Frequently asked questions

We focus exclusively on Indigenous communities. That means we take the time to understand how your Nation operates, the services you provide, the assets you protect and the people who depend on them.

AIS has served First Nations since 2012 and draws on more than 30 years of experience in Indigenous insurance. Our goal is simple: insurance that fits your community rather than asking your community to fit a standard insurance program.

Insurance is about much more than finding the lowest premium. It is about making sure your community, leadership, employees, buildings, programs and services are properly protected when something goes wrong.

That is why we believe insurance is also a governance decision. The right program should reflect how your Nation actually operates today and be able to grow with you tomorrow.

We start by listening.

AIS works collaboratively with leadership, community representatives and your broker to understand your operations, facilities, programs, assets and emerging risks. That helps us build an insurance program around the real needs and priorities of your Nation.

Yes. AIS can bring the major coverages for a First Nation government and its departments into one coordinated program.

That can include administration, health and healing, social services, education, public works, housing, economic development and other community operations. The program is designed to grow as your Nation grows and takes on new responsibilities.

Because insurance should be easier to understand and manage.

A coordinated program can provide one renewal date, one bill and consolidated claims handling, while helping reduce duplicated coverage and gaps between separate policies.

Most importantly, leadership and department managers can have a clearer picture of how the Nation is protected.

Yes. Property protection is at the heart of the AIS program.

Coverage can protect community buildings, contents, equipment, tools, housing and operational infrastructure. AIS offers broad all-risk property protection with property capacity of up to $100 million.

Published limits are automatic starting limits, and higher limits are available.

Every Nation is different, so liability protection needs to reflect the services and responsibilities of the community.

AIS offers protection that can include general liability, professional liability, directors and officers, law enforcement, cyber and privacy, employment practices, environmental liability, umbrella liability and project-specific wrap-up coverage.

Higher limits are available depending on the needs of the Nation.

Yes. AIS can protect the vehicles your Nation relies on every day, including public works trucks, buses, vans, pool vehicles, community safety vehicles and health and social service vehicles.

Automobile third-party liability starts at $5 million, with limits available up to $10 million.

We can help protect those too.

AIS course of construction coverage is designed for community buildings while they are being built, renovated or expanded. Coverage can include partially completed work, materials and supplies, property in transit, off-site storage, testing and commissioning, professional fees and other project-related exposures.

Yes. Our Holistic Healing and Wellness Insurance Program was developed for Indigenous healing and wellness organizations.

It can bring liability, property, crime, automobile, accident and legal expense protection together in one coordinated program. It can support family healing and wellness centres, traditional and land-based healing, Elders programs, mental health and addiction services, youth wellness, and child and family services.

We recognize that community housing is different. When a home is damaged or destroyed, the responsibility for the family and the community doesn't simply disappear.

The AIS approach connects three elements: AERS Community Risk Assessment Safety Program (CRASP), a Community Housing Trust, and an insurance structure that can separate legacy housing from newer homes and other community assets.

The objective is to document the work the Nation is already doing, improve planning around housing losses and make housing costs more predictable. Insurers ultimately determine their own pricing and terms, so AIS does not promise a premium reduction.

Getting started is simply a conversation.

AIS can review your community's assets and insurance needs, complete a detailed risk assessment, and prepare a customized quote and proposal at no cost.

Your quote and proposal are kept confidential.

Aboriginal Insurance Services is a majority First Nations-owned insurance Managing General Agency that designs insurance programs specifically for First Nations communities, band governments, housing authorities and community businesses. Since 2012, AIS has served more than 150 First Nations governments and organizations across Canada, drawing on more than 30 years of experience.

AIS and its sister company, Aboriginal Emergency Response Services (AERS), are majority owned by First Nations. The work is done by First Nations, for First Nations.

AERS is the service side of the AIS family. It delivers community risk assessments, inspections and claims support, and collects, verifies and organizes the information a community needs for life safety, emergency management, asset management and insurance.

In most cases the problem is visibility, not risk. Insurers price only what they are shown, and the survey tools they rely on were built for towns and cities, not reserves. When a community’s fire protection, training, water systems and buildings are not documented and verified, the underwriter has to assume the worst, and the community pays for the gaps in its file instead of the risk it actually carries.

CRASP is the AERS Community Risk Assessment Safety Program, a First Nations assessment program that gives underwriters what they need in a form they recognize: construction, occupancy, protection and exposure (COPE); the community’s location and access; natural hazards; and life safety measured consistently. It brings NFPA standards, the ISC Emergency Management Assistance Program and disaster recovery funding together with insurance in one process.

CRASP follows three steps in order: recognize what the community already has, understand its current capacity, and build a Road Map for what comes next. The work is done through three surveys: a community review of existing records, an inspection of every building, vehicle and piece of equipment, and an emergency management and fire protection assessment. Every answer is Yes or No and must be backed by evidence.

CRASP makes the community’s investments visible and gives underwriters verified evidence, which puts the community in the strongest position to be rated fairly. It cannot guarantee a premium reduction or a particular coverage outcome, because insurers set their own terms. Our order of priorities is life safety first, community resilience second and insurance recognition third.

The Nation does. AERS holds the information as custodian, not owner. Nothing is shared with an insurer, funder or partner unless the Nation authorizes it in writing, naming who will receive it and why.

Each has a different job. The ISC Emergency Management Assistance Program supports preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery; the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) provide recovery funding after major disasters; and insurance transfers the financial risk that remains. CRASP helps a community understand ahead of time what each can and cannot do, so recovery plans and insurance work together instead of overlapping or leaving gaps.

Start with a conversation with your broker or with AIS directly. The first step is the underwriting application and a desk review of the information already on record, so nothing the community has already done is asked for twice. Quotes and proposals are prepared at no cost. Chief and Council then decide whether to go ahead and set the pace, the scope and who may see the results.

The insurance program directly affects the community’s protection, sustainability and long-term resilience. Premium matters, but it should never be the only factor. A program not designed for Indigenous communities can leave critical gaps and expose leadership and Council to unnecessary risk, and coverage that does not fit can cost far more over time, financially and in reputation.

Collaboratively. We help leadership and Council identify current and emerging risks, including those not immediately visible, and we work with communities and their brokers so the program reflects the full scope of operations, governance and priorities. AIS works with each community as a long-term partner.

Premiums are rising, deductibles are growing and renewals are less predictable, while funding for on-reserve housing has not kept pace. Unlike a private homeowner or landlord, a Nation cannot walk away from a loss: the family must be rehoused and housing capacity restored, whatever the insurance covers.

CRASP turns the Nation’s protection work, including training, governance, prevention and emergency response, into organized, verified evidence insurers can recognize. Each asset is classed AIS 1, AIS 2 or AIS 3, supporting fairer pricing and targeted improvement planning, and the Nation keeps control of its data.

A governed fund that sets money aside each year for predictable housing losses and deductibles, instead of sending every premium dollar out of the community. It sets clear rules for authorizing repairs, paying local contractors and managing claims, so housing dollars stay accountable.

Legacy housing is placed in the Trust-based program. Newer and best-in-class homes, with civic and operational buildings, are insured conventionally under their own policy. The aim is to keep housing claims from affecting costs and terms for the rest of the community’s assets.

The program is designed to make housing costs more predictable and keep more housing dollars in the community. Insurers set their own terms, so AIS cannot guarantee a premium reduction; what CRASP ensures is that the Nation’s investments and protection work are documented and put in front of the underwriter.

Family healing and wellness centres; land-based and Elders programs; cultural wellness and traditional healing; mental health and addiction services; youth wellness; and delegated and non-delegated child and family services. It protects counsellors, traditional healers, foster parents and kinship caregivers, staff, volunteers, and directors and officers.

AIS has served First Nations since 2012 and draws on more than 30 years of experience. Its Holistic Healing and Wellness program was developed for Indigenous-led healing centres and wellness programs. AIS assesses each centre’s assets and risks and prepares its quotes and proposals at no cost, and every proposal stays confidential.