ABOUT
Aboriginal Insurance Services
What
We Do
AIS offers First Nations communities:
· Customized insurance products and coverage: AIS established its own insurance broker partners in over 30 Indigenous territory zones across Canada and customized coverage and policy language for each community member
· Proprietary Products: AIS develops its own products and provides affordable options not otherwise available in the commercial insurance market, allowing coverage for previously uninsured or traditionally uninsurable risks.
· Individual Premiums Determined By Zone: AIS works with underwriting partners to establish premiums, deductibles, enhancements, and warranties based on the Indigenous zone and the community’s individual risk profile.
· Membership That is A Partnership: Member communities can participate in decisions influencing underwriting practices and investments. This partnership allows the community to help determine the extent of the coverage they wish to extend to all shareholders.
Unlike traditional insurance companies, AIS offers a one-stop end-to-end insurance solutions - all in one place:
· Underwriting
· Policy servicing
· Claims adjusting and management
· Loss control & risk assements
· Distribution
· Risk management
· Brokering
· Service standards & practices
· Fusion automated system
In addition, AIS brokers are meticulously hand-picked for their passion and dedication to celebrating the cultural needs of every first nations community.
This network of Indigenous-owned-or-oriented partner brokers offer insurance products to any of the 633 First Nations communities across Canada in one of 30 Indigenous zones, including those in remote and northern locations.
Our brokers work diligently on an in-person basis with clients, bringing back value-added services in return for their partnership and collaboration.
Communities are also offered the opportunity to join AIS as member stakeholders offering them with the ability to reap the benefits of being a partner within their own insurance company.
Our
VISION, MISSION, & VALUES
VISION: Aboriginal Insurance Services’ vision is to help Canada’s First Nations communities gain the security and protection they need to maintain and/or further develop a resilient and sustainable community. Our vision is to get to know the varying and unique needs of every First Nations community and to create products, programs, and services that uplift and empower First Nations peoples.
MISSION:
AIS’ mission is to create and provide customized insurance products to promote and support capacity-building opportunities for Canada’s First Nations communities with a focus on economic resiliency. With over 300 insurance companies around the globe who share the same vision as AIS, we are able to provide single-source coverage for a broad range of risks in one single policy. By building ethical relationships with all of our partners and stakeholders, we can proceed to the future with integrity and understanding and a commitment to supporting the independence and self-determination of every First Nations community.
VALUES:
AIS’ values have remained steadfast throughout all these years; our values have never wavered, our vision remains within reach, and our mission stays consistent.
Knowledge:
First Nations have a very important history; this history must be taken into account when partnering with First Nations communities. Knowing their history can make all the difference to their future.
Integrity:
Insurance Companies have a long-standing tradition of being “shady;” rarely do insurance companies follow through on the promises they make, making every step of the claims process frustrating and confusing. This should not be. Integrity is one of the cornerstones of everything we do.
Respect:
Our First Nations peoples were the first inhabitants of this beautiful country; their histories, their cultures, and their traditions are vital to the essence of First Nations peoples’ way of living.
This we know.
Everything we do starts first with getting to know what the individual community needs and providing needs-based coverage - not the other way around.
Teamwork:
Combining our individual strengths plus the interests of our First Nations communities, we produce results as a team that are far greater than the sum of our individual efforts.
Commitment:
We commit ourselves to working through every process, every question, every concern with our clients and communities; we never pass the buck. Through every phase - from insurance to recovery to land claims to community planning - AIS will be there, every step of the way.
Our Services
Throughout the last decade, we have come to realize that improving the insurance industry for our First Nations communities would involve more than a few training programs and specially curated insurance products. From A to Z, the concept of community development has been severely neglected in most
First Nation communities - especially those who had all but given up on improving their quality of life.
So, in addition to multitudes of services and products available, plus our on-site surveys and assessments, as well as our community training programs, AIS quickly recognized that we would need more rigorous and in-depth entities that were more complex than our typical services.
Since 2015, AIS has expanded to include 3 additional subsidiaries, all of them created to meet a specific need within the community to help identify problems, create solutions, customize products, and aid in historical issues resulting in loss of lands and lack of community development.
Aboriginal Emergency Response Services: AERS began as boots-on-the-ground for post-
catastrophe response and clean up services and has now morphed into a training and
development program providing on-site, hands-on support for all members of the community.
Nativelands Specific Claims Group: As a result of the Indian Act of 1876, as well as the various signed treaties, many First Nations communities have not only lost claim to their lands, but historical promises made were not honoured. It is our thinking that, in order for the majority of First Nations communities to grow and improve, communities should start from the beginning: Submitting a Specific Claim to receive compensation for the loss of lands that rightfully belonged to our First Nations peoples.
Nexxis Consulting: Once Nativelands had successfully secured compensation for some of the historical land claims, it quickly became apparent that many communities needed additional support in determining how best to handle the resulting funds. Thus, in 2022, AIS expanded once again to develop Nexxis Consulting, a community and economic planning organization meant to help communities invest the funds back into the community and create strategic plans for developing their economic future.