What’s New: In Brief (October 19, 2007)

Allstate Insurance Company of Canada is expanding its presence in eastern Canada and has opened a branch Kirkland, Quebec the first of a string of branches to open in the near future.During the remainder of 2007, it is expected that nine more Allstate Insurance Agencies will open in Quebec, followed by 10 more in the first quarter of 2008. Additional Allstate Insurance Agency offices are expected to open in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in 2008-Q1 and in Ontario and Alberta throughout 2008.

The Co-operators has launched a sustainability program that entails measuring the companys carbon footprint, developing a climate change strategy, incorporating sustainability principles into insurance products and educational initiatives, according to a company release. While these initiatives are set to begin in 2008, The Co-operators has already taken steps in the sustainability journey. This past summer, the board of directors approved a sustainability strategy and amended the vision and values statement. The organization has created a department of sustainability while working with The Natural Step, a non-profit organization that provides sustainability advisory and training services to coordinate efforts across the group of companies. “Measuring our environmental footprint is crucial. Without such baseline data we could not genuinely understand our unique challenges as a group of companies, and our progress would not be quantifiable,” Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators, said in the release.