costs and remove barriers to accessing expert resources designed to maximize long-term Indigenous employment outcomes. OneHoop Indigenous Advisory Services, led by Chair Cadmus Delorme and CEO Thomas Benjoe, has been retained to deliver educational support, best practices guidance, as well as strategic counsel to both IBAS and program participants.

“This initiative represents an important milestone in IBAS’s and SGI’s shared commitment to responding to Call to Action #92 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada,” explains IBAS President & CEO Derek Lothian. “The goal is not only to create jobs and career development opportunities for Indigenous people, but also to build bridges that will help address mounting workforce challenges facing our membership. We are grateful to have a principled partner in SGI that is willing to make significant investments to advance those priorities.”

Through the program, IBAS members may apply to receive direct funding to cover expenses related to recruitment and internal capacity-building efforts, employee wages, and fulfilling licensing requirements — such as certain course and exam fees. The first intake of applications is expected to open on June 2, 2025, followed by a second intake in either late 2025 or early 2026.

“Indigenous engagement, diversity, equity, and inclusion are core values at SGI that shape everything we do,” adds SGI President & CEO Penny McCune. “This pilot program is a step forward along our path of economic reconciliation and serves as an innovative tool to strengthen SGI’s broker and motor licence issuer network.”

IBAS represents 99 per cent of all P&C insurance brokerages across the province, which operate 368 branch locations in close to 250 different Saskatchewan communities and employ 1,800 professional licensees.

To recognize this historic project, the first of its kind in the country, the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada has committed additional assistance that will both reduce program costs and enhance overall impact. Details will be announced in the coming weeks.

For more information about the IBAS Indigenous Broker Development Program, please click here, or e-mail ibdp@ibas.ca.