Are more brokers growing hostile toward DEI efforts?

Most brokerage professionals responding to Canadian Underwriter’s 2026 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) survey say the programs produce measurable economic benefits to their firms. But that sentiment is shifting.

In 2025, 71% of respondents noted DEI initiatives produced some economic benefits. This year, that percentage slipped to 63%. Notable 2026 changes include just 46% saying the programs help employee retention, against 51% a year ago (see Chart 1). And just 30% in 2026 say they help employee productivity, compared with 41% in 2025.

“The fact that 63% of brokers still see benefits from DEI tells me the industry knows diversity matters,” says Aniket Dhingra, digital marketing manager at Begin Insurance. “But the decline from 71% also tells me that many still see it as a ‘nice to have’ conversation instead of something directly connected to business readiness and customer understanding.”

He stresses diversity within brokerages doesn’t just fill quotas, it changes conversations within the business.

“There have been many moments when I’ve shared an immigrant perspective internally and realized that something we thought was normal from a business standpoint actually felt intimidating or confusing to a newcomer customer. Those small realizations change how we market, communicate and build trust,” he tells Canadian Underwriter.

Much of his firm’s marketing strategy centres on multilingual service for customers, many of them newcomers. “Canada itself is changing, and if you don’t understand the people around you, eventually your marketing, your communication, and even your customer experience starts feeling disconnected from reality,” says Dhingra.

Many other metrics are flat over the recent survey years, but 19% of 2026 respondents now say DEI doesn’t boost the bottom line, compared with 12% in 2025.

Related: What’s the business case for brokerage diversity programs?

Write-in comments from survey respondents run a gamut from those saying DEI programs result in women clients “feeling empowered when dealing with [our firm]” and that “people who feel included…will stay,” to those saying DEI “[has] a negative economic impact.”

Two verbatim responses assert DEI is being implemented so brokerages can save on wages by hiring less qualified people.

And some negative comments come from people identifying as minorities based on race, gender, and sexual orientation. “DEI is counterproductive to building teams of quality people focused on merit, professional and personal development,” says a disabled male respondent out West. “DEI encourages false qualifications and selfish perspectives.”

Clarifying communication

One verbatim survey response cites the ability of diverse teams to sell to a wider population of clients. “Multilingual individuals offer better accessibility to communicate in a native language,” the broker owners says.

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Beyond that, Dhingra says, “DEI helps brands stop sounding like brands and start sounding human.”

Upon arriving in Canada, he remembers many things felt unfamiliar, including insurance. Those things weren’t complicated but people around him didn’t grasp the mindset of people new to Canada.

“A lot of people in this industry assume customers understand how insurance works, why rates are high, what coverages mean or how claims work,” he tells CU. “But many newcomers don’t. Sometimes they are nervous asking questions because they don’t want to sound uninformed. Sometimes they just want someone who understands where they are coming from…[T]here’s a huge difference between someone simply explaining something to you versus someone understanding why you may be confused in the first place.”

Those perspectives are important when marketing to digital-native customers, he says.

“They can instantly tell when something is forced, performative, or created inside a boardroom without real understanding behind it. They don’t just look at what companies say, they look at whether the people behind the company actually reflect the world around them,” Dhingra says.

“There were times when I pointed out certain wording on a page could confuse newcomers, or that some assumptions we were making about customers only made sense to people already familiar with Canada. Those are very small details, but they completely change how someone experiences a brand.”

Business risks

Large shifts also show up in data tracked since the survey’s 2022 inception. When asked about things that could threaten P&C insurance brokerages that don’t address diversity, just 35% say ‘losing good employees’ was a concern in 2026 – a full 13 percentage points below the 2025 response (see Chart 2).

Further, just 34% identify a ‘lack if diverse perspectives within the team’ as a risk in 2026, compared with 40% last year. And concern about the risk of losing access to new talent falls 10 percentage points to 33% this year.

One broker out West tells the survey, “I think by far the biggest threat is losing access to the best new talent. I’m actively recruiting right now – I’ve felt how important the talent pool is.  If our org[anization] isn’t seen as inclusive, we shrink our pipeline.”

Other survey respondents disagree, stressing the need for strict meritocracy.

“Merit based business[e]s will outperform DEI-based models,” says a Millennial-generation broker based in western Canada. And a female Millennial broker in urban Ontario tells the survey, “If you hire based on talent, it will attract a diverse group of employees regardless of their background.”

One Generation X broker in urban B.C. says DEI has caused business to decline. “Being forced to hire someone based on their chosen identity rather than their skills is not helpful for growth,” he tells the survey.