Fortress formed in 2004 as an Alberta registered and regulated insurance company which exclusively provided third party automobile liability coverage in the rental car and airport services business in Calgary.
In 2019, the Western Investment Company of Canada Limited (Western or WICC) purchased a fifty percent stake in Fortress Insurance with a plan to expand the company’s licensed operations to include all four Western Canadian provinces and to offer various insurance products geared towards niche customers.
In 2022 Fortress became licensed in every Canadian province and Territory, with the exceptions of Quebec and Atlantic provinces.
In early 2024 it was announced that WICC had partnered with Paul Rivett (Tevir Capital Inc.) to invest in and consolidate Western’s ownership of Fortress. Paul Rivett said “…we believe that Western, its insurance subsidiary Fortress, along with the skills and experience of Scott Tannas and Shafeen Mawani, are the right combination for us to build an insurance and investment holding company in Canada.”
Further to WICC’s news release of October 1, 2024, as of December 31, 2024, WICC completed the previously announced acquisition of Fortress Insurance Company.
Fortress is eager to continue our journey under Paul Rivett as the new CEO of WICC and Chairman of our Board, and is immensely grateful for the past support of our outgoing Chairman, The Hon. Scott Tannas, Senator.
Fortress continues it’s evolution as a responsive and dependable partner to our distribution network across Canada. We will support that network by delivering capacity and solutions that promote geographical and segment/product diversification across Canada, with the inclusion of Atlantic Canada in the near term. Our nimble business model allows us to continue to scale through Delegated Underwriting Authorities, niche products and Fronting while expanding our Offer & Acceptance portfolio across the country. We will maintain our focus on establishing long-term partnerships with solid business fundamentals that justify capital investment. The WICC and Fortress leadership teams also intends to explore possible M&A opportunities.