One Man's Dream:

Rai Insurance Brokers Ltd. was founded in 1985 by Chris Rai who started the brokerage after a successful career in the commercial division of Allstate Insurance. He started the business with a desk, telephone, filing cabinet and a dream in the corner of his basement in his Scarborough home.

Chris worked tirelessly to grow the brokerage one client at a time, using his expertise in commercial insurance and the relationships he developed with insurers to offer clients his signature “better coverage at a better price”. This practice extended to personal insurance as well, where Chris would spend as much time with a client emphasizing the need for proper coverage as he did on the price of the policy. These values have continued on to the present day and form the core of our brokerage’s sales strategy.

24 Years of Growth:

In 1986 Chris took the next step in the brokerage’s evolution and moved the office to the Parkway Mall in Scarborough. It is at this location that Rai Insurance Brokers Ltd. would spend the next 8 years and continue its rapid growth. During this time, Rai Insurance Brokers Ltd. made 2 acquisitions, purchasing Herman & Rankel Insurance Brokers Inc. in 1991 and Chelsea Park Insurance Brokers Inc. in 1992. The brokerage continued to lease additional space required to accommodate the growth of the organization and the additional staff that joined the brokerage as a result.

In 1994, the company made its next “big move” – literally. Having run out of room to expand in the current location, Chris decided to relocate the brokerage to Markham Ontario and moved the office to 260 Town Centre Boulevard at Warden Avenue and Highway #7. It is at this location that Rai Insurance Brokers Ltd. would spend the next 15 years and undergo its largest growth phase to date. Between 1994 and 2009, staff grew from 12 to 70 and as with the previous location; additional space was leased throughout this period to accommodate the brokerage’s growth.

Growth also came during this period via acquisition. In 1995 Rai Insurance Brokers Ltd. purchased Phillips & Moore Insurance Brokers. In 1996 Gordon D. Grant Insurance Brokers Ltd. merged their firm with Rai Insurance Brokers Ltd. It was decided that the brokerage would use the operating name of Rai Grant Insurance Brokers, given that the Grant name spanned 3 generations and over 100 years of service to its clients and insurer partners. In 2003 Rai Grant Insurance Brokers purchased Phillip Sam Insurance Brokers Limited.

Succession Plan:

In 2008 a formal succession plan was announced to RGI staff, clients and insurer partners. Paul Rai, Chris’ son who had been working in the brokerage since 1993, became President of Rai Grant Insurance Brokers assuming overall responsibility for all operations of the brokerage.

Present Day:

Having run out of room to expand at Town Centre Boulevard, in May 2009, RGI moved to its current location at 140 Renfrew Drive Suite 230 in the Woodbine Avenue/16th Avenue area of Markham. This new 12,200 square foot state of the art facility stands ready to accommodate the continued future growth of RGI. We also maintain sales offices in Peterborough, Mississauga and Brampton.

Today, more than 20,000 individuals and businesses rely on Rai Grant Insurance to provide them with comprehensive and price-competitive insurance and risk management solutions. Our expertise, professionalism and outstanding customer service combined with our financial stability and our long term relationships with our insurer partners positions Rai Grant Insurance Brokers to continue its growth for many years to come.

From our firm’s humble beginnings, to our current status as one of the largest independent brokerages in York Region, we continue to build on the foundation laid by our founder. We are a company with a colourful past, a dynamic present and an exciting future and we stand ready to continue to serve our policyholders and insurer partners for many years to come.