Company overview
Firstbrook Cassie & Anderson (FCA) is a long-established independent brokerage providing insurance and surety solutions to mid‑to‑large organisations with complex insurance needs. Founded in 1919, FCA has more than a century of experience supporting clients across a wide range of sectors, such as construction, manufacturing, real estate, non‑profit, insolvency, and high‑net‑worth personal lines.
With over 100 users across offices in Toronto and Muskoka, FCA manages a significant volume of documentation as part of its day‑to‑day operations – particularly insurance certificates, which play a critical role for many of its construction and manufacturing clients. Licensed across Canada and serving more than 17,000 clients nationwide, the brokerage is well-positioned to deliver consistent, efficient service while retaining a strong local presence.
FCA is a founding member of the Global Broker Network and a proud member of the Canadian Broker Network, giving clients access to global market insight and international coverage when required. With a long history of independence and strong industry connections, FCA places a strong emphasis on operational efficiency, service quality, and long‑term client relationships.
Certificate generation and distribution on Acturis
FCA worked with Acturis to implement the Acturis Certificates module, enabling certificates to be created, renewed and managed directly within the core platform.
The brokerage issues a high volume of certificates every day, many of which require detailed, job‑specific wording and frequent updates. The project focused on migrating existing certificate processes, redesigning workflows, and supporting staff adoption of a new, streamlined approach.
The primary objectives were to:
- Streamline the creation and reissuing of certificates
- Support a high degree of customisation by client and project
- Reduce manual effort and reliance on individual templates
- Improve efficiency and consistency across the business
The challenge
FCA issues a very high volume of insurance certificates – often dozens per day, and in peak periods well over 100. Prior to this project, certificates were managed using a separate software solution that had become increasingly unstable and did not integrate with Acturis.
As a result:
- Certificate workflows were fragmented and heavily manual
- Staff were maintaining individual templates to meet differing client and project requirements
- Updates and endorsements required significant rework
- The lack of integration created inefficiencies and operational risk
With no native certificates module available at the time, FCA needed a more reliable and scalable approach that could support its certificate volume, complex level of customization, and pace of work.
The solution
FCA worked closely with Acturis to support the development and implementation of the Acturis Certificates module, enabling certificates to be managed directly within the core system.
Key requirements included:
- A streamlined process for creating, renewing, and reissuing certificates
- High levels of flexibility to tailor wording and structure by client and job
- Reduced manual effort for common endorsements and updates
- Greater consistency and transparency across the brokerage
Given FCA’s workload and reliance on certificates, staff adoption and usability were critical to the success of the project.
The outcome
Implementation was highly collaborative. FCA participated in a series of structured workshops with Acturis, alongside regular weekly meetings during the early stages of the rollout. These sessions focused on refining workflows, testing functionality, and ensuring certificates met real‑world client requirements.
As the module evolved:
- Certificate templates were consolidated, reducing reliance on individual workarounds
- General liability certificates and endorsements were progressively enhanced
- Certificate data became easier to manage and reuse within Acturis
When issues arose – particularly during go‑live for certificate‑heavy policies – Acturis responded quickly, resolving problems within tight deadlines to ensure FCA could continue operating without disruption. Eighteen months on, the module continues to be enhanced through regular monthly review meetings, supporting ongoing improvement rather than a one‑off implementation.
The collaboration made a real difference. When something didn’t work as expected, Acturis were quick to respond and genuinely listened to our feedback.
Acturis has become a long‑term partner for us. The platform keeps improving, and that gives us confidence we can continue to evolve without compromising on service or quality.
The impact
Since adopting Acturis Certificates, FCA has seen clear operational benefits:
- More efficient, consistent certificate creation across the business
- Reduced manual editing and duplication of effort
- Improved understanding of certificate requirements among staff
- Greater confidence in managing high volumes under time pressure
While the module continues to evolve, FCA reports minimal ongoing frustration and a marked improvement in overall usability compared to previous approaches.
Looking ahead
FCA continues to work closely with Acturis on further platform enhancements. Recent and planned initiatives include:
- Development of Lloyd’s documentation for in‑house underwriting
- Expanded use of templates and standardised documents
- Risk templates and file audit processes
- Launch of a customer portal
- Greater automation across policy and documentation workflows
Together, these initiatives support FCA’s long‑term goal of maintaining personalised service while continuing to scale efficiently.
FCA have been an exceptional partner from start to finish – it’s hard to overstate what a pleasure they are to work with. Their team brought a highly collaborative and pragmatic approach, which helped push our Certificates module further and ensured we delivered something that genuinely works at scale. They’re a strong example of how brokers can manage complex, high-volume processes within Acturis while maintaining control and consistency, and what we’ve built together gives them a solid foundation for ongoing growth and automation.