Our History

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The Company initially opened in 1974 as the Ontario branch of the prestigious Montreal firm of Lewis Apedaile & Hanson Inc. (1917). The goal was to design and administer National Insurance Programs for Affinity, Trade and Employee groups.  As early as 1978, the branch designed and introduced some of the first employer/employee Group Home and Auto insurance programs in the province of Ontario.

In 1986, as a joint venture with the Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP), the company was restructured by John Simmonds and Jim Hylands as a totally independent corporation.  The objectives were to continue to market commercial insurance programs and to assist OTIP in the launch of Teacher’s Insurance in Ontario.  With the project completed in 1989, Simmlands was reformed as a program administrator specializing in Golf Industry insurance products.

In 1993 Simmlands was merged under contract with a large multi-national insurance brokerage to develop and manage their Association Services division. The division continued its specialty in the golf industry and developed a number of additional industry and franchise programs. Later, John Simmonds and Jim Hylands decided to reinstate Simmlands as an independent operation specializing in the golf industry niche.

In 2003 Simmlands merged a privately owned and operated insurance business, and continued to serve in the capacity of providing enhanced solutions to the golf industry for the following 6 years.

With the strategic hiring of John Barclay (President) in 2009 and several other key acquisitions, including most recently a merger with Hunter McCorquodale Inc., Simmlands has become a focused player in several specialty areas of insurance.  Serving as a Managing General Agent, Simmlands is capable of providing unique solutions to a variety of clients through a network of more than 200 brokers nationwide.

In addition to Simmlands presence in the Golf Industry, the company also specializes in several other niche areas such as Aviation General Liability, Contingency Coverage, Destination Risks, Forestry Risks, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Kidnap & Ransom, Legal Expense Insurance, Life & Disability, and Management Liability.