Headquarters:

700 W Georgia St #1488, Vancouver, BC V7Y 1A1

Year founded:

1992

Number of employees:

500

Phone:

1 877 685 6533

Email:

quotes@ftainsurance.com.au

Website:

spgcanada.ca

LinkedIn:

linkedin.com/company/spgcanada

“As leaders, we inspire our team, valuing collaboration and spearheading change while sharing our knowledge to mentor the upcoming legal minds”

Oatley Vigmond

SPECIALTY PROGRAM GROUP CANADA

Cameron Copeland

President and Chief Executive Officer

Christy Knowles

Director, Human Resources, SPGC

Johann Schneider

Chief Operations Officer

Leadership

Cameron Copeland leads Specialty Program Group Canada (SPGC), the largest group of specialty Managing General Underwriters (MGUs) in Canada’s P&C insurance industry. Operating under brands like Cansure, i3 Underwriting, and Totten, SPGC delivers innovative, specialized solutions in partnership with brokers. Copeland’s leadership is grounded in creativity, ethics, and a clear vision, earning recognition through awards for DEI, ESG, and growth performance. He also champions sustainability initiatives, including carbon reduction efforts with EcoClaim and The Nature Force. A lifelong learner, Copeland holds an MBA, CPA, FCIP, and CRM, while actively contributing to the Insurance Council of BC.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Cameron Copeland

Christy Knowles joined SPGC in 2021 as director of human resources, bringing over 20 years of progressive HR experience, including 10 years in the insurance industry. Her expertise in HR operations, leadership development, and fostering a diverse, inclusive culture has helped position SPGC as an Employer of Choice. Knowles is passionate about building strong teams, empowering future leaders, and creating an environment where employees are engaged and motivated to succeed.

Director, Human Resources, SPGC

Christy Knowles

Johann Schneider began his insurance career in 1995 at Family Insurance as an underwriting analyst, where he played a key role in the company’s growth and innovation. After leaving in 2002, he became vice president of underwriting and operations at a well-known retail brokerage in British Columbia, where he revamped underwriting and policy systems, resulting in a twofold increase in commission income within four years. In 2007, Schneider co-founded i3 Underwriting, backed by Lloyd’s of London. Today, as president, he leads a team of 34 with a focus on casualty and specialty property lines. i3 Underwriting was the first virtual coverholder approved by Lloyd’s and remains a trailblazer in the industry, with cutting-edge technology that is now being adopted across the SPGC network. Schneider also actively contributes to the Canadian insurance community, serving on the board of the Canadian Association of Managing General Agents (CAMGA).

Chief Operations Officer

Johann Schneider

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Denise Russell

Head of Distribution

Denise Russell began her career in insurance in 2006 as a personal lines underwriter but soon found her passion in business development. With over a decade of experience, she has held senior roles in marketing and business operations with domestic insurers. Currently, as head of distribution at SPGC, Russell oversees marketing, sales, and customer service teams. She joined SPGC in 2018 under Cansure, later serving as director, carrier relations. Russell is a director on the board of CAMGA and has been recognized with the Rising Star award by the Insurance Brokers Association of BC in 2019.

Head of Distribution

Denise Russell

Chris Marcinkiewicz

Chief Underwriting Officer, SPGC

Chris Marcinkiewicz started his insurance career with general accident in 1995 and has worked in the B.C. property and casualty commercial insurance industry for over 25 years. He has a well-rounded perspective of the industry, having worked on the insurer, brokering, and MGA sides of the business. Marcinkiewicz has held various commercial underwriting roles throughout his career and has spent the last decade in management and senior leadership positions. He joined Cansure in early 2018 and is now an integral part of the SPGC executive. In this role, he heads strategic underwriting collaboration and leadership across SPGC operating brands, including i3 Underwriting, Cansure, and Beacon, with a focus on compliance, quality, pricing, and contract management. Marcinkiewicz has a degree in urban planning and is a Chartered Insurance Professional.

Chief Underwriting Officer, SPGC

Chris Marcinkiewicz

Specialty Program Group Canada (SPGC) is the parent company of five leading MGU brands delivering personal and commercial property and casualty insurance solutions to licensed insurance brokers across Canada. SPGC exists to satisfy insurance needs in our target markets faster, better, and even where others might not. At our core, we understand that adapting to meet evolving customer needs is critical for our long-term success. Our culture embodies a passion for innovation and excellence that drives us to lead the industry and earn a reputation for setting the standard. Our organizational culture is reflected in our seven company values: be entrepreneurial; be creative; promote continuous growth; practice inclusiveness, openness, and equity; uphold trust, respect, and accountability; practice passionate balance and have fun; and contribute to community stewardship. SPGC’s MGU brands include Cansure, delivering commercial P&C insurance with broad industry expertise and Canada’s largest construction insurance provider; i3 Underwriting Services, providing commercial lines solutions serving upper-middle market and complex risk; Beacon, providing personal lines such as non-standard habitational insurance, boat, off-road vehicle, and special event liability; Totten, providing commercial P&C insurance with program and industry expertise; and Anderson McTague & Associates, serving Atlantic Canada with commercial and personal property and casualty solutions. Specialty Claims Canada is the claims management brand of SPGC, providing access to 24/7 claims services.

“We’re committed to delivering the highest level of service, assuring clients that their welfare is the firm’s utmost priority”

Oatley Vigmond

Ed Quek

Chief Innovation Officer, SPGC

Gerald Chan

Partner

Nader R. Hasan

Partner

Liane Brown

Partner

Ed Quek has more than 25 years of commercial underwriting and management experience in the insurance industry. After graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in finance and marketing, he started his insurance career in Toronto with the Sovereign General Insurance Company. Choosing to be closer to family, Quek moved back to Vancouver after several years and has since held progressive underwriting and management positions at Intact, Aviva, CNA, and Economical Insurance. He joined Cansure in 2014 as an underwriting manager and helped with the growth and development of many commercial insurance products. Quek is a fountain of knowledge of all aspects of the insurance industry and is a great contact to assist and support brokers.

Chief Innovation Officer, SPGC

Ed Quek

Gerald Chan has been named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada (Canadian Lawyer, 2019), one of the Top 50 Trial Lawyers in Canada (Benchmark Litigation, 2023–24), White-Collar Crime/Enforcement Litigator of the Year (Benchmark Litigation, 2023), and Criminal Defence Lawyer of the Year, Toronto (Best Lawyers, 2024). He is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and a faculty member with the National Criminal Law Program. Chan is a bencher of the Law Society of Ontario. He serves as vice chair of the Law Society Tribunal, Appeal Division, and a Trustee of the Law Foundation of Ontario.

Partner

Gerald Chan

Nader R. Hasan, a partner at Stockwoods LLP, practises criminal, regulatory, and constitutional law at both the trial and appellate levels. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, where he has taught courses on the law of evidence and currently teaches a seminar on criminal punishment from a US-Canada comparative perspective. He is a co-author of Search and Seizure (Emond, 2021), Digital Privacy: Criminal, Civil and Regulatory Litigation (LexisNexis, 2018), and Sentencing, ninth edition (LexisNexis, 2017), and an author of numerous articles on criminal and constitutional law.

Partner

Nader R. Hasan

Liane Brown is committed to representing individuals who have suffered serious personal injuries and to families who have suffered the loss of a loved one. Her practice concentrates on personal injury law, including accident benefits, motor vehicle collisions, medical malpractice, occupiers’ liability, product liability and wrongful death cases.

Partner

Liane Brown

Partner

Liane Brown

Ben Irantalab enjoys the complexities of personal injury litigation. His practice is exclusively devoted to representing clients with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and severe orthopedic injuries. For him, the cases that require special creativity and thinking outside the box are the most gratifying.

Partner

Ben Irantalab

On a larger scale, HSH handles class action and mass tort lawsuits representing groups of people injured by dangerous products, medications, medical devices, and negligent organizations. The HSH team is known for providing caring and attentive service to clients, and is proud of the firm’s excellent reputation within the legal and medical communities.

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“We will continue to strengthen our service proposition and customer experience as a key differentiator, as we build on the momentum we have achieved to date across multiple business lines and territories,” says McLean. “Our im is to continue to grow our market relevance and strengthen our partnerships with our strategic brokers as we expand our leadership position in key sectors. “We will also continue to invest in talent. We are committed to drawing from the broadest pools of talent, and to creating an environment that attracts and retains stellar employees. We recognise the importance of building teams that are diverse, collaborative, and innovative and are dedicated to cultivating a supportive and inclusive workplace culture in which all our employees can thrive.”

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By partnering with FTA, businesses gain a trusted, reliable ally that’s fully committed to both their success and the protection of their clients.

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Ben Irantalab

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Ben Irantalab

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Ben Irantalab

Partner

Liane Brown

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What FTA covers:

Professional indemnity (standalone and combined with general liability for white-collar professionals) Information technology liability Management liability Design and construct liability Public and products liability Associations liability Cyber insurance Excess layers

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