Leaving your home country to start life afresh in another country is never an easy choice. It takes courage to pack your life into suitcases, move hundreds of miles away from loved ones, and build your foundations of stability from the ground up.

Many people come to Canada in the hopes of better opportunities for themselves and/or their families. One of the many steps of restarting life is finding employment. Your first circle of managers and colleagues forms your first impressions of your new home while you go through emotions, decisions, and learnings.
As Canada’s largest P&C insurer, our workforce reflects the communities we serve. Our employees represent a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities. We are proud of our diversity and hope to grow it with talent from around the world who call Canada their new home. Though we are an insurance company, we have a need for talent across a range of fields. We have roles that require no insurance experience but a willingness to learn and grow.

We spoke to Anastassiya. When she arrived in Montréal in 2018 from Kazakhstan, she worked as a florist and eventually found her way to us and today is an Underwriter.

1. What were your biggest challenges professionally when you immigrated to Canada?

I consider myself lucky to not have experienced many challenges. All my managers and colleagues in Canada were caring, open-minded, and understanding so integrating into the work environment went well. But I still have trouble using the more informal “tu”, instead of “vous”, when speaking French with some colleagues.

2. What advice do you have for someone who is currently in the same place you were in when you moved to Canada?

Be open, don’t compare things to the way they were back home, get out and meet people, and be patient—especially with the bureaucratic immigration process. Eventually, it will work out!

3. What do you like about your current life in Canada?

In general, feeling secure. Knowing that you can be who you are without consequences, you can express your opinion about the government, you can walk alone at night without constantly being on alert – this is priceless to me.
On a more personal level, I love the slower pace of life, the beautiful fall season, and the cultural life in Montréal.

4. Tell us about the work you do.

I analyze requests for quotes in Commercial Lines insurance; I collaborate and negotiate insurance policies with our business partners (brokers).

5. Tell us about your career journey. What twists and turns brought you to our team?

I started my Intact career as an underwriting assistant in Commercial Lines. I then advanced to the position of junior underwriter and now I’m an intermediate underwriter.

6. At Intact, our purpose is to help people. Reflecting on the work you and your team do, how have you seen or helped this purpose come to life?

I think helping people (brokers and customers) is a key part of being an underwriter. Sometimes it means doing a bit more to help brokers with complex cases, even if at first you don’t think it’s possible. Looking for solutions is what I do every day.

7. What is something you’ve accomplished during your time with us that you are proud of?

My growth within the company. French is not my first language and I had no insurance training beforehand, so I’m proud that I’ve made it to where I am today.

8. What is something that others would be surprised to know about the work that you do?

Through my role as an Underwriter working on so many different cases, I have learned about so many other jobs. There are jobs that I didn't even know existed. For example, I worked on a file for a customer whose job was to collect analysis specimens in prisons.

9. What do you like to do for fun or to unwind?

I like walking through Montréal’s Botanical Gardens and playing piano.

. . .

Feeling inspired? Check out our open roles.