Gore Mutual Insurance Company is Canada’s oldest property and casualty insurer and June marked the 180th anniversary of our organization.
On June 18, 1839 – 28 years before Confederation – the first meeting and founding of the Gore District Mutual Fire Insurance Company (the name was shortened to Gore Mutual Insurance Company in 1959) took place at a schoolhouse in Brantford, Ontario. The company had originally hoped to start two years earlier, but plans were put on hold because of the 1837 rebellion demonstrating one of the many ways that our history has been tied directly to that of Canada’s.
Now based in Cambridge, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia, the past 180 years have seen Gore Mutual grow alongside Canada and adapt to the many challenges the country has faced including wars, market crashes and environmental disasters.
Throughout it all, we have worked to support people with our insurance solutions and by giving back. In 1873, we helped purchase a steam fire engine for the Galt Fire Brigade. During the first World War, we gifted $50,000 to the War Effort Patriotic Fund and in World War II, we donated another $100,000. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King called our 1941 wartime contribution an “inspiring example of freely giving.” In 1998, we formalized our giving by establishing the Gore Mutual Foundation. In 2018, we learned that Gore Mutual Foundation’s social return on investment for the past 20 years was $42 million.
“Since 1839, our company has existed to help people in their time of need,” says Heidi Sevcik, President and CEO at Gore Mutual. “Our story is about people working together to overcome adversity by protecting each other and our communities.”
Although Gore Mutual has a proud history, we’re not bound by it. In recent years, we’ve worked hard to transform nearly every part of our business by investing in talent, customer service, products and technology. The insurance industry is rapidly changing as customer expectations shift and new risks emerge from climate change, cyberattacks and more. We’re confident the changes we’re making in our business will positively impact our partners, customers and communities as our company prepares for the next 180 years.
“It is important for us to prepare for the next horizon of our company,” says Sevcik. “Our history is filled with smart, ambitious people who have had innovative ideas and created new solutions that have allowed our company to grow and evolve. This will continue to happen as we go forward, and we are excited about the new opportunities the future will bring.”
Watch our Gore Mutual 180 video below.
