About This Event
Take advantage of this one-day in person event featuring a celebration of new Canadian CAS members! This is your chance to take part in continuing education, connect, collaborate, and be inspired alongside peers and thought leaders from across Canada.
Explore timely issues shaping Canada’s property and casualty insurance landscape, including practical applications and responsible governance of AI, climate modeling, Alberta’s Care-First reform, and leadership journeys across the profession.
Vogue Hotel Montreal Downtown, Curio Collection by Hilton
1425 Rue De la Montagne
Montreal, Quebec H3G1Z3
Canada
The Vogue Hotel Montreal Downtown, Curio Collection by Hilton, is nestled amongst the popular boutiques and world-renowned museums and galleries in the heart of Montreal's Golden Square Mile, the city's fashionable culture hub.
The hotel is near the Montreal Central Station (1.4 km) and Peel station (.35 km) on the Montreal Metro. Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) is 17 km from the hotel and is serviced by taxis, rideshares and the 747 Express Bus. Visit Vogue hotel’s transportation page for more information.
Hotel Reservations
Vogue Hotel Montreal Downtown, Curio Collection by Hilton
1425 Rue De la Montagne
Montreal, Quebec H3G1Z3
Canada
The Vogue Hotel Montreal Downtown is offering a limited number of guest rooms for attendees of the 2026 CAS Canada Connection at a discounted rate of CAD $295 per night, plus taxes, for single or double occupancy.
To reserve a room, please email meetings@casact.org with the guest’s full legal name and arrival/departure dates. Reservations must be requested by Monday, November 2, 2026, and may only be made by the event organizers.
Please note that rooms are limited, and availability is not guaranteed through the reservation deadline. CAS encourages attendees to request hotel accommodations early before the room block fills.
Continuing Education Credits
The CAS Continuing Education Policy applies to all ACAS and FCAS members who provide actuarial services. Actuarial services are defined in the CAS Code of Professional Conduct as “professional services provided to a Principal by an individual acting in the capacity of an actuary. Such services include the rendering of advice, recommendations, findings or opinions based upon actuarial considerations.”
Members who are or could be subject to the continuing education requirements of a national actuarial organization can meet the requirements of the CAS Continuing Education Policy by satisfying the continuing education requirements established by a national actuarial organization recognized by the Policy.
This event may qualify for up to 5.4 CE credits for CAS members. Participants should claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. CAS members earn 1 CE credit per 50 minutes of educational session time, not to include breaks or lunch.
**Note: The amount of CE credit that can be earned for participating in this activity must be assessed by the individual attendee. It also may be different for individuals who are subject to the requirements of organizations other than the American Academy of Actuaries.
Accessibility
The CAS seeks to do its utmost to provide equal access to participants with disabilities. You can submit your accommodation requests upon registration, and we will work with you to meet your needs. Please refer to our Accessibility page for more information.
Speaker Opinions
The opinions expressed by speakers at this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the CAS.
Contact Information
- For more information on event content, please contact Josie Harler at jharler@casact.org.
- For more information on attendee registration, please email arc@casact.org.
- For more information on other CAS opportunities or administrative policies such as complaints and refunds, please contact the CAS Office at (703) 276-3100 or visit the CAS website.
- For more information on the seminar other than registration or content issues, please email meetings@casact.org.
New Member Recognition
The CAS is excited to celebrate our newest members at the 2026 CAS Canada Connection!
Members who achieved their ACAS or FCAS designation in 2025 or 2026 — including those anticipated to join the Spring 2027 class after passing the Fall 2026 exam sitting — are warmly invited to be recognized during the Welcome & Celebration of Canadian New Members session on December 3, 2026.
We understand that some company policies may limit international travel and wanted to provide an additional opportunity for recognition closer to home. Even if you were previously recognized at a CAS Spring or Annual Meeting, we would be delighted to celebrate your achievement again at this Canadian event.
New members are welcome to attend either the full CAS Canada Connection meeting or only the Welcome & Celebration of Canadian New Members session. Those attending only the celebration session do not need to complete the event registration process; however, all individuals who wish to be formally recognized during the session must complete the separate New Member Recognition at the 2026 CAS Canada Connection RSVP form.
RSVP Required for Recognition: To be individually recognized during the celebration, new members must complete the New Member Recognition at 2026 CAS Canada Connection Form. This form will close on Friday, November 20.
Questions about the new member recognition can be directed to Shelby Wolff, Membership and Volunteer Engagement Manager at swolff@casact.org.
The 2026 Canada Connection registration fee includes educational sessions, lunch, refreshment breaks, and a closing reception on Thursday. Registration must be received by December 2 at 11:59 PM (ET).
REGISTRATION FEES
|
|
REGISTRATION FEE BY OCT 23 |
LATE FEE AFTER OCT 23 |
|
Individual |
CAD $400 / US $290 |
CAD $539 / US $390 |
* Fees will be charged in U.S. Dollars, and Canadian fees are approximated but will be subject to currency exchange rates at time of registration.
Registration fees will be refunded for cancellations received by November 20, 2026, less a $100 processing fee.
To cancel your 2026 CAS Canada Connection registration, simply log into your CAS Portal and follow the steps below:
1. Go to My Meetings.
2. Click on Details.
3. Under Registration Details, select EDIT.
4. Choose Cancel Registration.
Your registration fees (minus the $100 cancellation fee) will be refunded within 10 business days.
You may process your cancellation via the CAS Portal by November 20, 2026. If you need to correspond with the CAS regarding your event cancellation, please email meetings@casact.org.
If the CAS Canada Connection is canceled, registrants receive a full refund for registration fees paid. Transportation and hotel costs or fees are the responsibility of the attendee and are therefore not reimbursable by the CAS.
The CAS is excited to celebrate our newest members at the 2026 CAS Canada Connection!
Members who achieved their ACAS or FCAS designation in 2025 or 2026 — including those anticipated to join the Spring 2027 class after passing the Fall 2026 exam sitting — are warmly invited to be recognized during the Welcome & Celebration of Canadian New Members session on December 3, 2026.
We understand that some company policies may limit international travel and wanted to provide an additional opportunity for recognition closer to home. Even if you were previously recognized at a CAS Spring or Annual Meeting, we would be delighted to celebrate your achievement again at this Canadian event.
New members are welcome to attend either the full CAS Canada Connection meeting or only the Welcome & Celebration of Canadian New Members session. Those attending only the celebration session do not need to complete the event registration process; however, all individuals who wish to be formally recognized during the session must complete the separate New Member Recognition at the 2026 CAS Canada Connection RSVP form.
RSVP Required for Recognition: To be individually recognized during the celebration, new members must complete the New Member Recognition at 2026 CAS Canada Connection Form. This form will close on Friday, November 20.
Questions about the new member recognition can be directed to Shelby Wolff, Membership and Volunteer Engagement Manager at swolff@casact.org.
Welcome, Celebration of Canadian New Members
Join us for a celebration of new Canadian CAS members!
AI in Pricing
More information coming soon!
Speakers:
Benjamin Williams
Ben is a Senior Director at WTW. He specializes in predictive analytics and applications to pricing, underwriting, and claims, and has more than 20 years experience in the P&C insurance industry. As well as WTW, he has worked in his native New Zealand, for multinational insurers in Europe and for a US commercial lines insurer, where he led the analytics team. Ben has masters degrees in Mathematics from the Instituto Politecnico Nacional in Mexico and in Physics from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
Jean-Francois Tremblay
Jean François joined WTW in June 2024 and is a Senior Director in the Insurance Consulting and Technology business. He brings more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, with a career centered on leveraging data, analytics, and technology to drive optimization, sophistication, and innovation—particularly in Pricing and Underwriting. He holds a degree in Actuarial Sciences from Laval University and is a Fellow of both the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS) and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA).
Emerging Climate Risks in Canada
More information coming soon!
Speakers:
Dave Bigelow
Dave Bigelow is a Vice President within Aon’s Climate Risk Advisory. He has worked with world-leading data and engineering firms, helping organizations understand their exposure by modelling future impacts to assets and operations. His work has been applied across sectors from power, mining and finance, to communities, buildings and the environment. He has also developed multiple innovative products, leveraging engineering expertise to operationalize climate analytics.
Turn the Page: from Tort to Care-based Reserving in Auto Insurance
More information coming soon!
Speakers:
Khurram Masud
Khurram Masud is Director, Valuation & Capital Management at Manitoba Public Insurance. He has almost 25 years of actuarial experience across property & casualty, life and health insurance in Canada, the Middle East, and South Asia. His areas of expertise include reserving, pricing, capital management, IFRS 17, risk management, and reinsurance.
Prior to joining MPI, he held actuarial leadership roles with consulting, insurance, and reinsurance organizations, supporting a broad range of valuation, pricing, capital, and regulatory initiatives. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, the Society of Actuaries, and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.
Andrew Loach
Pricing the Shift : Alberta's move from BI to Accident Benefits Under Care-First
On January 1, 2027, Alberta will transition from a tort-based Bodily Injury (BI) system to a no-fault Accident Benefits (AB) model under the Care-First reform. For pricing teams, this is a complete reset: decades of BI loss history become largely irrelevant, requiring new AB coverages to be priced from scratch without Alberta-specific data. This ground-up exercise necessitates a shift in methodology. While carriers can benchmark against other no-fault provinces, differences in benefit design mean these references cannot be copied directly. A credibility-based approach, such as Lasso Credibility, is essential to blend external priors and expert judgment with emerging data. Success will require a faster pricing cadence than the industry standard; carriers must move away from annual reviews toward real-time portfolio monitoring to detect early signals in utilization and segment divergence before they impact the bottom line.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the structural shift from tort-based BI to no-fault AB pricing.
- Apply credibility-based approaches to blend external benchmarks with emerging data.
- Design a portfolio monitoring strategy adapted to a high-uncertainty environment.
Speakers:
Kamela Taleb
Kamela Taleb joined Akur8 as an Actuarial Data Scientist in 2025. Over the past nine years, Kamela has held actuarial and pricing roles across a wide range of business lines, including commercial, cyber, natural catastrophe, auto, and construction. At AXA, one of France’s leading insurers, she experienced firsthand Akur8’s strong added value. There, she contributed to developing a new auto pricing structure and strategy using advanced modeling techniques such as GLMs and GBMs, driving greater pricing sophistication and optimization.
Model Risk Management in the Age of Generative AI: One P&C Insurer’s Approach
The increasing availability of AI-based technology introduces new opportunities and new risks for P&C insurers, creating the need to balance the two through a commitment to responsible use of AI. The risks associated with use of AI within a financial institution have been recognized through regulation, including OSFI’s Model Risk Management Guideline (E-23). This presentation will highlight core aspects of Definity’s approach to managing AI model risk, and discuss what it takes, from a practical, hands-on perspective, to put regulatory guidelines into practice and enable effective use of AI. Concrete examples of AI applications, supporting functions such as customer service and claims intake, will illustrate how we assess a model’s suitability for its business purpose. Actuaries have played an essential role as members of cross-functional teams working on AI initiatives and governance, and the presentation will describe how actuarial perspectives have added value to these efforts.
Learning Objectives:
- Propose model risk mitigation approaches that align with the risk level of a Generative AI use case.
- Identify Standards of Practice that are relevant for an actuary making recommendations related to use of an AI model.
- Propose metrics to evaluate an AI model’s suitability for a business use case.
Speakers:
Craig Sloss
Craig Sloss (he / him) is an Enterprise Analytics Consultant at Definity Financial Corporation, where he has been a member of the Advanced Analytics team since 2014. Craig’s role involves providing technical guidance on model development, validation, and governance to data scientists and actuaries who work on predictive models supporting fraud detection, claims management, underwriting operations, and customer service interactions. He has been a major contributor to Definity’s policies and practices around responsible use of AI, at both the first and second lines of defense, and has played a leading role in Definity’s efforts to operationalize bias and fairness testing for predictive models. Craig actively supports initiatives to advance the actuarial profession, in roles such as Volunteer Chair of the CAS Canada Race and Insurance Pricing Task Force, and as Vice Chair of the CIA Property & Casualty Practice Committee.
Leadership Journeys
More information coming soon!
Speakers:
Barry Franklin
Erika Schurr
Jonathan Frost
All times are listed in EASTERN time. Session information coming soon!
| Time | Event |
|
Thursday, December 3, 2026 |
|
|
8:30AM - 5:00PM |
Registration |
|
9:30AM - 10:00AM |
Welcome, Celebration of Canadian New Members |
|
10:00AM - 10:30AM |
Networking & Refreshment Break |
|
10:30AM - 11:15AM |
Artificial Intelligence in Pricing |
|
11:15AM - 12:00PM |
Emerging Climate Risks in Canada |
|
12:00PM - 1:30PM |
Lunch |
|
1:30PM - 2:15PM |
Turn the Page: From Tort to Care-based Reserving in Auto Insurance |
|
2:15PM - 3:00PM |
Pricing the Shift : Alberta's Move from BI to Accident Benefits Under Care-First |
|
3:00PM - 3:30PM |
Networking & Refreshment Break |
|
3:30PM - 4:15PM |
Model Risk Management in the Age of Generative AI: One P&C Insurer’s Approach |
|
4:15PM - 5:00PM |
Journeys to Leadership |
|
5:00PM - 5:15PM |
Closing and Transition |
|
5:15PM - 6:30PM |
Reception |
Welcome, Celebration of Canadian New Members
Join us for a celebration of new Canadian CAS members!
AI in Pricing
More information coming soon!
Speakers:
Benjamin Williams
Ben is a Senior Director at WTW. He specializes in predictive analytics and applications to pricing, underwriting, and claims, and has more than 20 years experience in the P&C insurance industry. As well as WTW, he has worked in his native New Zealand, for multinational insurers in Europe and for a US commercial lines insurer, where he led the analytics team. Ben has masters degrees in Mathematics from the Instituto Politecnico Nacional in Mexico and in Physics from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
Jean-Francois Tremblay
Jean François joined WTW in June 2024 and is a Senior Director in the Insurance Consulting and Technology business. He brings more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, with a career centered on leveraging data, analytics, and technology to drive optimization, sophistication, and innovation—particularly in Pricing and Underwriting. He holds a degree in Actuarial Sciences from Laval University and is a Fellow of both the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS) and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA).
Emerging Climate Risks in Canada
More information coming soon!
Speakers:
Dave Bigelow
Dave Bigelow is a Vice President within Aon’s Climate Risk Advisory. He has worked with world-leading data and engineering firms, helping organizations understand their exposure by modelling future impacts to assets and operations. His work has been applied across sectors from power, mining and finance, to communities, buildings and the environment. He has also developed multiple innovative products, leveraging engineering expertise to operationalize climate analytics.
Turn the Page: from Tort to Care-based Reserving in Auto Insurance
More information coming soon!
Speakers:
Khurram Masud
Khurram Masud is Director, Valuation & Capital Management at Manitoba Public Insurance. He has almost 25 years of actuarial experience across property & casualty, life and health insurance in Canada, the Middle East, and South Asia. His areas of expertise include reserving, pricing, capital management, IFRS 17, risk management, and reinsurance.
Prior to joining MPI, he held actuarial leadership roles with consulting, insurance, and reinsurance organizations, supporting a broad range of valuation, pricing, capital, and regulatory initiatives. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, the Society of Actuaries, and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.
Andrew Loach
Pricing the Shift : Alberta's move from BI to Accident Benefits Under Care-First
On January 1, 2027, Alberta will transition from a tort-based Bodily Injury (BI) system to a no-fault Accident Benefits (AB) model under the Care-First reform. For pricing teams, this is a complete reset: decades of BI loss history become largely irrelevant, requiring new AB coverages to be priced from scratch without Alberta-specific data. This ground-up exercise necessitates a shift in methodology. While carriers can benchmark against other no-fault provinces, differences in benefit design mean these references cannot be copied directly. A credibility-based approach, such as Lasso Credibility, is essential to blend external priors and expert judgment with emerging data. Success will require a faster pricing cadence than the industry standard; carriers must move away from annual reviews toward real-time portfolio monitoring to detect early signals in utilization and segment divergence before they impact the bottom line.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the structural shift from tort-based BI to no-fault AB pricing.
- Apply credibility-based approaches to blend external benchmarks with emerging data.
- Design a portfolio monitoring strategy adapted to a high-uncertainty environment.
Speakers:
Kamela Taleb
Kamela Taleb joined Akur8 as an Actuarial Data Scientist in 2025. Over the past nine years, Kamela has held actuarial and pricing roles across a wide range of business lines, including commercial, cyber, natural catastrophe, auto, and construction. At AXA, one of France’s leading insurers, she experienced firsthand Akur8’s strong added value. There, she contributed to developing a new auto pricing structure and strategy using advanced modeling techniques such as GLMs and GBMs, driving greater pricing sophistication and optimization.
Model Risk Management in the Age of Generative AI: One P&C Insurer’s Approach
The increasing availability of AI-based technology introduces new opportunities and new risks for P&C insurers, creating the need to balance the two through a commitment to responsible use of AI. The risks associated with use of AI within a financial institution have been recognized through regulation, including OSFI’s Model Risk Management Guideline (E-23). This presentation will highlight core aspects of Definity’s approach to managing AI model risk, and discuss what it takes, from a practical, hands-on perspective, to put regulatory guidelines into practice and enable effective use of AI. Concrete examples of AI applications, supporting functions such as customer service and claims intake, will illustrate how we assess a model’s suitability for its business purpose. Actuaries have played an essential role as members of cross-functional teams working on AI initiatives and governance, and the presentation will describe how actuarial perspectives have added value to these efforts.
Learning Objectives:
- Propose model risk mitigation approaches that align with the risk level of a Generative AI use case.
- Identify Standards of Practice that are relevant for an actuary making recommendations related to use of an AI model.
- Propose metrics to evaluate an AI model’s suitability for a business use case.
Speakers:
Craig Sloss
Craig Sloss (he / him) is an Enterprise Analytics Consultant at Definity Financial Corporation, where he has been a member of the Advanced Analytics team since 2014. Craig’s role involves providing technical guidance on model development, validation, and governance to data scientists and actuaries who work on predictive models supporting fraud detection, claims management, underwriting operations, and customer service interactions. He has been a major contributor to Definity’s policies and practices around responsible use of AI, at both the first and second lines of defense, and has played a leading role in Definity’s efforts to operationalize bias and fairness testing for predictive models. Craig actively supports initiatives to advance the actuarial profession, in roles such as Volunteer Chair of the CAS Canada Race and Insurance Pricing Task Force, and as Vice Chair of the CIA Property & Casualty Practice Committee.
Leadership Journeys
More information coming soon!
Speakers:
Barry Franklin
Erika Schurr
Jonathan Frost
All times are listed in EASTERN time. Session information coming soon!
| Time | Event |
|
Thursday, December 3, 2026 |
|
|
8:30AM - 5:00PM |
Registration |
|
9:30AM - 10:00AM |
Welcome, Celebration of Canadian New Members |
|
10:00AM - 10:30AM |
Networking & Refreshment Break |
|
10:30AM - 11:15AM |
Artificial Intelligence in Pricing |
|
11:15AM - 12:00PM |
Emerging Climate Risks in Canada |
|
12:00PM - 1:30PM |
Lunch |
|
1:30PM - 2:15PM |
Turn the Page: From Tort to Care-based Reserving in Auto Insurance |
|
2:15PM - 3:00PM |
Pricing the Shift : Alberta's Move from BI to Accident Benefits Under Care-First |
|
3:00PM - 3:30PM |
Networking & Refreshment Break |
|
3:30PM - 4:15PM |
Model Risk Management in the Age of Generative AI: One P&C Insurer’s Approach |
|
4:15PM - 5:00PM |
Journeys to Leadership |
|
5:00PM - 5:15PM |
Closing and Transition |
|
5:15PM - 6:30PM |
Reception |
