President’s Message

May 2025

As we step into May, we are reminded of growth, renewal, and the steady transition towards the warm weather and of course the busy summer season! Just like the blossoming landscapes around us, our work continues to evolve bringing fresh new challenges such as AI, innovation, looming changes to the auto legislation, and CATs.

Speaking of CATs, I was in Oro-Medonte from March 29 to 30 for my sister’s birthday and I can confidently say that I have not witnessed a weather event of this magnitude. To the ice-covered foliage, to the eerie sounds of trees creaking and crashing, to the blocked roads, and lack of power, it was a stark reminder of the power of Mother Nature. I am including some photographs that I took chronicling my precarious travels through the Barrie/Orillia area.

I have spoken to many adjusters and contractors who have been working around-the-clock to service and help all those affected by this. To all the insurance professionals dealing with the large influx of claims resulting from the powerful ice storm that occurred during the weekend of March 28th in many communities across Ontario, my kudos and praise goes out to all of you!

The 2025 OIAA Claims Conference took place on April 2nd at the Metro Convention Centre and was a resounding success! We had over 1,100 attendees, 135 exhibitors and 13 seminars being offered. The overwhelming feedback from attendees was extremely positive. An event of this magnitude cannot
be successful without an amazing team in place. A heartfelt thank you to the OIAA Executive for your dedication and hard work in making the 2025 OIAA Claims Conference a great success. In particular, I want to shout-out the contributions of the Co-Chairs of the Conference, Jennifer Brown and Christine Andrews, as well as the rest of the Senior Executive, Terry Doherty, Emily Feindel, Carrie Keogh, and Joel Bobb. I am including a picture of the 2024-2025 OIAA Executive taken at the Conference.

Our next event is the 2025 OIAA Nine & Dine Golf Tournament taking place on Friday, May 30th at Cardinal Golf Club. Registration and Sponsorship are currently live on our website at www.oiaa.com. Limited foursome registration and sponsorship opportunities are still available. Separate dinner tickets are also available. Registration is from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM and Lunch from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Shotgun start is at 1:00 PM and dinner at 5:00 PM. We are still accepting prize donations for the raffle taking place during dinner. Proceeds of the raffle will go to our charity of the 2024- 2025 year, Holland Bloorview Children’s Hospital. If you would like to donate a prize or have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.

The OIAA is also running a contest for adjusters to attend the 2025 OIAA Nine & Dine Golf Tournament. If you are an Active Adjuster, you can enter a contest to golf in my foursome at the tournament. To enter, you must be an Active Adjuster (membership in good standing by May 15th) with the Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association and send me an email at sgillen@facilityassociation.com indicating that you would like to enter. See details on pg. 22.

I welcome your comments and feedback. Please feel free to reach out to me at sgillen@facilityassociation.com.

Yours truly,
SHAWNA GILLEN, CIP
President
(437) 962-5820