2012 · Insurance · Risk · Financial protection
Aboriginal Insurance Services
Protect what your community has built.
Protecting Communities. Supporting Self-Determination. Preserving Futures.
AIS is the regulated protection and risk-transfer company. It develops and administers insurance, bonding, risk financing, claims advocacy and financial-protection solutions for First Nations governments, housing, infrastructure, businesses, trusts, health and wellness organizations, social programs and major projects.
Protection · Founded 2012
What we protect
A community is more than the buildings you can see.
A community is the home where a family starts its day. The school where children learn. The water system people depend on without thinking about it. The health centre, the fire hall, the roads, the businesses — and the people who keep everything moving.
Together, these things make daily life possible. Behind them are years of decisions, investment, work and hope. They are worth protecting.
That sounds simple. But for many First Nations, protection has never been simple.
Aboriginal Insurance Services
Protection built around the community
When one community asset is damaged or lost, the effect is felt across the whole community. The loss of one building can mean the temporary loss of services, employment, education or healthcare alongside it.
Traditional insurance was built around municipalities and privately owned property — not reserve land structures, First Nations governance, or the reality of rebuilding hundreds of kilometres from contractors and materials.
Instead of asking communities to adapt to the insurance industry, AIS helps the insurance industry understand First Nations communities.
Where every engagement begins
AIS does not begin by selecting a policy. It begins by understanding the Nation:
- What does the Nation own, and what services does it provide?
- Which buildings and operations are essential?
- What risks exist, and what insurance is already in place?
- Where are the gaps — and what is planned next?
Protection extends to individuals, families, Chiefs and Council, executives, and the people whose work keeps the community running.
Only once that picture is understood can meaningful protection be developed.
Aboriginal Insurance Services
More than a renewal once a year
AIS supports insurance reviews, underwriting, policy administration, risk information, claims management and recovery coordination.
Through the wider network, insurance connects with practical risk reduction, community assessments and local recovery support — so rebuilding activity, employment and knowledge stay closer to the community.
Fourteen years of protection
150+
First Nations governments and organizations served
350,000+
community members represented
$5 billion+
in community assets protected
$40 million+
returned to shareholder communities through profit sharing since 2012
Billions
in construction and infrastructure projects insured
Thousands
of homes insured · thousands of employees protected
Hundreds
of Chief and Council and executive leadership teams supported
Your Nation is not a standard risk. Your community is not a category on an insurance form. Its people, operations, history and future deserve to be understood.
Insurance does not begin when a policy is issued — and recovery does not begin when a claim is filed.
Beyond protection
A framework for growth
Protection alone is no longer enough. As communities assume greater responsibility through service transfer, self-government, administrative autonomy, and direct program delivery, new questions emerge:
- Does the Nation have the governance systems to support expanded responsibilities?
- Are service delivery risks understood and documented?
- Are emergency management and recovery frameworks in place?
- Is infrastructure being properly maintained and protected?
- Are cyber risks being addressed?
- Are investments and development projects positioned for long-term success?
These questions require more than an insurance policy. They require a framework.
The bridge
Protecting the building means protecting what happens inside it
AIS works to create a bridge between First Nations communities and the insurance world. On one side is the Nation — its people, priorities, assets and plans. On the other are insurers, underwriters and partners who need to understand that story clearly.
AIS brings those worlds together. Not by changing the community — by helping the system see the community more clearly.
A building is no longer just an address on a schedule. It is where children learn. Where Elders gather. Where people receive care. Where jobs are created.
Insurance becomes about continuity: keeping people safe, keeping services moving, helping businesses recover, protecting years of community investment.
Because your Nation is not a number on an insurance form.
Services
What AIS does
Property and infrastructure
Primary property
Community buildings, housing, schools, health facilities, water and wastewater systems, fire halls, band assets and infrastructure, rated to a maintained statement of values.
Excess property
Additional limits above primary placements for larger total insured values and significant infrastructure portfolios.
Boiler and machinery / equipment breakdown
Water treatment, heating, mechanical systems, solar installations, backup power and critical operational equipment.
Museum and cultural assets
Collections, archives and cultural property, written for the reality that some community assets are irreplaceable.
Liability and governance
Commercial general liability
Community operations, services, facilities and public activity.
Municipal liability
The governmental functions a First Nation performs that commercial forms do not contemplate.
Miscellaneous professional liability
Professional and advisory exposures, including abuse and specialized practitioner extensions.
Umbrella liability
Additional limits above primary liability policies, structured by exposure and population.
Directors and officers, including employment practices
Chiefs, Councils, boards, directors and officers making decisions on behalf of the community.
Cyber liability
Community data, membership information and administrative systems.
Crime and fidelity
Employee dishonesty and financial loss exposures across community entities.
Legal expense
Reimbursement programs supporting governance and administration.
Environmental impairment liability
Fuel storage, contamination and pollution exposures, rated by tank count and volume.
Projects, fleet and people
Course of construction
Project-specific protection from planning and financing through construction, commissioning and occupancy, with on-reserve eligibility criteria written into the program.
Wrap-up liability
Large project and capital construction liability across owner, contractors and trades.
Indigenous bonding
Bonding structures and support for qualifying Indigenous contractors and Nation-owned enterprises.
Commercial automobile and fleet
Community fleets, emergency units, public works vehicles, buses, heavy equipment and garage operations.
Accident and health, and AD&D
Chiefs and Councils, boards, employees, volunteers, fishers and captains, and participants, rated by class rather than one blunt schedule.
Critical illness
Employee and family coverage for community organizations.
Business travel accident
Members and staff travelling on community and program business.
Student and participant accident
Children in day care and educational centres, and participants in community programs.
Creditor protection
Life, critical illness, disability and job-loss protection attached to mortgages, housing and business financing.
Sports accident
Teams, leagues and community events.
Community programs
Housing Trust
Treats community housing as a strategic portfolio rather than a collection of isolated buildings, linking protection, claims experience, asset information, retained-risk concepts, rent-to-own pathways and long-term sustainability.
Holistic Healing
Specialized protection for Indigenous healing centres, wellness organizations, mental health and counselling services, family programs, shelters, youth initiatives, Elders services, transitional housing and culturally based care providers.
Rent-to-Own
A member housing pathway to ownership, protected as a program rather than as scattered individual risks.
Self-Insured Housing Trust
A community housing protection model that retains risk deliberately and keeps the benefit of good loss experience inside the Nation.
Hybrid Insurance Program
A blended structure combining retained risk with carrier capacity, sized to what a community can prudently hold.
Band Asset Program
Community-owned property and equipment written as a coherent portfolio.
Economic Development Insurance
Portfolio-based insurance and risk management for Economic Development Corporations, joint ventures, contractors and community-owned businesses.
Claims advocacy, recovery and restoration
Claims advocacy, recovery coordination and, wherever possible, local contractors and suppliers doing the rebuild.
Start the conversation
Tell us what your Nation is working toward, and AIS will start there.
Questions
Common questions
What makes AIS different?
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.
Why is choosing the right insurance partner so important?
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.
How does AIS get to know our community?
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.
Can AIS bring all of our community insurance together?
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.
Why does bundled insurance make sense for a First Nation?
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.
Can AIS protect our buildings, equipment and community assets?
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, and higher limits are available.