2026 Executive Outlook | Jolee Crosby, Swiss Re

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly embedded across the risk value chain, making 2026 a pivotal moment for Canada’s property and casualty (P&C) insurance sector.

This past year, we saw many standalone AI pilots and use cases. The industry is now moving towards embedding AI-driven risk intelligence into core processes, transforming how insurers, brokers, and clients understand and manage exposure in an increasingly complex environment.

Across Canada, insurers are contending with a confluence of challenges: rising secondary perils such as wildfire, hail and flood; rapid urban growth in risk-prone regions; and a sharp increase in insured values. Addressing these issues requires better data, greater transparency and stronger collaboration — areas in which AI can make a measurable difference.

AI-driven insights enable underwriters to move from reactive pricing to proactive partnership. It allows P&C insurance providers to help property owners harden assets before losses occur, by advising them to implement targeted risk mitigation measures such as improving roof resilience, enhancing fire protection systems, or addressing flood vulnerabilities.

AI is delivering material gains when it comes to unlocking unstructured data. Natural-language models can process enormous volumes of unstructured information in emails, submissions and claims files, allowing experts to respond faster and focus on high-value judgment calls. For a market like Canada’s, in which underwriting decisions often depend on region-specific data such as building materials or topography, this ability to systematically process and learn from unstructured inputs will be crucial.

As AI adoption accelerates, responsible integration is paramount. AI is not a substitute for human expertise, but as an enabler of it. It enhances judgment, speed and relevance, which benefits our end customers. Strong governance, data integrity and human oversight must underpin every deployment. Trust and transparency will remain core to how the insurance sector engages clients and regulators alike.

Integration of AI into core processes will gain further momentum in 2026, helping Canada’s insurance industry anticipate, manage and mitigate risk. This will help the industry build resilience against both natural and man-made perils, strengthen portfolio quality and deliver greater stability to communities.