Who We Are
Our Story
Stanhope Simpson has been placing insurance and surety bonds in Atlantic Canada for over 70 years — under two other names before this one.
Simpson-Hurst Ltd. opened its doors in 1947 and spent five decades building a commercial insurance practice around the contractors and businesses rebuilding post-war Nova Scotia. Victor Stanhope founded Stanhope Insurance in 1979 and grew it the same way: one relationship at a time, with a reputation for picking up the phone.
In 1998 the two brokerages consolidated. The combined firm kept both names, both books of business, and the one thing they had always had in common — private ownership, and no obligation to anyone but the client.
That is still how it works. Stanhope Simpson is an independent, privately owned Atlantic Canadian family business. No insurer holds a stake in us and no outside investor sets our targets. The two commercial teams further down this page, Stanhope Simpson and Simpson Hurst, carry the names of the firms that built this one.
1947
Simpson-Hurst Ltd.
A Halifax commercial brokerage opens, serving the contractors rebuilding post-war Nova Scotia.
1979
Stanhope Insurance
Victor Stanhope founds his own brokerage and builds it on repeat business and referrals.
1998
The two combine
Simpson-Hurst and Stanhope Insurance consolidate to form Stanhope Simpson, keeping both practices intact.
Today
Independent, still
Two offices, roughly fifty people, and clients across all four Atlantic provinces — still privately owned.
Independence Changes Everything
We are a family-owned, independent brokerage. No public shareholders. No private equity. No quarterly earnings call deciding who we serve or how we serve them.
That independence is not a tagline — it changes what we are able to do for you. We are never steered toward a particular insurer because head office signed a volume agreement, and we can walk away from a market that stops handling your file properly. Because we place commercial insurance and surety bonds under one senior team, your coverage and your bonding capacity are built to support each other rather than quietly working against each other.
Most brokerages hand you to a different department for a bond. We do not — and contractors tend to notice the difference at the worst possible moment, when a general contractor wants a bond by Friday and the answer has to be yes.
No one to answer to but you
Privately owned since 1947. No outside investors, no volume commitments, and no incentive to place your business anywhere except where it actually belongs.
Insurance and bonding, one team
Your liability, your wrap-up and your performance bonds handled by people who sit together and talk daily — not by two firms comparing notes after the fact.
Senior people, no handoffs
You reach the broker who knows your file and owns the outcome. No call centre, no ticket queue, and no explaining your business from scratch every renewal.
Our Vision
To set the standard for construction and development risk advice in Atlantic Canada — and to prove that an independent, family-owned brokerage can deliver deeper specialization than firms many times its size.
Every year that means the same three things: knowing construction better than a generalist ever will, holding the market relationships that turn a hard risk into a placed one, and being the brokerage a contractor calls before they bid, not after something goes wrong.
Our Mission
To protect the businesses that build Atlantic Canada.
We do that with expert commercial insurance and surety bond advice, genuine relationships with the insurers and sureties that matter, and a standard of service that outlasts any single renewal. Our clients are contractors, developers, manufacturers, seafood processors and the families behind them — people whose businesses do not tolerate a broker who is hard to reach.
What We Stand For
Independence, expertise, trust and service. Four words that are easy to put on a website and considerably harder to run a brokerage by. Here is what each one costs us in practice.
Independence
We answer to clients, not shareholders. Privately owned, no outside investors, and no incentive to put anything ahead of you — which sometimes means telling a client to keep the coverage they already have.
Expertise
Specialists, not generalists. Chartered Professional Accountants, former underwriters, and brokers holding CIP, CAIB and CRM designations who read a financial statement the way a surety will read it.
Trust
Insurance is a promise, so we treat it like one. Clients stay with us for decades because we show up at renewal, at claim time, and in the quiet stretches in between.
Service
Direct access, real answers, fast turnaround. You reach a broker who knows your file and owns the outcome. No call centres, no handoffs, no waiting in a queue.
Expertise You Can Verify
Insurance advice is only worth what the person giving it actually knows. Here is what sits behind ours.
Qualifications on staff
Chartered Professional Accountants, former insurance and surety underwriters, and brokers holding professional designations including CIP, CAIB and CRM.
Several of our team came from the underwriting side of the desk. That matters more than it sounds: we know how your submission will be read before we send it.
Industry involvement
Members of the Insurance Brokers Association of Nova Scotia. Active with the Construction Association of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick road builders associations, the Atlantic Concrete Association and Family Business Atlantic.
Our surety practice is represented on the Atlantic regional leadership of the Surety Association of Canada.
Market access
Direct access to more than fifty Canadian insurers and surety markets, including the specialty markets that write construction, marine, environmental and cyber risk.
We also place US contract bonds for Atlantic Canadian contractors working across the border.
Meet the Team
Stanhope Simpson is independent and family-owned, so the advice you get answers to you rather than to a carrier. The people below cover commercial insurance and surety, personal home and auto, and the accounting and administration that keeps it all moving. Pick a team, or find the person you already deal with.
Commercial Insurance & Surety Team — Stanhope Simpson
Leadership
Victoria Stanhope
Heather Peach
Steven Bates
Keegan Wilson
Commercial Insurance Brokers
Shawn Freeze
Scott Peach
Tim Smith
Account Executives & Managers
Jannine Freeze
Lindsay Letourneau
Wendy Forhan
Dana Smith
Briagh Fergusson
Arin Selig
Jaylee MacDonald
Crystal Canavan
Jennifer Canning
Andrew Coles
Lisa Griffin
Reanna Slaunwhite
Stacie Silver
Surety Administration
Shawna Naismith
Paula Shubley
Courtney Mitchelitis
Trish Dominie
Commercial Insurance & Surety Team — Simpson Hurst
Leadership
Donald McDermaid
Mark Howard
Commercial Insurance Brokers
Charlie MacKinnon
Jake Alward
Account Managers
Amber Whebby
Ashley Burke
Krista Beanlands
Kelly Augustin
Jen Ratchford
Greg Wignall
Mandy Laforce
Personal Lines (Home & Auto) Team
Leadership
Scott Conrad
Brokers & Advisors
Jennifer MacKenzie
Christine Cox-Norman
Melissa Dort
Denise Russell
Trudy Scanlan
Satrina Slaunwhite
Jennifer Hynes
Accounting & Administration
Leadership
Jennifer Wood
Natasha Howe
Finance
Gerald Ward
Sarah Mason
Trissa Dunham
Operations & Administration
Cassidy Young
Heather McDermaid
Andrea Howard
Martali McDermaid
Giving Back
Supporting the industries and communities we work in is not a program here. It is something the firm has done quietly for decades, largely because the people who work at Stanhope Simpson live in the same towns as the people they insure.
We support the IWK Health Centre, Parker Street Food & Furniture Bank, GIVETOLIVE, the Canadian Progress Club and a bursary at the Nova Scotia Community College, alongside minor sports teams around the province.
On the industry side we sit on boards and committees with the Construction Association of Nova Scotia and help administer insurance education for its members. We also support Family Business Atlantic, the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick road builders associations, and the Atlantic Concrete Association.
If your association needs a sponsor, or a speaker who can talk plainly about construction risk or surety bonding, ask us.
Work Here
About fifty people work at Stanhope Simpson, and most of them have been here a long time. The ones who do well are the ones who like being the person a client actually calls, rather than the person who forwards the email.
We are independent and family-owned, which in practice means decisions get made in this building and a good idea does not have to travel far to be heard.
We do not always have a posting up. If you are a broker, an account manager, a surety administrator, or an underwriter thinking about the other side of the desk, send us a note and tell us what you would want to work on.
Frequently Asked Questions
The things people most often ask before they call us.
Is Stanhope Simpson an independent insurance brokerage?
Yes. Stanhope Simpson is independent, privately owned and family-run. No insurance company holds a stake in the firm and there are no outside investors, so our recommendations are not tied to any carrier’s volume targets or incentive agreements.
How long has Stanhope Simpson been in business?
Over 70 years. The firm traces its roots to Simpson-Hurst Ltd., founded in 1947, and Stanhope Insurance, founded by Victor Stanhope in 1979. The two brokerages consolidated in 1998 to form Stanhope Simpson.
What areas does Stanhope Simpson serve?
We work from a head office in Halifax, Nova Scotia and a second office in Saint John, New Brunswick, serving clients across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Ontario. We place coverage nationally and write US contract bonds for clients working across the border.
What does Stanhope Simpson specialize in?
Commercial insurance and surety bonds for construction and development, along with real estate, manufacturing, seafood, hospitality, technology and renewable energy. We also run a personal lines division handling home, auto, cottage and high-value personal insurance.
Can one brokerage handle both my insurance and my surety bonds?
Yes, and we prefer it. When one senior team places both, your insurance program and your bonding capacity are built to support each other instead of working against each other. Contractors usually feel the benefit at prequalification and at bid time, when a surety is reading your financial statements and your insurance certificates in the same week.
How do I get in touch with a broker?
Call the Halifax office at (902) 454-8641, email info@stanhopesimpson.com, or use the contact form. You will be put in touch with a broker who handles your industry rather than a general queue.
Where to Find Us
Two offices, one team. We serve clients across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador, and place coverage nationally for clients working outside the region.
Halifax — Head Office
3845 Joseph Howe Drive, Suite 300
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3L 4H9
Saint John, New Brunswick
130 Campbell Road
Woodman’s Point, New Brunswick
E5K 3X6
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Personalized insurance and surety solutions backed by decades of industry expertise.
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