It’s hard to believe that the summer of 2023 has officially come to a close. Lucky for us, we have lots of big memories to look back on!

Here at McFarlan Rowlands we started off the summer with a huge announcement in May, sharing news of our new partnership with McDougall Insurance, with the support of Definity Financial.

McDougall and McFarlan Rowlands have shared synergy and strategy informally over a number of years. Headquartered in Belleville, they operate out of more than 40 locations across Eastern Ontario. We know this partnership is right for McFarlan Rowlands because McDougall values the presence of real people in their communities and they operate through a multi branch, rural focus while providing choice and exceptional customer service. Just like McFarlan Rowlands, they represent over 50 insurance companies, giving them the ability to offer their clients optimal solutions.

We look forward to our future with McDougall, representing a leading broker platform with significant scale and geographic reach in Ontario. In August, our new partners from McDougall came down to our neck of the woods to see a few of our offices and have the opportunity to get to know some of our front line brokers and staff. We’re excited to have many more face to face meetings with our new partners!

Not long after we announced this exciting new partnership, we also underwent our first ever interprovincial merger with McDougall/McFarlan Rowlands merging with Drayden Insurance Ltd.

Drayden Insurance is a well-respected name in Alberta. They are headquartered in the Edmonton area and have a rich history dating back to 1965. This merger will position McDougall/McFarlan Rowlands Insurance as one of the very largest insurance brokers in Canada with 65 office locations and 860 employees. We couldn‘t be more excited about what this means for our brokerage, our staff and our clients. 

Among all of the growth we have also done a bit of downsizing, making the difficult decision to close our Straffordville branch this past August. With three other office locations in the area, we have decided it will be in the best interest to have our brokers in Straffordville join our branch in Aylmer and imminently close our Straffordville branch. Their move to Aylmer will provide you with more resources in one office, giving you even better service moving forward.

Despite all of the major changes we’ve undergone, we also made time for a bit of fun this summer! On Wednesday July 19th we had the pleasure of hosting our bi-annual Underwriters Party at Dark Horse Estate Winery in Grand Bend. It was a great afternoon full of good food, drinks, music and some fun in the hot July sun with our Commercial Account Executives and Underwriting partners. 

Although we’ve undergone a lot of change over the past few months, you can rest assured that we are still the same organization composed of the same fantastic team. Although we’ve expanded and hope to continue to do so, you can continue to count on our experienced team for the insurance solutions and service that you have always trusted.