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McDougall Insurance Brokers Ltd. has entered Atlantic Canada following a merger with Halifax-based Keyes Insurance.

“Keyes is McDougall’s first Atlantic Canadian office and represents a significant moment for our organization’s national ambitions,” says a June 5 press release from McDougall, a Definity Financial Corporation subsidiary. “Keyes is a multi-generational family brokerage that has established itself over 45 years as a premier Halifax business and will seamlessly fit into our culture.”

Keyes is based in Bedford, N.S. (a district of Halifax) and offers home, tenant, auto, commercial, boat, motorcycle and recreational vehicle insurance.

Shaun Keyes, president of Keyes Insurance, will retain his role at his family business while taking on the additional responsibility of growing the larger brokerage in Atlantic Canada, McDougall reports. He says the partnership “significantly increases [Keyes’] expertise in commercial insurance, specifically construction, real estate, and manufacturing.

“Adding offerings like these, risk management services, and specialty underwriting, as well as increasing our market access, will help us grow and strengthen what we offer to our clients, our staff, and the region we proudly serve as a premiere Atlantic Canadian commercial and personal insurance brokerage.”

McDougall’s merger comes on the heels of another deal with an Ontario brokerage. On June 2, McDougall announced it had merged operations with Duliban Insurance Brokers Limited and its sister firm, Duliban Life & Benefits Inc.

With offices across Ontario’s Niagara and Haldimand regions, the Duliban brand will remain and become a “pivotal divisional brokerage” of McDougall, the larger brokerage says in a release. Duliban Insurance offers home insurance (home, condo, tenant, Airbnb and cottage) as well as tractor and farm insurance.

McDougall says principal broker Jason Duliban will remain with the company in his current capacity while joining McDougall’s national leadership team. Duliban’s other principal broker, Adam Duliban, will work with the firm through a transitional period, then focus on growing and managing other family assets.

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Jason Contant

Jason has been an award-winning journalist with Canadian Underwriter for more than a decade, including the past three years as associate editor and, before that, as digital editor for seven years.